A new campaign, Adventure Log

[StarPadre]

The first adventure in my new campaign - a game supposed to be an introduction to not only Star Wars but also roleplaying - has ended. It was meant to least one evening session but went to three. I guess the guys, all wargamers, needed time to settle in. They seemed to enjoy it, so much so that a second batch of players joined in for session two.

The players are now embarking on adventure 2. I will post that log here if anyone is interested.

Here is their first adventure log:

First adventure

First Agent team
Heinrich (Gambler), Dan (Pilot), Apha Mazzowan (Bounty Hunter) & Blitz Harlen (Merc.)
Transport
The MoonSurfer (tramp freighter)

The agent team were on a ‘simple’ mission for the New Republic, with orders to meet with a NR Corellian Corvette called the Archer’s Arm at Kurleon, a backwater Outer Rim system, then pick up some unnamed personnel for transfer to an unspecified NR system. The destination was to be revealed by the personnel in question, and the Archer’s Arm would go off on its own important mission. The mission was classed as high priority.

But when they exited from hyperspace they didn’t find the Archer’s Arm, instead they arrived very close to an Imperial military vessel (an old Loronar Strike Cruiser) that promptly fired upon them, critically damaging their engines. Burning, and knowing another hit would tear their ship to pieces, they were forced to seek refuge on Kurleon, diving towards the concealing cover of its atmosphere just as six Imperial TIE fighters emerged from the cruiser. For some reason the cruiser did not use its tractor beams to pull their vessel in.

Two TIE fighters pursued them all the way down. It was obvious that touchdown was going to take the form of a crash. The lush, dark green landscape sped by beneath them, pierced here and there by lumps of honeycombed black rock and criss-crossed by wide rivers.

(Game Note: When Apha tried to get a look at the data readout on Kurleon, I held the sheet up in front of the player and wobbled it about to simulate the bucking and jolting of the crashing ship. Not sure the player got much information as a consequence. Being beginners they had not thought to look at the data before then.)

Dan, the pilot, used all his skill trying to get the ship out of a nosedive, but as the main engines were out he could only use the landing repulsorlifts, which refused to deliver anything like the braking power required to pull out of the dive. Just in time Dan got the ship flying at least close to horizon and attempted to skid to a halt on the flattest ground available.

None of them remembered much about the chaos that followed - tremendous noise and heat en-cloaked them while their bodies were tossed around like a primitive bone dice in a shaker. Once the ship came to a halt, alarms were blaring as the smoke and heat threatened to overwhelm them. Dan shouted “She’s gonna blow!” and fled the ship, grabbing two Rebel Alliance survival kits stored by the door. Heinrich and Apha were close on his heels. Blitz, however, stayed aboard, to retrieve his weapons from the locker. Panicked, he cursed when he could not recall the locker security number (Game Note: wild dice complication), and then nearly died when he finally exited the ship. The explosion threw him into the air!

Kurleon, a rich tangle of exotic plants, proved to have a weird atmosphere – a yellow fog of spores and pollen. Running from the crash site the team had to make do with the two filter masks from the survival packs and strips of cloth from their shirts. The two Tie fighters screeched overhead once more and one dropping some sort of locator beacon. Minutes later another ship was spotted descending – an Imperial Landing Craft. Everyone ran, but after less than half an hour they halted, exhausted and suffering from the ground level atmospheric taint badly irritating their eyes.

They then had a very close shave with two pursuing Stormtroopers, who almost captured them. Apha was badly wounded in this skirmish, needing treatment with a medpac and still not fully recovered after that. Using one of the Stormtrooper’s commlinks, Dan learned that more Stormtroopers were on the way, so the team grabbed the stormtroopers’ weapons and ran.

After finding some recently crashed ship debris not from their ship, they came across an empty evacuation pod labelled as from the Archer’s Arm. The rendezvous ship must surely have suffered the same fate as theirs? Was treachery involved? Or was it just sheer bad luck that the Imperial vessel was in system? It did seem odd that the Imperial cruiser fired immediately without even ordering them to surrender.

Making camp with the pair of survival kit tents, they rested over-night, taking it in shifts to guard. High above in the night sky they could make out starship traffic moving back & forth, from ground to orbit and back again. Another medpac was used on Apha, who was excused guard duty.

In the morning they encountered two huge, aggressive centipede creatures. Apha, feeling much more herself, killed both of them. An hour later, now heading towards some smoke in the distance, the team discovered a 7’ tall egg shaped capsule - some sort of bacta-tank, stuffed into a large hole in one of the black rock lumps (as if to hide it). Failing to understand the panel readouts, Dan opened it by force. An unconscious, tattooed man, hooked up with wires and tubes, slithered out surrounded by gelatinous goo. He seemed in a bad way. Unable to put him back in to the capsule, the team panicked, and began pulling out all the tubes. This only made the man worse, and subsequent attempts at resuscitation failed. The man died. He was shaved all over his body and appeared to have had major surgery involving the removal and replacement of the crown of his skull. Major brain surgery, perhaps?

(Session 2)

The first team (Heinrich, Dan, Apha Mazzowan & Blitz Harlen) left the ‘egg’ after throwing the corpse into some tall grasses. Less than an hour later they met with the second team (the New Republic agents: Erthran, Igril & Gernillat).

[See * Appendix for their mission details and background.]

Everyone talked about what had happened to them and the second team confirmed that the Archer’s Arm crashed before the Moonsurfer arrived. When Erthran asked about the egg capsule, the first team tried to wriggle out of what they had done, but they contradicted each other and revealed the truth. Erthran was dismayed and confused by the first team’s chaotic and amateur actions, but decided the body would be sufficient evidence to present to their HQ commanders. He wanted to retrieve the corpse before leaving Kurleon and so everyone set off back towards the capsule.

Erthran was nervous because he and his team had hidden the capsule in the cave-like opening in the rock spur deliberately in order to hide the weak energy signature that it might give off, but the first team had dragged it out of its hiding place. Maybe the Imperials could pick it up on their sensors? There was probably no other technology to mask it! At least it was probably no longer giving off any energy as the first team seem to have broken it.

Suddenly the two teams met with an Imperial Army deserter, trooper Klydrall. After a nervous moment or two, he asked to stay with them. He was disarmed, his blaster rifle removed, while he said that he was from the ship that had fired upon them. He also revealed it was part of Commodore Hurath’s force.

Just as everyone arrived back at the egg and began discussing what to do with the corpse, Erthran’s earlier worries proved well founded: two more stormtrooper scouts arrived in speeder discs, presumably ordered to investigate what they probably thought was another piece of ship debris or an evac’ pod. The team killed one of these and stunned the other, taking him prisoner. In the fight, one speeder disc’s laser was disabled and the other suffered a blown repulsor drive. When one disc’s comm-link revealed that more Imperial soldiers were going to arriving within 4 minutes, the team decided to set a trap, hoping to con the new arrivals into dropping their guard. Propping the unconscious stormtrooper in a disc, Heinrich and Apha knelt in front of it to make it look like they had been taken prisoner. The rest of the team hid amongst the foliage.

An AT-ST did arrive. The co-pilot was so convinced by the deception that he dismounted when he heard what he presumed was an officer’s voice shouting from the tangled greenery nearby, demanding someone help with drag some dead rebels out. After a brief fire-fight, in which Apha put a shot through the AT-ST’s front view port, the walker was captured intact. Igril, having fallen down one of the tunnel-like cavities inside the rock spur that several of the team were hiding in, had a nightmarish encounter with another giant centipede, and her ‘very lucky’ blaster shot coursed through the entire length of the creature and felled it instantly.

Apha now apparently went crazy. Perhaps her injuries, combined with the fear of capture and the combats, as well as the ever more irritating atmospheric taint drove her to it? She killed the two helpless prisoners (an army trooper & stormtrooper). Dan meanwhile was busy dismantling working weapon from immobilised speeder & threw it into the AT-ST, while the others dragged the body from the egg and threw that in too. As Erthran volunteered himself to pilot the still-mobile speeder, everyone spotted an Imperial Landing craft descending. The team quickly moved out, Blitz & Dan in the AT-ST, Erthran in the disc, the others on foot.

(Session 3)

Within 15 minutes a military speeder, a ‘front line’ scouting/communication vessel called aRaSCaV, was spotted coming directly towards the AT-ST. Those on foot could not see it (due to the thick layer of cloying, pollen-mist) but they could hear it. Dan and Blitz, pretending to be the real Imperial Army crew, managed to convince it to swerve off and head away after a phantom foe. But then two more vehicles, light skiffs carrying several army personnel appeared still heading towards the AT-ST. Perhaps they had some other mission, and were not trying to follow the RaSCaV? Trooper Klydrall now panicked, thinking they were coming for him, and fled into the tangled vegetation never to be seen again.

The two skiffs landed right in front of the AT-ST – obviously not intending to attack it. While several in the team also ran into the bushes to hide, one of the soldiers noticed Erthran, a Sullustan (a slave race as far as the Empire is concerned) piloting the speeder disc, and immediately fired at him. Dan responded by firing the AT-ST’s blasters and damaging one of the skiffs, dropping it to the ground. Its pilot and passengers began to bail as it sparked and smoked, looking and sounding like it was about to blow.

A fire-fight broke out with the troopers in the other skiff, though the AT-ST’s weapon controls jammed because Dan had not used the correct activation / warm-up / energising procedure! Meanwhile in the trees Heinrich noticed Gernillat pointing his pistol at him. When Gernillat realised Heinrich had seen him, he lowered the blaster and tried to make excuses. Igril arrived and Gernillat started calling Heinrich a double agent, saying it was Heinrich who turned his gun on him! Igril doubted his story, especially when she saw Gernillat now pointed his muzzle at her! A short squabble ensued, Heinrich was wounded and Gernillat knocked unconscious.

The main fight ended with several troopers fleeing on foot, and two disarmed and taken prisoner by Apha and Erthran. But suddenly the Imperial Landing Craft swooped overhead and released two missiles. These exploded next to you, sending out a massive shock wave and tearing two craters in the ground. The blast knocked the AT-ST over, half burying it, and floored everyone else, covering them with dirt and debris.

A vicious brawl now broke out between Apha and the two Imperial army soldiers, one of whom had managed to get out his boot knife, which ended (with Dan’s aid) in both of them being killed.

Inside the toppled AT-ST, the comm was still working and the following exchange was heard:

“Landing craft Beta 3 reporting. Target neutralised. Request further orders.”

“Command to LC Beta 3, hold current position. Shuttle Lambda-five-zero approaching, Lt Jovdalic piloting. You will rendezvous and land together. Tech personnel to investigate ground zero, Captain Keplen and stormtroopers to support. Report when rendezvous made, land, then await further orders.”

“This is LC Beta 3, orders received and understood.”

The team decided to attempt to hijack the shuttle, but rather than make a proper plan, they all simply ran off headlong into the trees. The shock of the blast had done more than shaken them up, it had apparently left them dazed and confused. Blitz was badly injured from both the melee and the blast and asked Apha to help him with a medpac. Apha was distracted however, and did not pay close attention to what she was doing, injecting far too much painkiller. Blitz’s pain vanished, but it was replaced by severe dizziness and nausea! (Game note: Perhaps I overdid it on the interesting ‘complications’ front?) He staggered through the trees shaking his head in an attempt to clear it.

The shuttle and landing craft put down. Realising that the Imperials would probably be deploying troops to secure the landing zone, several team members moved forwards looking to engage the enemy - Igril and Erthran leading the way, while Dan, then Blitz moved instead to circle the landing zone. Dan moved more quickly and was lost from Blitz’s view. Apha and Heinrich were a little behind, the bounty hunter attempting to compensate for Heinrich’s overdose.

Igril and Erthran became involved in a firefight with unseen troopers ahead of them, bolts criss-crossing through the murky pollen haze, creating a stream of burning fizzles falling to the ground behind them. Grenades began bursting too, the debris and smoke of which added to the visual obscurement. This proved a great (if entirely accidental) distraction for the Imperials, allowing Dan to get through the perimeter (dumb luck helped him here too!) to a position where he could see the Landing Craft. Three crewmen in grey uniforms were working on repairs to the landing ramp hydraulics. Dan, expert in piloting exactly this sort of ship, knew that the Imperials must have put the ramp down too early on landing (perhaps to allow the troops to exit more quickly) and thus jammed it’s lip into the soft ground. The hydraulics probably then blew when the pilot tried to close the ramp again.

Meanwhile Apha attempted to joint the fire-fight. Igril had been crawling forwards to get a better view of the as yet unseen Imperials, but Apha (once again allowing a weird, uncharacteristic frenzy to overwhelm her) simply charged screaming forwards. Three storm-troopers appeared in the pollen-mist ahead of her and proceeded to shoot her down. Igril, Heinrich and Erthran did what they could to help her, and between them they managed to shoot all three of the stormtroopers before one of them put another blaster bolt into her to finish her off.

Elsewhere, Blitz was also crawling and suddenly realised two stormtroopers where standing right next to him. They had not seen him in the undergrowth, both being busy shooting into the mist towards where Igril and the others where. Blitz now shot both of these.

At the same time Dan had run right past the three mechanics at the bottom of the ramp and right up into the ship. One of the Imperials asked, “What in the Abyss was that?” Then all three saw Dan’s grenade rolling down the ramp towards them. They ran!

When the grenade went off, the landing craft’s pilot came rushing out from the cockpit to see what was going on, only to receive Dan’s blaster bolt. Dan then stepped past the body to aim through the airlock at the pilot in his seat, shooting him just as he activated a blaring alarm. Thinking quickly, Dan ran to the cockpit and answered the inevitable comm call from the shuttle right next to the landing craft, waving through the window whilst claiming everything was fine.

Calmly powering up the weapons system, Dan then fired both Ion Cannons at the shuttle only 6 meters away from the cannon’s muzzles, frying its controls and sending blue flashes of ionisation energy through every control panel and system aboard. This bought him the time to take off (the engines were still warm from having just landed) and head over towards where the team were. Landing behind them they all began to run into the ship through the still open ramp. Blitz dodged fire from a sniper in the trees nearby, and Heinrich fought off the urge to vomit as he ran.

Once all were inside, uncomfortably jammed into the cockpit so that they could stay in a pressurised section of the ship (the cargo bay door was still hanging open) Dan skilfully piloted the ship to almost full atmospheric speed. Lifting up into low orbit he raced to the other side of the planet Kurleon, then swung out and headed off to hide on one of the planets two moons.

Using the pair of pressure suits in the cockpit, the team repaired the ramp and made themselves at home on board. Two days of re-circulating air and dry army rations later and they all felt brave enough to foray out and see if the Imperials had gone. They had.

Now they risked a subspace transceiver distress call. One week later, in stinking air and very hungry and thirsty, tired of making and hearing complaints about why Dan took the Landing Craft and not the hyperspace capable Lambda class shuttle next to it, a New Republic ship arrived in system and rescued them.

Even though they had no body and no egg-capsule to show as evidence of what the Imperials were doing on Trentor III, Erthran made his report to Coruscant anyway.

The rest of the team were given two weeks leave to recover. Except for Apha, that is - she was arrested and put into a secure military hospital for psych’ evaluation before the military decided what to do with her.

___________________________________________________________

The appendix that follows reveals the back-story Erthran and Igril told the team during their time stuck in the Landing Craft awaiting rescue.
___________________________________________________________

The following information was given to the players who joined at the start of session 2. I turned three NPCs into two PCs and a lone NPC (the traitor)

* Appendix - The background given to the second team

You are a small team of deep cover agents.

The leader is Erthan Drotur [Sullustan pilot], then there is Gernillat Jollek [Human agent] & Igril Hyse [Human agent]

You had been investigating rumours about prisoners being taken away from the privately run Chellfana Prison Moon Facility. Such transfer is contrary to the prison’s contracts with the worlds sending prisoners for containment (although none of those worlds seem to have raised the slightest fuss or begun even preliminary investigations). You then discovered the prisoners were being shipped to Trentor III, an Imperial-held system, so you went there to investigate. This was not easy at all.

The prisoners were being delivered to a planet-side experimental research facility, where you learned a horrible, new technology was being developed - the cloning of human brains (without bodies) and their transplant into other ‘harvested’ humanoid bodies. The rate of production of brains was more rapid and much cheaper compared to full-body cloning, so the process was quicker.

This was the awful fate awaiting the prisoners - their brains were being removed and replaced with cloned brains! (Sickeningly, you also learned that the removed brains were used as a supplementary nutrient for the cloned brains). The Imperial Government of Trentor III is apparently, through this means, supplying considerable numbers of troops and trained personnel to various Imperial forces.

This was serious enough to warrant immediate New Republic intervention. But two worlds were directly involved (Chellfana and Trentor III), and nearly 20 more worlds seemed to be deliberately turning a blind eye (the systems that send prisoners to Chellfana), several being New Republic and allied worlds! This could become a major political scandal, threatening stability and security in this region of space.

With all this in mind Gernillat suggested that you should not to risk a comm-message of any sort but instead should carry word to the Chief of Intelligence personally. Even if you used coded security channels to transmit the information via holonet or subspace communicators there was a possibility the security could be breached - given time an/or resources, any code can be broken.

So you smuggled out an egg capsule as proof, planning to carry it to the NR Chief of Intelligence on Coruscant. You arranged transport on the Archer’s Arm, but this ship had it’s own vital mission to perform, so another vessel (The MoonSurfer) was ordered to rendezvous with you in the Kurleon system to transport you the rest of the way. You were happy about this as it would further obscure your trail. Kurleon seemed a suitably anonymous place for a transfer.

But as soon as the Archer’s Arm arrived at Kurleon, it was attacked by an Imperial cruiser. Although immediately disabled, your ship’s laser fire apparently disabled the cruiser’s forward tractor beams which meant the Imperial cruiser couldn’t hold and blast your vessel at its leisure. The Archer’s Arm then escaped into Kurleon’s atmosphere with a dozen TIE fighters chasing after it. The TIEs did further damage to the Archer’s Arm as it fell ground-ward, but you managed to escape in two of the evacuation pods - you in one, the egg-capsule in the other (you already had it stashed there).

Note - the Egg capsule:
This is an automated ‘womb’ for a transplanted clone-brain and its ‘donor’ body, in which the two undergo a several week melding process. It looks like an enlarged bacta-tank, opaque and speckled black in colour. It delivers nutrients and medicines, and closely monitors the progress of the transplanted brain and bio-response suppressors, maintain the body’s health and fitness through motion inducers and electric currents. It also delivers continual synaptic teaching to the still developing brain. Weak repulsor units with a limited charge capacity in its base allow it to float for short periods of time, so that it can be pushed around. Once moved, the repulsors must be re-charged (using power cables). There is sufficient power in a separate cell to perform incubation and monitoring to ‘full-term’.

You activated your evacuation pod ejection just after hearing a large explosion, thus assuring a cloud of debris to hide you. Erthran even attached weather-capes to the outer door of the two pods so that they would burn as they descended through the atmosphere, giving off a stream of smoke like blasted ship components (evacuation pods don’t usually smoke on descent).

As soon as you hit ground you hurried to the other pod and removed the egg, first using the repulsor units, then when they lost power, rolling it into a cave in a nearby mound of grey-black rock, and did your best to switch the egg-capsule into slumber-mode so that the process of maturation would not be completed while they were away. You hoped the rock would hide the egg-capsule’s energy signature, and covered the tracks you had made.

First you began hunting for signs of habitation by sentient life-forms (either native or off-world settlers), hopefully technological ones, but had no luck.

Then you witnessed another ship crashing to the ground, chased by Imperial Tie fighters. You realised it was probably your rendezvous ship (The MoonSurfer). Who else would arrive in the middle of nowhere at that very moment? So you altered your plans and began hunting for any surviving occupants of that ship, hoping to join forces to assist everyone’s escape.

Following their trail proved easy. You decided these guys must be amateurs - maybe spacers (ship's crew) and not properly trained field agents.


Note re: Gernillat the traitor:

Two of the players admitted at the end of the game that they had suspected there was a double agent amongst them because of the simple fact that the Imperials were waiting for them at their 'secret' rendezvous. When Heinrich saw Gernillat pointing his pistol at him, that was the double agent trying to work out if he should make a move. Up until then he was in mental turmoil. He had revealed the time and place of the rendezvous to his Imperial masters, but instead of taking the NR agents prisoner they simply blasted them, trying to kill them and Gernillat along with them. 'Poor' Gernillat had spent the time afterwards trying to work out what to do - get back in the Empire's 'good books' or throw his lot in with his supposed comrades. Thus his indecisiveness in shooting Heinrich, and his pathetic excuses when Igril turned up.

Final note:
Should I include pictures, maps, photos of models (etc) next time? Or should I post the actual scenario, with stats and background etc?

[Bren]

Thanks for sharing your new campaign start.

[StarPadre]

Oh yeah, I was gonna put that in one of the notes. It was plain and simple player craziness but it did fit the story. The player, like the rest, was a beginner. He has learned his lesson (amazingly) and is trying really hard to actually roleplay his (new) character in the current adventure.

The stormtroopers' armour really was an advantage when it came to the atmospheric taint. If the PCs had had infra-red scopes it would have greatly helped them too - visible range at less than 10m above ground level was about 20m, at which point people became simply fuzzy silhouettes.

[Bren]

[Whill]

Thanks for sharing, Padre!
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[StarPadre]

Padre’s Campaign Adventure 2

Once the mission team’s two weeks R&R was over, they were ordered to report to the NR Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Awakening. There they met with General Ho-Crad and some of his staff officers (technical and tactical experts who liaise with and advise the irregular mission teams).

The General had a new, urgent mission for them.

Mission Background Briefing

Recent intelligence reports have indicated that a large Imperial Weapons Cache could be hidden somewhere on the moon Gohlag 6 in the Villic Sector. The cache is probably similar in size to the one found on Izen’s World by the Imperial High Admiral Yarrit, which contained enough materiel to equip an entire ground force. The armoured legion Yarrit created was used to capture three important resource-rich worlds, and to massacre nearly a hundred thousand sentients on Tyrselland, almost destroying the entire indigenous race.

Yarrit has now absorbed all that remains of the Imperial Forces in the Villic Sector. It is thus highly likely he has learned of the Gohlag 6 cache. Our agents believe he may already have dispatched a small force of Imperial Stormtroopers to reinforce whatever Imperial Army detachment was based there. This cannot be confirmed, as no Imperial transport has been spotted by our spies. We have do not know the size of the stormtrooper detachment, but as they would be guarding a facility built for secrecy and security, which (like the Izen’s World facility) can probably only be opened by high-ranking officers using coded commands, we doubt the dispatched force is substantial.

Reports suggest Admiral Yarrit is currently very busy ‘assessing the loyalty’ of his new Villic sector officers. These include Commodore Hurath, who served the warlord Hannrith Rom until that villain’s recent assassination.

High Admiral Yarrit cannot be allowed to plunder the Gohlag 6 cache. We have agents in every neighbouring system, and have instructed all NR vessels in the region to watch the approaches to Gohlag 6 in addition to performing their primary missions. The aim is to intercept any Imperial officers before they reach the cache, preventing them from opening it up for Yarrit’s heavy transporters to remove the materiel. Success will buy us time to locate the cache and secure its materiel for ourselves. If we cannot do so, then it may prove necessary to destroy the cache simply to prevent its contents falling into the wrong hands.

Why you were chosen:

Your resourcefulness on Kurleon was noted, despite the difficulties caused by a double agent and the murderous spree of a mentally unbalanced individual (Apha). You are to go to Gohlag 6 to provide a last line of defence in a larger operation involving a number of operative teams. If the other teams are successful, then you will be recalled and your mission aborted. If the Imperial officers slip through, however, then you present our last hope in preventing Imperial High Admiral Yarrit from gaining a large advantage in the continuing struggle in the Villic and Girduan sectors and their neighbours.

Mission Specifics

Using the light freighter Lynx (see http://www.rancorpit.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3492), with the purser droid K4TY on board, you are to pick up a cargo haul (Batch ID P-12277685 - L24/EEd - 6Y: Droid parts) from the NR naval freighter Andokray.

Then you will fly to the planet Tatooine and make contact with a Grawdin named Dromm at the Libation Rooms Cantina in Moss Eisley Starport Down. Upon receipt of your cargo, he has agreed to take you to Gohlag 6 in his own vessel. There he will provide you with suitably inconspicuous native transport so that you can travel around without too much interference.

Any further assistance you require from Dromm may be negotiated through the transacted sales of specified goods and services. Your purser droid will be fully briefed in this aspect of the mission and all such deals should be left to it.

As soon as you are able, begin your investigations on Gohlag 6.

Mission objectives

· Obtain information concerning any Imperial approach routes.
· Ascertain the location of any current Imperial activity on the planet.
· Discover the location of the weapon’s cache.

Report all such intelligence on the subspace channel (XTJ332) using the current NR encryption contained in a data pad you will be provided with.

If necessary you are also ordered to:

· Intercept any arriving Imperial officers, and by whatever effective
means at your disposal prevent their access to the cache.

It is possible that the recently dispatched Imperial reinforcements were scanned by someone on the planetary surface and so their current whereabouts might be known by local inhabitants.

Please be aware that as yet we have no information concerning the cache’s location, nor even definite proof it exists. Possible locations range from the sea bottom to a mountain top, from the equatorial deserts to the polar ice fields. It is however possible that some native Gohlagians may possess knowledge concerning its whereabouts.

This briefing is attended by some of our technical and tactical experts, and the opportunity to ask questions and discuss possible plans is thus available.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

When General Ho-Crad left, the other officers said they were ready to answer the team’s questions. Dan took the data pad and on Blitz’s suggestion, he downloaded some information on Gohlag 6.





GOHLAG 6
Additional information compiled for mission team Lynx 24/Eed, from recent surveys & reports.

System:
One of 12 moons around the gas giant Gohlag in the Sertram System. The world is known to its sentient (non-indigenous) inhabitants as MYEDROLAR.

Geography, Indigenous Flora and Fauna:
The great mass of inhabitable land takes the form of a large isthmus stretching between the two giant polar-ice regions. A peninsula reaches out from this isthmus, extending from which are three major islands. Much of Gohlag 6 is mountainous land, between which stretch flat treeless regions: tundra (marshy surface with permafrost beneath) bordering the polar ice; cracked, stony desert in the middle latitudes; and sweeping grasslands in the more equatorial reaches, periodically speckled with the bright colours of seasonal flowers. No indigenous plant life reaches above a metre or so, though some taller off-world flora survive near gardens and dwellings.

The ocean harbours a prolific abundance of life. Myedrolarian myths tell of huge inhabitants of the deep rising (rarely) from the abyss to reveal themselves. Giant sea-snakes coil through the upper waters, while the smaller, younger and fertile of their numbers are protected by them from predators. Younger snakes swim annually up the great rivers to spawn in the rivers and lakes of the mountain regions of the great isthmus and peninsula.

Sentient Life:
Gohlag 6 is the prime colony of the Grawdin and the Rourrh species - two warring peoples who destroyed their respective homeworlds during the pre-Empire period. The incessant warfare has stripped both peoples of much of their resources, and they now live in poor conditions, scavenging upon the remains of their past and selling their services through the galaxy to raise funds for war gear.

The Forever War:
The war seems to have settled into an established pattern, rather formal in nature. Apparently both sides, though unwilling to cease fighting, fear destroying this last world left to their peoples. The weapons employed are restricted in size, the war-zones are static and limited. It has been theorised that each side aims to win by attrition, and that once one side visibly breaks, only then will the battle leave the traditional warzones.

Both sides supplement their fighting forces with droids. All war materiel is imported (mainly cheap, used equipment purchased in bulk from junk shippers) and modified for war in the zones. The Grawdin fight in warrior packs, the Rourrh in fighting clan sub-units. Obsessed with their own struggle, they have very little interest in galactic conflict. Some war-weary Grawdin and Rourrh of failing clans take to the stars as space farers, merchants, hired guards and crew members, though rarely serving in mercenary units: if their will to fight returns they tends to return ‘home’.

Starfaring Myedrolarians do have obligations. Grawdin must pay the War-fifth - a fifth of all profits made provide funds for the home world war. Procurers travel the stars to obtain the fifth and then purchase and ship equipment. Starfaring Rourrh seem to be smaller in number, but send all profits back home in the form of war supplies.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**(Play begins)**
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Heinrich asked for a psych-evaluation of the Grawdin and Rourrh, and learned that they were totally focused on their ritualistic war. The warzone is a blasted region already damaged by the past use of sonic & earthquake weapons, and it is here that they fight every day. They are both proud people, who loathe the foe. The few spacefaring Grawdin and Rourrh are something like self-labelled outcasts, though it is they who bring war materiel for the forever war.

The team also asked about native weapons and vehicles and were told that the Gohlagians of both species used a wide variety of off-world products, many heavily repaired or heavily converted. The Rourrh manufacture their own ‘war-sleds’, and a small off-world company has profited by the manufacture of specialised ‘maze-warfare’ vehicles that they subsequently sold to both sides!

The team also requisitioned (and received) several grenades, weapons, 6 Versatex survival suits.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Having picked up the cargo shipment as instructed, the team made their way to Tatooine in a five day hyperspace jump. On exiting hyperspace they were hailed:

“Hailing ship exiting hyperspace at co-ordinates 14/63-265. Welcome to Tatooine. This is Mos Eisley Spaceport Control. Please state your name, previous port, the purpose of your visit and the duration of your stay.”

Dan told them: “This is the Lynx, last port Dantooine. Our purpose is trade and we wish to stay two days.”

Apparently he had forgotten that the mission instructions were to travel to Gohlag 6 with the Grawdin on their vessel. Luckily the Starport Control Officer assigned a different length of stay.

“Database search commencing … you are clear for Mos Eisley airspace. You are assigned to Bay 39” The data display showed landing co-ordinates and breakdown of prices, including 25 credits per day for the bay. “You are cleared for seven local days’ stay. We are transmitting flight path coordinates now. Do you require an escort?”

Dan said no and piloted the ship down into the bay. When he landed he was prompted over the comm by the docking bay owners (Halliga Holdings) to fill out a cargo manifest within 5 days and transmit it to them so that they could forward it to Spacport Control. Dan agreed (with no intention of doing so).

Several of the team, Igril, Erthran, Heinrich and Tilec, as well as K4TY, now made their way to the Libation Rooms Cantina. As they neared the Cantina, having passed dozens of landing bays, they spotted in the last bay three Rourrh crewmembers standing beneath a Gred-3 pinnace. They were talking with a small humanoid and had not noticed the team. Erthran, too curious to restrain himself walked into the bay intending to speak to the Rourrh, but when they looked at him as if annoyed he had strolled into their bay, he made excuses and left. He did however, due to his very good sense of hearing, make out what they were talking about as he left - they were arranging a trade for war-gear.

The four team members were allowed into the Libation Rooms even though they had blaster pistols, the two heavies at the door (one a Gamorrean) simply waving them past. Inside were various clientele, mostly desert types though some ‘crewers’ of assorted species, and two off-world humans in plasteel armour breastplates, perhaps bounty hunters.

The Grawdin were easily recognisable - four dog-like humanoids, covered in head to toe in fur of various colours, with large ears and teeth-filled snouts. Tilec moved off on his own to the bar so he could keep an eye on thing, while Heinrich give into temptation (being cooped up in a ship for the last five days hadn’t helped) and made his way in to the heavily curtained off back room - the gaming room. So it was left to Igril, Erthran & K4TY to talk to the Grawdin. They identified the leader of the pack, Dromm, and then sat at the table with him and his three packers - Chidrig, Morler and Pang.

Dromm began by asking whether the team had the full consignment of cargo as agreed, then demanded more than just the agreed droid parts, asking for droid customization kits and MK-11 Diagnostic Tools. K4TY the purser droid dealt with this, while Dromm kept glancing at Erthran to confim what the droid was saying. Finally the deal was struck.

Dromm revealed that the NR team were to travel with him and his packers, leaving the starport in an L-KIRD Drop Shuttle, then once in orbit docking onto a Ghtroc Industries Class 1000 Heavy Freighter called the Lassmallor. He would take them to a starport on Myedrolar (Gohlag 6) so that (as agreed in the contract) they could put down unnoticed. Dromm reckoned that it would be more dangerous if the team went on their own ship. Igril, and Erthran did not argue, though Dan would have been annoyed if he had known that travelling in the Lynx was a possibility.

Suddenly there was a growling from the front door. The three Rourhh spotted earlier had entered the Cantina. What followed was a nervous time, with a strange threat display between the two groups of Gohlagians. All four Grawdin leap from their seats and joined in the snarling & growling. Of course, no-one else in the cantina knew that it was merely a threat display, and that Gohlagians save their deadly fighting for their traditional war zone. Everyone was nervous, which was a dangerous situation. The bar man hid himself behind the bar, whilst several others reached for weapons, some bracing themselves, others crouching, others backing towards various potential exits. Erthran signalled some local desert dwellers to take it easy and lower their weapons, while Tiled unsheathed his sword and prepared for trouble. But it all came to an abrupt halt when Dromm and one of the Rourrh simply scratched each other’s cheeks, spattering blood in the process, and then the Rourrh left.

Everyone in the bar relaxed. Most wanted a drink!

Before the Grawdin themselves left Dromm told Erthran to have the cargo delivered to their ship within two hours, and Erthran commed Dan to arrange this. When Heinrich realised the team were leaving, he reluctantly left his gaming table (where he had been busy at Sabbac all that time). He was several hundred credits better off and felt like his luck was good today, but he knew the mission was more important to him.

After two droid-operated hired skiff rides, one for Blitz and the droid parts, and one for the rest of the team and their supplies and equipment, the team was aboard the Grawdins’ L-Kird Drop Shuttle.



Spaceship: DROP SHUTTLE
Craft: L-KIRD 14
Type: Light Cargo Shuttle [Sublight]
Scale: Starfighter
Length: 25m
Skill: Space Transports (Drop Shuttle, L-Kird 14)
Crew: 1
Passengers: 12 (cramped)
Cargo Capacity: 12.5 metric tons
Consumables: 1.5 days
Cost: 165,000 (new); 80,000 (used)
Manoeuv': 1D
Space: 3
Atmosphere: 245; 740 Kmh
Hull: 3D
Shields: 1D
Sensors:
Passive -
Scanners -
Search -
Focus -

Weapons: None



____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The shuttle, operated by Chidrig, took off to follow an automated flight path back to it’s mother ship in orbit, where it docked into a contoured bay on underside of the huge freighter and heavy clamps locked it into place. Now the team had a three day jump to Gohlag 6 in the Sertam system.

Inside there was a second Grawdin pack, but although the team members occasionally saw them, they kept to themselves elsewhere on the ship, not even mingling with Dromm’s pack. Some of the team took the opportunity to take it easy for three days, although the passenger quarters were very minimally equipped, and very basic indeed. Little more than bunks, wash basins and a head. Others took a look around and occasionally talked to the Grawdin. By the end of the three days journey they had discovered that the Lasmallor was carrying other cargos in its very spacious holds: weapons & ammunition, droid parts, vehicle components. Much of it was a mish-mash of 2nd & 3rd hand war-gear, some obviously rebuilt after significant battle damage. Bits & pieces lay scattered all over the hold, like a junk yard, as if machinery had been thrown in, then dragged out, leaving delicate components loose on the floor. Morler was always busy somewhere in these holds, fiddling with components and devices, sometimes aided by Pang. His work involved diagnostic computers, toolboxes, portable power generators & convertors, welding equipment, electronic repair kits etc, so that wire hung everywhere & datapads lay scattered with equipment schematics flickering on their screens.

Hienrich eventually wangled a trade with Chidrig for an Intimidator pistol, which he reckoned was better than the heavy blaster he had pilfered from the Imperials on Kurleon. More importantly, the team also learned a little about Gohlag 6 that interested them. Dromm and Chidrig were the only two who would really talk to them, though even they had to be worked on to get information. The Grawdin were very dismissive of any Imperial presence on their world, for why would Imperials go there. They could see no reason. They told some nasty tales about the Rourrh, showing them to be cruel, sadistic, evil, foul & cowardly. Story after story of massacres, slavery, torture etc. For example, Rourrh destroyed the Grawdin home-world first.

When some sort of weapon’s cache was hinted at, Chidrig and Dromm told a story:

“The only thing I can think of is the story about the Rourrh who went to the mountains. It was a Rourrh fighting unit which broke with honour - but what can one expect? - and who tried to find just such a base in the mountains. They failed, they must have done, because only a fool would believe such a thing. As if getting weapons would be so easy as to find a thousand in a cave. Only a youngster would believe such nonsense.

Anyway, they say the foolish Rourrh came back with their tails between their legs. The unit’s name (he spits) - they are called the Murrdall.”

When the team pressed for more information, Dromm pondered for a moment, perhaps even actually showing some interest in what these off-worlder’s were saying. But then his interest suddenly wanes again, and he mutters the word “Foolish.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Grawdin ’s destination was a settlement called Jargenhew. They and the team rode down to planetary surface in the L-KIRD Drop Shuttle. As they descended through the highest cloud layer they saw below a huge blasted tract of land - a region of canyons and crevices which seemed to have been literally shaken to pieces. They later realised that what then happened was because Chidrig the Pilot had taken the controls to perform a ritual warzone airspace flyover to show his pack’s courage & lack of fear of the Rourrh. The shuttle was coming down vertically right over the war zone. A fighter dropped after them from the clouds above, but the team, looking through the only viewport available - a downward facing one - thought that the ‘incoming-hostile’ warning ringing out from the cockpit was due to a ground launched missile they could see had been launched from the cracked landscape far below. Chidrig’s lack of evasive manoeuvres had everyone terrified, but the missile flew right past them and exploded above - either destroying the fighter or forcing it to spin away.

The shuttle landed in an open landing field on the outskirts of the settlement (major Grawdin settlement nearest to the war zone). The field was part of a spaceport looking like more like a scrap-heap, neighbouring several large factories and workshop repair yards.

Three haulage skiffs with technical teams met them as they touched down, as well as a veritable crowd of Grawdin. What followed was confusing to the team members, none of whom could understand the Grawdin’s language. While Morler and Chidrig were eagerly rummaging through the shipment, Dromm and Pang began handing out various items (apparently without any payment received) to the crowd.

Around the shuttle the port was chaotic: laser welders flashed and cracked, droids and work-teams busily hauled junk heap vehicles around, great cranes lifted half-recognisable vehicles swinging from place to place.

Suddenly a group of six heavily armed Grawdin approached, issuing eery howls as they came near. Dromm and his pack tensde up, as one of the advancing party began growling in the Grawdin language, words pouring rapidly from his sharp-teethed maw. He kept pointing at the others in his pack, and as he did so they began unholstering & unslinging weapons, then shooting them into the air!

Dromm and his crew listened, but did not unholster their own weapons. Suddenly the talkative one stopped speaking. Dromm growled something and Morler and Pang began shoving the crates with weapons and power packs down to the crazy mob, including a crate from the cargo you supplied. The newcomers dragged the crates away towards a battle scarred heavy speeder.

Dan was then taken by Dromm over to one of the workshops and given use of a Speeder Bee. It looked to be a military adaptation, and although it had been re-sprayed in a red paint, Dan could see it had been extensively repaired and patched up. Still, when he jumped into the pilot’s seat and warmed it up, everything seemed to be in order - all systems were apparently functioning optimally. It sure looked like the repairs had been well done.

Craft: Speeder Bee (Cherub Plains Skimmer)
Type: Heavy Speeder
Scale: Speeder
Length: 12m
Skill: Repulsorlift operation: Heavy Speeder
Crew: 1
Crew Skill: Varies, typically repulsor lift opn 3D
Passengers: 6
Cargo Capacity: 1 metric ton
Cover: Full
Altitude Range: Ground - 15m
Cost: 45,000 (new); 24,000 (used)
Manoeuvrability: 2D
Move: 100; 275 Kmh
Body Strength: 3D
Shields: 1D (physical only)

Weapons: Two Laser Cannons (fire linked)
Fire Arc: Front
Skill: Vehicle Blasters
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 25-200/600/1Km
Damage: 4D+1



Dromm now announced to Dan that this was the end of his contractual obligations and he wanted to return to the shuttle to continue with the cargo distribution.

Dan took Dromm in the speeder bee back to the drop shuttle. There the team loaded all their gear and hauled it into the bee. Neither Dromm nor many other Grawdin seemed at all interested in them or what they were doing, though a few eyed the cases and equipment for a moment or two. The constant frantic rush and chaotic pandemonium of the large camp continued around the bee. And all the Grawdin remained fixated on their own tasks and activities.

Once it their stuff packed onto it and they too were on board, Dan raised the bee to gently to hover above the ground. As the team members had been busy lifting and loading, they had been discussing ‘what in the dying stars of Galltron’ they were going to do next.

If it was some Rourrh called the Murdall that were rumoured to know of a weapons’ cache, then they were on the wrong side in this war!

Just as Dan began to ease the vehicle away from the crowd, he noticed Dromm was waving at him, apparently flagging the bee back down. Did he have something more to tell them?

End of session 1

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cut Away Scene (e-mailed to players in between sessions)

First a simple image: a metallic floor with mesh grates and hatches.

Wherever this is, it is a dimly lit place, and quiet. A shadow, unmoving, is cast across the visible section of floor. The vantage point rises, showing more of the floor, and the shadow begins to take shape. Some sort of vehicle? Then the vehicle comes into view - a grey, armoured shell; a heavy turret mounting a sturdy barrelled blaster cannon. It's a mighty repulsorlift tank.

The viewpoint rises even further - there's another tank next to it, and another next to that. Still rising. These are but three in a row of ten, no twenty, no more. Still rising. The row is itself but one among many! This hangar is truly vast, housing row upon row of grey military vehicles sitting silently in the dim light. A line of Command vehicles over to one side, repulsorlift barges and skiffs racked in rows one above the other. And still more - AT-STs carefully stored upon frames, ground assault vehicles by the hundred. And all quiet, all still, all dim. But now there is a light, a small moving beam scanning down one of the myriad rows. A single droid, miniscule amongst the war machines, is making its slow way down one of the armoured avenues. Its sensors sweep across the vehicles, its busy whistling tone is just audible. Behind it floats a little repulsor cart stacked with tools and equipment.

The viewpoint suddenly lifts out through a side opening of the giant hangar, moving back into a large shaft. The vehicles inside have shrunk to the size of bugs, the shaft wall massive. This wall has more openings, through which more armies of 'tiny grey bugs' can just be made out, sitting silently in the dim light within.

Suddenly the scene ends, and the view switches back to the cockpit of the SpeederBee. Dan is putting the vehicle down to see what Dromm has to say.

[StarPadre]

Session 2

When Dromm arrived, the team saw he had a datapad in his hand. Sticking his head through the rear access hatch, the Drawgin spoke:

“You really think the story of the Murdall is true, eh? Well, as you were willing to give us something extra back at Moss Eisley, so … here, I will give you something extra in return. ”

He then brought up a complicated map on his pad, and some map reference coordinates:

“There, that’s War Zone Region 19 - N/O. It’s the last known regional location of the ‘Murdall’.”

The map was crazy, like a puzzle-maze. Dromm could see that the team wanted to know more, so he brought up another view, of a smaller area - much more specific coordinates:

“It’s right on the front line. Here it is, last reported sighting, exact location … Region 19 - area 0:3/5. That was only yesterday evening.”

This map was just like the larger scale one, as if it was merely a repeating, fractal enlargement. Dromm’s face had an utterly unreadable Grawdin expression on it.

“I suppose this means you’re going to have to join in our war now, for how else will you extract the information from the enemy? I won’t tell anyone where you’re going, and as far anyone else is concerned I know nothing of what you intend. Aliens are not supposed to go into the zone. But it’s not that I pity you, it’s because you will have to capture and interrogate the Murdall, filthy Rourrh. Just do one thing for me …” (here he lowered his voice as if worried others might overhear him) “… when you’ve got what you want, don’t leave the Murdall alive.”

Perhaps simply to reassure the Drawgin, most of the team nodded their agreement, though Blitz was quietly thinking he would not act so horribly in a war that was none of his (nor the team’s) business - a war where as far as he could see, neither side was more at fault than the other, neither side was in the right.

Within moments the team sped off towards the war zone, linking the information Dromm had given them to their own geographical data to give them a direction and a distance - several hundred kilometres. Dan tested the Speederbee’s performance, even the weapons (firing in a stretch of wasteland - of which there was more and more as they approached the Myedrolarian War Maze region).

Then, almost by surprise, they found themselves at the edge of the blasted region where the forever war was being fought. At first the rifts in the ground, a wild tangle of criss-crossing cracks, were only a few metres deep, but before long their depth grew to over ten, then over twenty metres. Dan knew that flying the repulsorlift craft above the maze would be a very difficult task, what with the constant need to compensate for the sudden drops below (either having to accelerate to jump every gap in the ground, or ‘hopping’ them by lifting upwards and hoping the subsequent drop would not be severe enough to tip the Speederbee into them). Besides, none of the team were keen to fly where they could be spotted by ‘hostiles’ for miles around. So the only sensible option was to fly within the canyon-like crevices. Dan was thankful for the craft’s considerable manoeuvrability - it’s controls and capabilities meant he could just about steer the thing safely through the maze. Of course, every few minutes he had to compensate for a canyon veering off in the wrong direction by swinging left or right into another branch, repeatedly correcting his course to match the vector he had to take to reach the destination. He soon learned to avoid the smaller canyons, for they nearly always petered out into dead-ends and meant he either had to ‘hop’ over the maze-top to another canyon, or back up and find another way around.

Progress was slow, inevitably, and all the while the team members awaited their first encounter - remembering the slavering growls and bared teeth of the Libation Room’s Cantina. What would these warring races be like when they let loose their desire to slay each other? Ruined buildings crumbled and rusted at the edge of the canyons, while wrecked craft of a bewildering variety lay strewn along the bottom. Yet there were also stretches where there was nothing but barren, crumbling rock and the occasional tangled roots and branches of long-dead vegetation.

Rounding a bend they spotted their first vehicle in the maze - a large repulsorlift craft called a Hasper.



A veritable patchwork of repairs in mismatched colours and welded panels, it was on the maze bottom, and three Grawdin were stood by it.



Dan panicked and steered the Speederbee into the first side-branch he saw, landing it without really knowing why. At the back of the craft, their view obscured by the other team members between them and the driver’s cockpit canopy, Heinrich and Tilec were asking what it was that Dan had seen. Everyone clasped their blasters, all half expecting to be downed by some bolt at any moment. Dan began to describe the craft he had seen, but then stopped and looked back out the transparisteel windscreen.

“Oh, no, here they come!” he shouted, as one of the Grawdin came running through a narrow crevice towards the vehicle.

Blitz decided to bite the bullet and see whether he could get information from the warrior outside. Without the others realising what he was doing, he opened the main access hatch at the rear and stuck his head out.

“Hey, friend!” he shouted.

The Grawdin skid to a halt, his eyes widening in shock. Then he bared his fangs and growled, before spinning around and running off, shouting something incomprehensible to the team members.

“Erm …” said Blitz.

Dan decided he wasn’t sticking around, but also that he wanted to get back into the canyon they had just been in as it coursed through the maze in almost exactly the direction they needed to go. So he raised the Speederbee from the ground, spun it around on the spot and then set off to curve back into the canyon where the Grawdin where. Once there he accelerated, and as he flew over the top of the Hasper, the team could see that one of the Grawdin had run inside the vehicle, while the others simply pointed blaster pistols their way, tracking the Speederbee’s flight.

Erthran, who could see out of the little rear-view screen, wandered aloud: “D’you reckon they’re ‘comming’ someone about us? One of them did just go inside the craft.”

Dan put the thought from his mind and worked on moving the vehicle as fast as he could through the hazardous terrain. Suddenly Erthran announced, “Yes, they were! Here comes trouble!”

A military supply skiff, not overly large, but armed with a blaster on a makeshift turret mounting, had suddenly dropped from the maze top behind them to take a very threatening position on the Speederbee’s tail - especially as the ‘Bee’s blasters were front facing. Four Grawdin crewed the craft, and the one on the gun now employed it to momentarily ionise Dan’s controls as well as overload the ‘Bee’s limited shields.

Tilec was shouting, “Out! I want out!” while Blitz and Erthran pushed the rear canopy open and tried to manoeuvre their long barrelled weapons out. Erthran proved quite the acrobat with his hunting blaster, tossing it deftly upwards between him and Blitz, then catching it and aiming it right at the pursuing craft.

Dan obliged Tilec and put the ‘Bee down. As Tilec quite literally tumbled out of the rear, the Grawdin skiff coursed by on one side, it’s gunner apparently having trouble with his blasters - his aim being way off as he attempted to swivel the barrel around to keep the muzzle aimed at the ‘Bee. The fight that followed was messy. Igril joined Tilec on the ground, landing heavily as Dan tried to lift the ‘Bee back up again and turn it to get a shot at the skiff. Both vehicles, each circling the other like ancient sea-ships jockeying for a broadside, began tearing great holes in the earthy rock of the maze-side, sending showers of stones and superheated dirt into the air, while small arms fire erupted from both sides. Suddenly one of Dan’s shots counted - forcing the Grawdin pilot to attempt to dodge away. The trouble was his craft (hardly designed for manoeuvrability) was already damaged, and so it crashed into the maze side, gouging into the soft rock and then scraping down to hit the bottom hard.

The team members, most of whom had no desire to see what the wounded, aggrieved and frenzied Grawdin warriors might do next, continued a hail of blaster fire while the Tilec and Igril jumped back into the ‘Bee. Dan then accelerated away.

After another half hour or so of cautious flying, after shaking off some sort of spherical droid recon unit, and just as the ‘Bee was speeding down a wide canyon, Dan spotted something odd - little screes of debris were beginning to pour from the canyon rim up above, sliding down the almost vertical walls. Then everyone in the ‘Bee could hear the cause - explosions. It sounded like an aerial bombardment, a bombing sweep. At the rest of the team’s request, Dan nudged the ‘Bee upwards until the cockpit cupola was raised just above the canyon rim. Everyone looked out to see a wing of heavier repulsorlift vehicles (something like Taggecco Battle Speeders), perhaps a dozen in number, engaged on an attack sweep. Behind the line there were more, lighter vehicles, but what they were none could see because the view was obscured by the blasts of smoke bursting out of the maze crevices as the lead vehicles dropped bombs into every one they passed over.

And worst of all, the bombardment was coming their way! Dan ducked the ‘Bee back down into the canyon, then, without after wracking his brains to decide what to do, he swerved it into one of the smaller off-shoot cracks. There was no way he was going to be in a large, easily targeted, canyon when the bombers flew over. Of course, he could have attempted to outrun the wing, maybe get around their flank, but his initial delay had lost him that opportunity. Now he reckoned hiding was the only option, and as the little off shoot narrowed ahead to a point far too small for the ‘Bee to fit through, Dan cared not. He just put the craft down and prayed.

The noise of the blasts grew louder and louder, the ‘Bee shaken so hard that its occupants had to hold on to their seats, while a hail of debris clattered onto the roof until so thick that it almost entirely obscured the view through the transparisteel windows.

Then suddenly the noise, the motion, lessened. The bombing wing had passed over. Dan, Erthran and Blitz pushed the canopy open to scrape off the dirt, while Igril and Tilec opened the rear hatch out of a desire to at least see something of what was outside. Being cooped up in a tin can whilst bombs when off all around was no easy thing.

The dust cloud began to disperse a little, and there behind the ‘Bee, Tilec could see a vehicle - some sort of war sled adorned with images of flames - moving directly towards them.



Before he could shout, they fired a blaster bolt and veered off to the right into another maze-crevice. As the bolt grazed the side of the ‘Bee, Dan shouted, “What in the heavens of Coruscant was that?[/I]”

Tilec, once again, was already jumping out of the rear hatch, so it was Igril who answered, “We were fired on from behind!”

Unseen by the others, Heinrich rolled his eyes and muttered, “You don’t say.”

“Well, I gotta tell ya, this sure ain’t easy,” exclaimed Dan as he began to back the ‘Bee up so that he could turn it in a wider part of the crevice.

Igril began to shout, “Watch out!” but before even the first word was said, Tilec had been knocked the ground and disappeared underneath the reversing repulsorcraft.

“Man down,” she said quietly, entirely aware that there was not much she could do about it right now.

Suddenly another war-sled (or perhaps the same?) appeared behind them, and Blitz shouted, “There’s another one!”



While Erthran tried to repeat his trick of hefting out his blaster rifle, Dan opted for a less subtle manoeuvre - yanking the joystick back hard, he accelerated (backwards) right at the vehicle, colliding forcefully with it and sending the much lighter craft careening into the crevice wall, knocking the two blue furred crewmen almost out of it. As the ‘Bee hit the wall itself and came to a very abrupt halt, Igril held onto a handle by the hatch for dear life, almost being thrown from the vehicle.

Then the first war-sled reappeared (for there were two), this time at the maze top, and sent two blaster bolts down at the ‘Bee, knocking out its weapons system. Dan cursed his luck, and in a moment of despair, knowing that if he fled the scene that would leave Tilec stranded alone in the maze, he allowed the vehicle to drop to the ground.

The maze top vehicle had gone again. Erthran swung his sporting blaster rifle around and took aim at the Rourrh crewmen on the crashed sled, but Tilec, who had leapt up enthusiastically, blade in hand, to attack the Rourrh, momentarily obscured his shot to his first choice of target. Erthran felled the other Rourrh instead, while Tilec and the Rourrh set about each other in hand-to-hand combat.



Heinrich, Blitz and Igril now all exited the ‘Bee and ran out across the maze bottom looking for some way to save their comrades from further trouble. Blitz set his weapon to stun and knocked out the Rourrh who had fallen to Erthran’s shot just as he began to pick himself up again, having only had his fur singed by Erthran’s bolt.

When a new, blue furred warrior appeared up ahead, beyond the crashed sled, leaning around the rock face to give fire from cover, he was greeted by both Heinrich’s and Erthran’s bolts.



He ducked away just as Tirec cut down his opponent, disappearing off down a narrow crevice wide enough only for humanoids. With a roar, and hardly breaking his stride, the new recruit to the team spun around and, sword in hand, bolted after the fleeing Rourrh. Heinrich and Igril followed as best they could.

A short fire-fight later and the Rourrh had been dispatched, their war sled captured intact. Dan was inspecting the damaged weapons system, issuing a steady stream of curses as he realised just how much damage had been done - it wasn’t going to be repaired without spare parts. Not fully anyway. Maybe, with time, he could get one of the (fire-linked) blasters working? Blitz and Heinrich bound up the unconscious Rourrh with cords, arms and legs, and dragged him into the ‘Bee.

Dan shouted, “Let’s get out of here, and now!”

So Erthran leapt into the undamaged war sled, Igril joining him, and powered her up. The two vehicles then moved off, the sled (its blaster still functioning) taking the lead.

Inside the ‘Bee, the wounded Rourrh roused. At first he strained at his fetters, growling, snarling and snapping at his captors, while Blitz and Heinrich tried to get him to talk. They asked about Murdall, they claimed they were not mercenaries fighting for the Grawdin, they promised they meant no harm to the Rourrh. Their prisoner continued his struggles, and the only words he uttered that they could comprehend (being in basic) were curses. But finally, this Rourrh who they had wounded, this warrior whose friends had been mercilessly cut down and whose vehicle had been stolen, and all by a group of aliens riding in a Grawdin craft, went silent.

He seemed to be listening as Heinrich now told him about an Imperial cache and a Rourrh warrior called Murrahal.

[StarPadre]

Session 3

When Heinrich had finished speaking, the Rourrh went quiet for a moment. Finally he spoke in a gruff voice, “If I am to trust you, then you must trust me. Untie me.”

It looked to Blitz that the Rourrh had been convinced by Heinrich’s words. The prisoner spoke calmly, in an accented but clear manner. Heinrich, however, armed with a gambler’s wit when it came to bluff and deception, could see other signs: the strained jaw, the raised fur, the partially extended claws. He knew the Rourrh warrior had absolutely no intention of helping the team. His apparent calm was bluff. In truth he was like a restrained but cunning wild animal, desperate to attack these unwelcome invaders into the Myderolarian forever war at the first opportunity.

Flying lead in the Flaming Claws War Sled, Igril suddenly saw blaster fire overhead, perpendicularly crossing the blue ribbon gap at the maze top. This was immediately followed by the canyon rim bursting forwards, scattering debris down into the crevice below, as a large war sled slid over the weakened edge and careened down the falling scree to come to a violent halt at the maze bottom, its crew tossed forwards into the rubble over the open topped chassis.

Dan, piloting the SpeederBee behind Igril’s sled and quite able to see beyond the smaller craft ahead, was already performing a bootlegger turn, but Igril simply decelerated. Now a much larger part of the maze-top rim, weakened by the blast and the already tumbling fragments, began to tear loose. Igril - cutting it pretty fine - swiftly copied Dan’s manoeuvre to escape being buried in this much larger collapse.

Dan swung into the first maze branch he saw and put his vehicle down about 100 metres from the junction. Igril landed next to him, while Erthan used his com-link to inform everyone that the downed craft was crewed by Rourrh - he had seen their blue fur. (His enhanced Sullustan senses once again proving useful.) Blitz suggested that they really ought to go see if they could help the vehicle’s occupants, then he glanced back at their Rourrh prisoner. As the prisoner could not hear what had been said over the team’s personal ear-piece com-links, Blitz decided to inform him.

“A Rourrh sled just crashed into the canyon back there,” he said. “Now I wanna help, but you know they won’t take kindly to the likes of us appearing on the scene, even if they need help.”

The Rourrh nodded.

“So,” said Heinrich, “how about we untie your legs and you go take a look for us? Then you can tell us how to help.”

Once again their prisoner nodded and Blitz and Heinrich decided to take the chance. As soon as Blitz had cut the cord, the Rourrh leapt up and ran from the Bee’s rear hatch and off to take a look around the corner into the canyon. He quickly turned back to the team and shouted, “They are kittens! Children! They need help. If you are what you say, then will not see them suffer.”

He then sprinted off with Blitz and Heinrich tailing after him. Tilec ran along further behind, while Dan clambered from the ‘Bee and took control of the war sled, with Igril as his passenger. Erthran made his way to the SpeederBee intending to await Dan’s instructions.

The half-buried craft, tipped forwards at a sharp angle, was a strange looking thing indeed. A heavier version of a Rourrh war sled, it took the form of two hollowed wings bolted upon either side of a thin engine, creating two open topped compartments side by side in which the crew and passengers sat or stood. It was (apparently) unarmed, and smoke poured from it, though somewhat obscured by the dust cloud created by the maze-side collapse. There were several young Rourrh, their blue fur a little lighter in shade compared to those the team had seen up until now, with even lighter (almost white) patches on their cheeks. Heinrich could see two pulling themselves from the half-buried vehicle and sliding to the ground, but there was more movement from within, obscured by the rock debris, smoke and dust. The lead pair seemed to be dazed and winded, and neither had visible weapons.

The Rourrh prisoner suddenly slowed for a moment, his head jerking upwards as if he had spotted something, but then he re-doubled his pace towards the youngsters. A moment later both Heinrich and Blitz heard what the Rourh had sensed - the engine hum of a heavy repulsorcraft, growing louder, drawing closer. Suddenly it appeared, slowly but surely floating out of one of the two forks in the canyon up ahead, keeping level with the canyon rim. Huge and grey, it was very obviously a dedicated combat craft, with the just visible shimmer of energy shielding in front of its solid, plated hull. It sported two blaster turrets, one upon its nose (which could see both the maze surface and into the canyon) and one on its belly aiming right down into the depths. It was like nothing Blitz had seen before, and he had seen a lot of combat models in his mercenary career. Clearly specialised for maze warfare, it would surely look ridiculous in any other terrain. Here, however, it was terrifying, like a giant predator very much at home in its ecological niche.

MYEDROLARIAN ARMOURED MAZE SKIMMER

Craft: Heavily Modified Mirdall-Jin Security Plus
Type: Armoured Security Carrier
Scale: Speeder
Length: 19m
Skill: Repulsorlift operation: Security Carrier
Crew: 1, gunners: 2 (can coordinate)
Passengers: 8
Cargo Capacity: 2 metric tons
Cover: Full
Altitude Range: Ground Level-60m
Cost:
Maneuverability: 1D
Move: 75; 210Kmh
Body Strength: 4D+2
Shields: 1D (focusable) plus 2D permanently on ‘top’ arc.

Weapons: 2 Turret Mounted Laser Cannons

Fore
Fire Arc: Front, left, right. .
Crew: 1
Skill: Vehicle blasters
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 50-300/800/1.5Km
Damage: 4D

Belly
Fire Arc: All
Crew: 1
Skill: Vehicle blasters
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 10-50/120/500 (focused for short-range)
Damage: 3D+2

Brief Description
The vehicle has long extendable legs that allow it to land even with a belly turret. These telescopically retract when in flight. Specialised for Myedrolarian maze warfare, this vehicle has a protective upper dome-shaped energy shield to protect it from attack from the maze top whilst it is concentrating on maze-bottom fighting.





Blitz was already using his com-link. “Dan, get round here now. We need the sled’s blaster. Oh, and be ready for some fancy flying. This place is about to get very hot.”

It was possible the maze-skimmer’s Grawdin gunners had not even noticed the little group running towards the heavy war sled - they probably came round that corner intending to finish off a downed sled and that’s what they were going to do. But because of the smoke and rubble they both missed the actual craft, their blasts simply throwing up a lot of debris and smoke. One of them, in the nose turret, had even turned off his fire control hoping for more personal satisfaction from the kill, which was probably the reason for missing such an easy shot. This truly was a war of hate.

Suddenly the Grawdin gunners had another more threatening target, as Dan’s light war sled came screeching into the canyon. As the Rourrh warrior closed in on the younglings staggering away from the crash-site, and Blitz and Heinrich looked around them for some possible escape route, Dan flew his sled right over their heads, firing head on at the maze-skimmer. His blaster bolts were too weak to penetrate the bigger vehicle’s frontally focused shield and armoured hull-plating, but he had already guessed that and was merely hoping to distract the Drawgin crew. In this he was successful as both gunners swivelled their turret-mounted blasters towards him, each firing randomly ground-wards as they rotated simply to keep whoever was below shaken up.

Dan now attempted something that pushed the capabilities of the war sled to the absolute limit - he accelerated right at the maze-skimmer’s nose, even though he knew that once he got there he would be at the sled’s maximum altitude. He had heard speeder bikers boasting of this trick, and now prayed that the light war sled could perform in a like manner. Just as he was about to hit the front gun turret head on he pulled back on the controls, hoping he could ‘bounce’ the sled a few metres higher over the skimmer’s repulsor-field and/or shielding. In all honesty when his trick worked, Dan himself was no less surprised than anyone else. He now found himself flying above the skimmer, his sled bucking and jolting as fields and forces grated and jarred, its skis scraping against several protrusions above the armoured hull.

Needless to say, throughout this manoeuvre Igril held on for dear life, having enough difficulty just keeping her eyes open! Once bouncing along the Skimmer’s spine, she unslung her blaster carbine and, white knuckled, prepared to fire.

By now the skimmer had flown right over the downed sled and the gunners had noticed just how many Rourrh and aliens were running around below. It’s pilot gracefully turned the vehicle almost on the spot, bringing it right around to face the way it had just come. All the while the gunners kept up a steady stream of blaster bolts, forcing the team members to hurl themselves about in desperate attempts to dodge away from harm. Then Heinrich saw a chance. He knew it was a long shot, but he really did not have time to think about it much. Activating a grenade he ran right underneath the craft and leapt into the air, slam dunking the grenade into the belly-blaster’s muzzle. But the grenade was twice the diameter of the barrel and simply bounced off! (Game Note: I rolled 2 for the width of the barrel, the player rolled 5 for the width of his grenade. Ahh, such profligate use of force points!) As he hit the ground heavily, his legs tangling under him, Heinrich desperately rolled away to distance himself from the explosion of his own making.

The Rourrh prisoner was now guiding the two standing younglings away from the craft, while Tilec sprinted towards a third ‘kitten’ who had appeared scrambling from the rear. Inside the grey hulk, entirely confident that a light vehicle like Dan’s sled could not harm them from above, the Grawdin gunners continued merrily blasting away at the little figures beneath, though at the clouds of swirling smoke and dust, illuminated by both flames and energy blasts, made targeting difficult. Nevertheless, Blitz was blasted from his feet (Game note: character points to lessen a bad injury) and hurled into the rubble by the crashed sled. Momentarily dazed, he quickly regained his wits and discovered a strange calm descending upon him. There would be no more running about and confusion. He reached over and picked up his blaster rifle.

Tilec threw himself at the third Rourrh youngling to knock him out of the belly gunner’s line of fire, nearly taking the bolt himself (he felt the warmth of it on his back as he came down). Meanwhile Dan was desperately (and dangerously) flying real close to the maze-wall, straining at the controls and searching for any opportunity to flip the vehicle onto the ‘maze-top’ - not an easy thing, considering the rim was several metres above his maximum altitude in most places. Then (just before a side branch would have thrown him back down into the canyon) he saw it, a slight dip in the terrain. To the sound of Igril screaming, ”What in the heart of a nova are you doing?” he threw the sled out of the crevice and onto the natural planetary surface of the maze top.

Blitz, lying on his back in the rubble now hefted his blaster rifle (with scope) to his shoulder and took aim at the belly gun turret, still calm, despite the mayhem around him. His entire mind was on the task in hand, his whole spirit willing the gunner to turn the muzzle in his direction. ”Come on,” he whispered, “see me!”

The Rourrh prisoner had spotted a crack in the maze wall just big enough for a single humanoid to squeeze through and now ushered the two younglings towards it. Heinrich got back to his feet shouting: “Yes, there! Good idea! Go, go, go!”

Tilec heard Heinrich’s cry and yanked up the young Rourrh he had just saved. The youngster proved too heavy to carry, so Tilec dragged him across the maze bottom towards the gap into which the other pair of younglings were about to disappear.

Then, it happened. The belly gunner swung his blaster towards Blitz, the muzzle of his vehicle blaster suddenly appearing right in the centre of Blitz’s scope! A split second later Blitz (already having the trigger squeezed to the very point of engaging the weapon) with the gentlest flex of his finger sent a bolt right down the turret blaster’s barrel. The Maze Skimmer’s front focused shield didn’t deflect his shot, maybe because of the angle from which he fired? Or maybe it was because that was the very moment the vehicle was about to fire and the shield momentarily flickered off? Nor was its armour plating going to absorb energy going the wrong way down a gun barrel. Blitz’s bolt met the outgoing bolt from the gun and prematurely exploded it, so that the turret had effectively shot itself! An explosion tore the turret apart, killing the gunner instantly, and ripping into the main structure too, violently shaking the entire craft. Not only this, but the energy discharge shorted out the frontal turret’s weapon system too! (Game Note 1: A complication came up in the reduced body-strength roll. Game Note 2: Now that’s how to spend a force point! Not that it affected the damage roll, but let’s face it, I could hardly apply the skimmers full body strength to and explosion that was taking place partly inside its superstructure.)

Moments later and nearly everyone was taking cover inside the little cleft the Rourrh had found. Dan, fearing that the skimmer might land troops to finish the job off, swung his sled around and back down into the canyon, onto the Skimmer’s tail. The skimmer, however, was not landing, it was getting out of there, smoke billowing out of the gaping hole in its belly. Igril shouted, then grabbed at Dan, pleading with him to leave them be. In the end his fighter-pilot’s warrior instinct gave way to common sense and decency and he turned away, not knowing that in that instant the skimmer’s belly access hatch, rear facing, was beginning to descend, behind which two blaster rifle armed Grawdin fully intended to blow their pursuers to pieces. By the time they could get a proper shot, Dan’s sled was already gone!

Erthran picked up the rest of the team, and both vehicles, under the Rourrh prisoner’s guidance, made their way to a nearby safe spot, under a concealing over-hang of rock.

The Rourrh warrior, who now gave his name as Figrall, tended to the younglings with the medpacs Blitz gave him, and before long, everyone was sitting quietly, exhausted, listening to the younglings explain themselves (in Basic) to Figrall. They had been out to ‘prove’ themselves as warriors, spurred on by the holovids glorifying the forever war, loosely intending to surprise and defeat some Grawdin, and if they could not find them, then at least obtain some salvageable war gear from the maze. No doubt they would then have taken their punishment but enjoyed boasting to their friends of their bravery. But (surprise) they got themselves utterly lost and then began having difficulties with their war sled. They went up to the maze top to look for landmarks and that’s when they were attacked and downed by the Grawdin Maze Skimmer.

After berating the younglings, Figrall turned to the team members and spoke quietly, “Before … I did not hear you. My blood hatred was so strong I could not comprehend you words, only restrain my anger so you would not see my fury. But here you have proved yourselves not to be enemies of the Rourrh, just fools in the wrong place at the wrong time. I owe you thanks for saving these kittens, so … what was it you said before? What do you seek?”

For the second time, Heinrich told Figrall about the rumours of a cache, and the names Murdall and Murrahal. That was when one of the young Rourrh got excited and started to speak fast.

“The Murdall? You’re looking for them?” he blurted. “Murrahal is the best. The Murdall were the best we ever had - and we’ve had lots of great fighters. Murrahal is the only survivor. Everyone’s heard the story of a thousand alien weapons hidden in the high peaks of the coldest mountains. ‘Course, there’s no real honour-value in the capture of such weapons, because no Grawdin would die. But the Murdall, they thought it would help us win the war, they thought it was worthwhile mission. Besides, they already had honour enough. They defeated the Graggat …”

Here another young Rourrh interrupted: “They brought down the Maze Snake![/i]”

Then the first continued, “They were at the front during the great fire, and they rode the flames in a war-sled. They’d done all in their power, and it wasn’t enough. Now they were hardly likely to take to the stars …”

Once again interruption: “Not the Murdall.”

“… for they were still a full fighting unit. So they went on the quest. They’d heard the stories of other Rourrh travelling into the mountains, most never to return, and only one lone Rourrh who did. He came back insane, babbling about comrades frozen like statues in the ice. The stories say the same happened to the Murdall - after five weeks in the mountains only Murrahal returned. He wasn’t mad, but he didn’t say much, only that there was no honour in attempting to loot such gear.”

“So what,” Heinrich asked, “did he do?”

“Well, he wouldn’t join another clan, even though many were willing to have him. Instead he became a Weapon Lord. He’s really famous. He fights alone, his artificials, his war-droids, are like a sword arm to him, like his own claws. He wields so many weapons the enemy think an entire fighting unit is upon then. They believe the whole of the Murdall still lives.”

The revelations were followed by quiet, only the hum of the Bee’s engines could be heard. Finally Blitz said. “Yeah, that’s the guy. We’ve gotta find him, speak to him.”

Figrall rolled his eyes. “And how will you do that? Look what happened when you ‘approached’ us? Murrahal will tear you apart.”

The third young Rourrh now spoke. “We could go with you and join Murrahal’s fight against the Drawgin. Prove ourselves worthy and …”

“You, foolish youth,” growled Figrall, “are going nowhere but home. You are not yet ready for the warzone and I for one will not let you blunder around it to your deaths.”

The second youngling piped up: “Maybe we could find out Murrahal’s battle signal …”

Figrall’s growl grew louder. “If you think I will allow these off-worlders to know such a thing, then you are …”

“But Murahal can change his signal afterwards then the off-worlders won’t know it any more!”

Figrall went quiet.

Then the first youngling said, “Figrall, you should go with them. You can approach Murrahal in their stead. He’ll listen to you.”

Several minutes later an agreement was reached. The team would take the younglings back to a safe zone, and then Figrall would accompany them back into the maze. He would take them to Murrahal.

[StarPadre]

Session 4

The next day

It turned out that Murrahal was right in the thick of the fighting, having punched deep into a Grawdin-held region. Getting to him was not easy. Figrall navigated the route, as per the agreement, but several times Dan was forced to fly a little faster than he would have liked in such terrain, simply to avoid getting caught up in frantic fire-fights along the way. Eventually Figrall stopped pointing the way and started to peer out of the windscreen.

“He’s here somewhere,” he announced.

Dan glanced at his datapad and saw that they were only 2 kilometres from the location Drom had given him.

Suddenly a lone battle droid appeared before them, just as the ‘Bee came curving around a bend in one of the larger canyons. It was a bulky model, bearing several weapons, and looked to Dan to be eminently capable of taking on a vehicle such as the ‘Bee. It seemed to think so as well, for it raised its blaster arm to target the approaching craft.

“Hold on everybody!” shouted Dan and accelerated the SpeederBee into a side-canyon. Not quite quick enough, however, and everyone felt a jolt as blaster energy impacted on the underside.

“Bit close there, Dan,” said Tilec unhelpfully. “Your mount giving you trouble?”

Dan wasn’t listening. He gunned the ‘Bee onwards to put some distance between him and the droid. The trouble was the smaller canyon was a dead end! Stopping wasn’t an option - the droid could quickly get a line of sight on them again if they stayed here - so Dan pulled hard on the joystick and pushed the engines to the max until they squealed with the strain. It wasn’t speed he was after, but height, and it was just enough. He managed to gain the maze top.

He could not stay up there long, however, as the ‘Bee could be seen for kilometres around.

“Figrall,” he said. “You need to do your thing, and now. Get on the comm and tell them we’re friendlies.”

Figrall did not waste time answering, but began tapping out a code on the comm panel - the first part of the protocol for linking into local Rourrh battle communications. By necessity it wasn’t a speedy process, for if it had been, then the Grawdin could more easily masquerade as Rourrh to gain battle advantage.

“Another one!” blurted Dan as he spotted a droid very similar to the first, this time on the maze top. Hoping the others were still holding on, he turned the ‘Bee sharply towards the canyon edge and let the nose slip over. At first the ‘Bee dropped uncontrollably (and in a manner that made Dan wonder how badly she had been damaged by the last bolt), but then the repulsors found purchase and she levelled out.

Boom! Another bolt hit them hard, this time causing smoke and sparks inside the cabin.

“Hey,” shouted Erthran. “Don’t let them damage our ride!”

Too late, thought Dan. He could feel the controls slipping as the Bee’s manoeuvrability systems were failing. No computer was going to help him now, he realised. He would just have to fly this thing the hard way - the old fashioned way. The canyon ahead curved in such a way to suggest it would join the larger canyon the first droid had been in. Dan decided that was what he wanted. These droids had to the Murdall, and that meant Murrahal was here somewhere.

“How are you doing?” Dan asked Figrall.

“Nearly there,” came the growled reply, as the Rourrh lifted the microphone to his lips.

Now a third bolt flew overhead, probably from the maze top droid. Erthran had been looking out of the rear view-screen and had a moment of true fear as the bolt seemed to be heading straight at him (a fear that went deeper into him than perhaps he realised). Just as he was about to say, “That was close,” another bolt hit the ‘Bee in the side, tipping the craft over perpendicularly.

Erthran, clutching at the hand-holds tight, watched in terror as the maze side suddenly took the place of the sky. Sparks and heat washed into the passenger cabin, the noise of the blast joining with the whine of the overworked engines as well as the sound of Igril screaming: a loud and rather unfortunately timed cacophony of noise, for Figrall had been at the final part of the comm protocol, the moment when he had to speak a certain ‘field-word’. Even he couldn’t hear what he said, so there was no way anyone on the other end would have heard him. He growled his frustration, and knew he would have to start over!

Dan now saw that they were passing the mouth of the first canyon. He knew this because he could see the first droid - it had been tracking his circular course and working to match him. He could also see it was about to fire again. Instinctively, he yanked on the controls to escape, but this time they were a lot less responsive and he felt the ‘Bee slip out of his control. This was no gentle drift, this was a high speed side-slip towards a stretch of canyon wall between two branches.

Dan had a split second, no more, to coax some sort of response out of the controls. If he failed, and it was very likely he would do so, the ‘Bee would hit the rock face side on and very hard. Bad for the ‘Bee; bad - possibly fatally so - for everyone inside.

(Game Note: A very difficult manoeuvre needing a roll of 23. Dan had lost all of the repulsorlift’s manoeuvrability dice, and was on third action so at -2D to his 4D repulsorlift skill. He rolled 2D, the wild came up a 6. Then another 6, etc, and so on. Until he scored a total of 24! Passed. No character dice. No force point use. Amazing. 24 on 2D)

Somehow, and to this day Dan cannot tell you how, he tore the ‘Bee out of its sideways collision course and swung her around and down to settle (ungainly) on the maze bottom, right in the middle of the junction of three major canyons and two minor ones.

Tilec, who had been trying to exit the crazily bucking craft for some moments now, finally pushed the rear doors open and tumbled out. The impact hurt, but he did not care. He was on terra firma, and he felt like he should kiss the ground.

Feeling like he needed air, Erthran pushed the rear-facing cockpit screen open just as Dan threw the forward one open. Blitz crouched down at the now open rear door, his blaster rifle at the ready, and squinted out into mix of sunlight and dark shadows, looking beyond Tilec (who was laughing and coughing at the same time, brushing dust off his sleeves) to see what was out there. Figrall was still busy with the comm and at last repeated the crucial Rourrh growl-word. Then he looked up. “It’s done.”

Then they appeared - four heavy battle droids, from all sides. Dan, Blitz and Erthran all saw the muzzles of repeating blasters aimed at them, and all knew the accuracy of battle droids. Blitz now wondered whether they should also have told Figrall to say which vehicle was transmitting the code word - all that any Rourrh in the area currently knew was that there were other Rourrh nearby, not what vehicle they were in. Tilec drew his sword so that he would have blaster in one hand, sword in the other. Somehow just holding them reassured him, though he had no idea whether either could hurt these armoured machine warriors.

In that moment of suddenly drying throats and widening eyes, Figrall looked up at the maze-top ridge, towards the rusted ruins of a metallic structure perched on the very edge, and shouted: “Ho!”

Much to the team members’ surprise, all four droids lowered their weapons, and everyone followed Figrall’s gaze to see who he was talking to. A cloaked figure in a bronze helmet and heavy armour, looking like a character from a youngsters’ holo-vid adventure story of ‘days of old’, was looking down at them.

“You,” the newcomer growled, “You gave the code word?”

Figrall answered affirmatively with a Rourrh growl-word. Then added a name all the team members could recognise, “Murrahal?”

With his cloak flapping heroically in the breeze, the Rourrh warrior lifted his visor up to look upon them with his own eyes. “That I am,” he answered. “What do you want of me? And why bring these off-worlders here?”

Figrall was about to answer when the conversation was somewhat rudely and abruptly interrupted by a group less inclined to speak - three crazy Grawdin warriors came barrelling around the corner from a side-branch, firing a flurry of wild blasts at the war droids, whilst another two hurtled above on rocket packs towards the maze-top ridge on the opposite side of the canyon junction to Murrahal.

Blitz, who had yet to remove the butt of his blaster rifle from his shoulder - deliberately deciding that he would not do so until he was certain they were safe, and there were few places in this insane war maze that felt safe - began shooting. He was joined by Erthran who spun around in the rear cockpit to do so.

A criss-crossing storm of blaster bolts came from both sides - droids, Grawdin, team members, even Igril (inside the ‘Bee) was shooting, her muzzle discharging deadly bolts right next to Blitz’s head. Luckily his helmet protected him! Dan ducked down into the cockpit, then threw his hands to his face when he felt a stray bolt hit the ‘Bee. How much more could she take? Apparently forgetting the danger, he began to climb out to see the extent of the damage.

Tilec ignored the three warriors charging on foot, knowing their action was suicidal considering the number of blaster armed droids and agents they faced. Instead he looked up. One of the two rocket packers had overshot the ridge and was now attempting to add an extra blast of thrust to alter his downward flight into one that could reach the ridge on the other side. Tilec could not help himself and watched the Grawdin’s efforts with fascination. To his less technological eyes it was like something in a dream: a dog-man strapped to a firework, bucking and lurching around impossibly in a strip of bright, blue sky. Suddenly he noticed a shadow fall over him, and realised the other rocket-packer was directly above him. Throwing himself towards the rock face, so that his attacker could no longer see him, he heard the bolt that could have killed him thump into the ground. Angry (perhaps with himself) he rolled back out and fired his own blaster pistol upwards, hitting the warrior square in the chest. As the wounded rocket-packer tumbled over the edge and down into the canyon, Tilec had to roll back the rock side once more. The sound made by the Grawdin’s fall was horribly different to the sound of the blast a moment before.

The three charging warriors were all taken down, having only grazed one of the battle droids in their battle-rage. Erthran killed one of them with a head shot, taking great satisfaction in aiming deliberately at the bewildered Grawdin’s head! A shiver went through him when the deed was done. Curse them and all their kind and any one else who thinks to shoot at me, he thought. I’ll take all their heads off if I have too. He did not realise just how much he was letting his fear rule him.

Of course, no-one noticed what he had done. No-one knew he had deliberately gone for the Grawdin’s head. And he himself did not care that the Grawdin was in many ways an innocent - certainly in light of the great struggle for the New Republic. So what if this Myedrolarian conflict was restricted to Grawdin and Rourrh, and neither side was more culpable than the other, and neither side was an enemy to the New Republic, and the team members had no right to be here in their maze? So what if he took pleasure in killing them as brutally as possible?

(Game note: Except Erthran is force sensitive and a character point was used to achieve this shot and the GM decided such cruelty, done with such glee, must have been the at the urging of the Dark Side. Thus one Dark Side point was accordingly awarded.)

The last Grawdin warrior, the struggling rocket-packer, found himself knocked sideways by the blast of a grenade launched by one of the war droids, and then was killed very definitely by a flurry of blaster bolts from several sources.

A moment passed in which everyone scanned around for any more Grawdin, then suddenly Murrahal reappeared. “Move!” he ordered. “Follow the droids.”

This everyone was happy to do, except for Dan who didn’t want to leave the ‘Bee behind. There really didn’t appear to be any other option though.

(Game note: The Bee had received a total of 4 ‘Move’ hits. It was going nowhere.)

The droids fanned out and escorted the team to a safe spot, a little hidden camp (quite an easy thing to create in a maze) where Murrahal joined them in a droid-piloted war sled. Tool kits, ammo packs, datapads and supplies were scattered all around. After introductions and explanations, the team members were invited to eat. They found the salted flesh-meat almost palatable, but after watching Tilec spit out the red, sticky contents of a drinking pouch, they chose to drink their own water. (Rourrh drank blood!) After a lot of persuading by Figrall, Murrahal told them a story.

"You want to know what happened when we went into the mountains looking for the hidden weapons? I’ll tell you.

"We prepared carefully, expecting to spend a long time in that frozen land. No orbital sensor sweeps ever revealed anything; no-one had the slightest idea whether the place even really existed, certainly not where it was. But we were lucky, and after only three weeks scouring the mountains, just when I was about to voice my doubts about the whole enterprise, we spotted a lone shuttle winding its way through the mountain valleys, keeping low - like it wanted to shake off any potential pursuers, or avoid surface sensors. Our leader, Irraghar, took one of our white-painted War Sleds and followed the shuttle to the base, then he comm’d the rest of us to join him.

"We landed far enough away to remain undetected, which was still close as we reckoned the base only had passive sensors - active ones would give away their position - and continued on foot. Two of our warriors, Ybrrar and Chargreg, both brave fighters, died in a accident climbing an almost sheer rock face to reach the concealed tunnel entrance into which the shuttle had disappeared. So only six of us entered. The climb through the tunnel was not easy, but eventually we arrived at the end, a mouth in the side of a giant shaft plummeting deep down through the body of the mountain. Using a pair of jetpacks we risked detection and crossed to a bridge extending out from a huge access portal many hundreds of metres below us.

"There we saw before us surely the greatest collection of weapons ever hoarded. The thought of was dizzying, for we’d seen other portals just like this one further down the shaft. If we could just steal one fighting vehicle each we would have been satisfied. Perhaps we could even return to take more. It was not to be, however, for we couldn’t, even with our many skills, power up the vehicles - vital power couplings had been removed from every single one of them. We scoured in a wider and wider arc to find suitable parts, and eventually, as we should have expected, were spotted by a pair of caretaker-droids. We destroyed them quickly, but they must have alerted the guards to our presence, for almost immediately grey-uniformed human soldiers came rushing into the massive storehouse and a hard fight began.

"We fought well, the humans badly, but weight of numbers was against us. Irraghar, our leader, ordered me to leave, as I was wearing a jet pack, that one of us might at least regain our unit’s lost honour by fighting as a Weapon Lord. I have kept our name and battle﷓honours alive, and ensured we are remembered for our worthy deeds and not this last, dishonourable failure. As I left the great portal I saw the grey soldiers swarm at my unit’s position, their blasters flashing furiously. No﷓one could have survived."

More persuasion followed, in which the team members suggested that going back to the weapons’ cache was a chance for him, as the last (living) survivor of the Murdall, to salvage his reputation, to turn a failed enterprise in the Murdall’s history into one which ultimately succeeds. The deal was sealed when Figrall and Murrahal both realised that they could take some of the vehicles out of the cache facility - Murrahal would show the team the way, but they wanted their pick of what lay within. (Several of the team had great doubts about whether they should allow this, but this did not seem like the right time to voice them!)

Several hours later (Game Note: and several very lucky repair rolls with Murrahal, Figrall and especially Dan working together on the ‘Bee) and the team were ready to go.

Simply a matter of a 3500km journey over open sea to the freezing north polar mountainous region in a hastily repaired repulsor vehicle!