Bail out of Jail

[Random_Axe]

Situation is this: the ISB has just been instated, and the first feather in their cap is the arrest of the traitor Bail Organa of Alderaan. Proof of his Crimes Against The Empire is his hiring and support of a team of rebel spies and instigators (ie. the party of PCs), caught on video evading Imperial arrest, shooting at stormtroopers, and stealing a starship (all true, from one of their last adventures).

The party is approached by members of the Royal Family pleading for them to do what they can to free the Senator from the Empire's clutches. The party is only three PCs, not very experienced, but I want to give them a shot at doing something to strike against the Empire (instead of always running or hiding from them) and free their greatest benefactor (not to mention a known hero of freedom).

What would you do to set up an encounter or mission for the PCs to undertake that would be realistic for a party of 3 to pull off? What setting would you use? I'm thinking of getting them to pull some sabotage on the Imperial Prison ship at a refueling station, forcing the ship into a delay or detour where it can be hit by a team of regular Rebel soldiers who can do the extremely dangerous rescue operation. The trick will be that they have to achieve their objective before the prison ship reaches its final destination at Coruscant (for instance) where he will be unreachable.

[garhkal]

Well first off they would need to strike at some source of information on which imperial ship he is being transported on, as well as its flight path. Perhaps some good bargaining/conning can help out here, or bribes.
Then get into the hanger bay the ship is hold up in ahead of the prison guards to plant a tracker, or some other device to signal the rebellion where it goes.
Then potentially they could stock a small combat worthy freighter, so when the rest of the rebellion comes in to free Bail, they can run cover..
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[DougRed4]

My thought also was a hit the prison ship somewhere along the way there (to Coruscant or wherever).

The most vulnerable part of any prisoner transport is the actual transit itself. Organa will be at his most secure/hardest to be rescued at the place he's currently incarcerated and again when he gets to his final destination, so the key should be hitting him somewhere in-between (which can be done by sabotage or by infiltrating a ship or a full-scale assault by Rebel forces (the PCs being one ship of many).
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[garhkal]

But as i mentioned, to do said raid they need to set it up by first finding out which ship is being used, what route it takes, when etc.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[DougRed4]

Absolutely, garhkal. And my post was meant to be complementary to it, as opposed to in contradiction to it. I completely agree that the intel for such a transport could be a mission in itself.
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[Random_Axe]

Good three-part structure, uncover the flight path, then intercept the flight path and stall or redirect the ship, then attack the ship.

One wrinkle is that the arrest happened while the PCs were off-world and so they don't find out about the event until some time after. I suppose to make up for the time differential (ie. so that the characters don't arrive far too late to do anything constructive before Organa arrives at Coruscant), I could have the Imperial cruiser carrying the senator, doing a "victory lap" around some of the important nearby Mid-Rim sectors, flaunting their triumph to impress the back lots before bringing it all home.

That will give me (and them) a lot of opportunity to chase after the cruiser and find ways to determine their final flight paths before he finally disappears for good.

[garhkal]

Or the imperials could be using that 'victory' lap as a lure to wheel in rebels.. Sort of a trap.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[lurker]

Yeah, there are lots of good ideas here on the mission.

As a 3 man team, there isn't a lot the can do (unless they are experienced, or very lucky) if the plan is to kick in the door, throw crashers, and shoot your way in and out. However, there is a lot a small team can do when they are clever (and very lucky). Real world, I in a 8ish man recon team could go places and do missions where a whole platoon or company would fail. Why because we went in at night, quietly and were in and finished before things turned bad. (That said, if things do go side ways, now you are a hand full of guys fighting off way more than you can handle and praying that the QRF makes it to you in time).

With that, you could have them be the team to get the flight plans and have to get it to HQ in time, or be the ones to find out exactly where the ambush is (it has to be assumed it is a trap by anyone) and have to knock out the coms repeater that will be used to call in the Imperial heavy hitters that are the teeth of the trap, or .... the list can go on and on. Just set back think a bit and have fun with it.

Now, once you have your plan, do a reality check on it. Will a single bad roll or a dreaded 1 on a wild dice screw everything up and doom the whole mission to failure. (I'm pointing this out because in the game I'm in, I am horrid at being the guy that tosses 1s and a lot of them at once). If so, figure out a round about way for them to make it through and have their bad luck not get everyone killed. Of course, that is if you don't want it to realistic. In real life there are moments of shear bad luck that set things in motion where good guys don't make it out, and missions fail completely (Black hawk down, a missed fast rope = lots of rangers dead, etc etc etc). If you and your group are comfortable with that level of reality/danger, great! Tell them to grab their boots, pull them on tight and go for it.
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"And so I am become a knight of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows!" - Mark Twain

Forgive all spelling errors.

[garhkal]

Good point. Quality check the plan out. Give 2-3 possible routes out, maybe even hiding one in plain sight (tactics roll to see it) so that they can get out of dodge if the going gets tough. BUT also plan what the imperials response is going to be should the party get bogged down.
DO they want prisoners? Are there uppers who want the publicity of dangling bodies in front of the masses pushing the agenda.
Is one of the imperials in charge under pressure from elsewhere to show concrete results at their hammering o the rebellion that can only come from hard intelligence, which would have to come from captured and tortured rebels, or are they more interested in showing # of dead rebels..
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Ral_Brelt]

Working on the bogged down idea..is there a party foil that really has no real issue with the party other than the players behind the characters? Someone that you intended as an ally, but the players set at odds against? I ask because you could ace in the hole this NPC to save the PCs bacon last minute and put some polish on the relationship at the same time.

[garhkal]

That sounds like a little too Deus Exing things for me.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Random_Axe]

The PC's will be instrumental in the first two parts of the mission, but they won't be the driving force behind the actual attack, once it happens (that isn't their style or their usual shtick).

I think there will be a larger paramilitary team hired to do the hit, and the party may be involved peripherally, or as was suggested earlier, probably as a diversionary force to mask the actual attack. In other words, their role in the actual extraction won't be central, they will just have set up the intel for the attack.

And as far as the "foil" goes, there is a rival of one of the PCs working for the ISB Chairman, and it may be likely that he will show up at some point to drive the PCs crazy and draw them further into the fight...

[DougRed4]

It sounds like you've done a great job of tailoring your mission to the strengths and abilities of your characters.

Great job, Random_Axe! 8)
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[Random_Axe]

Circumstances leading up to this adventure have changed slightly, such that I think it will be easier for me to set up the set of smaller missions.

As it turns out, the party is already planning on returning to Alderaan, I can have the arrest and public announcements (denouncements) take place with the characters actually present. I envision a funny scene where the announcer shows mugshots and pictures of the PCs as they are all standing around a public address monitor, and slowly people in the crowd turn to the dumbfounded PCs in recognition...

Anyway, it looks like it will be a little simpler and more logical (and more urgent) to set up the infiltration scenes to locate the ID signals and flight path of the Imperial transport vessel, and then have them go on a run to deliver that intel to a qualified set of rebel commandos.