So I've been running my Edge of the Empire campaign for some time now and recently wrapped up the first 'season' in order to give myself a rest and allow other members of my RP group to run or take part in other games. I've GM'd plenty of times before but this was my first go at writing something for the Star Wars universe. I've seen the movies and I've read a lot of the extended universe stuff but I decided to keep things as simple as possible as there were people in my group who had only seen the original trilogy.

I decided to set the campaign about a month after the events of A New Hope. The Death Star has been destroyed and Imperial controlled news networks are blaming the Rebellion for the destruction of Alderran. The Emperor has launched a new campaign aimed at bringing 'peace and security' to the Outer rim while hunting down the 'Rebel terrorists'. The campaign opens on the world of Terminus which is a last port of call before Wild Space with the party having got themselves into hot water with the new Imperial presence in the system....

The characters that we had for the campaign were...

Zaq - A Rodian bounty hunter. His father owes a lot of money to the Hutts and he's come to Terminus in search of contracts to hunt.

Leane - A Human explorer. She has just returned from an expediditon in Wild Space and is trying to earn enough credits to pay for her fathers medical bills.

Harrkyn - A force sensitive Human pilot. He's on the Outer Rim looking for his mother who disappeared many years ago.

X4N-101-MD - A former medical Droid. Now working as a mechanic and on the run from the corperation that built him.

Chellruke - A young female Twi'lek who has turned her hand to stealing in order to provide for herself and her younger sister Cell.

....................................................................................

Episode 1 - A Bad Deal

The story opened with the party in an Imperial stockade having been arrested for various trivial offences on Terminus. They'd been given a quick show trial and were going to be shipped out to work as slave labour in one of the Core systems. They were loaded onto a prison transport but were suprised to discover that they were released the moment that they left the planet. Upon gaining access to the cockpit they encountered a droid calling himself T5-D1 who told them he'd been sent by his 'employer' to invite them to a meeting. Although the party was suspicious they agreed to go along with the droid as the alternative was to be returned to Terminus and back into the hands of the Empire.

The transport dropped out of hyperspace on the edge of an uncharted star system that seemed to contain little more than asteroid belts and a white dwarf star. The party quickly realised that there was more to the system than meets the eye as the transport lands on an old, decaying space station that silently orbits the dying star. T5-D1 informs them that they've arrived before completly shutting down. The party explored the abandoned station until they came across a working turbolift that took them up to the observation deck where it becomes obvious that the decaying parts of the staion are a facarde to hide it's true purpose.

They meet an elderly human who introduces himself as the Commander of Staves. He tells the party that he works for a man called the Dealer who is interested in aquiring their services. He is offering a place in his organisation in return for his 'help' with various problems that he knows the party are facing. The Commander tells the party that they aren't the only people the Dealer has approached and that they are going to have to compete with these other parties in order to gain admitance to the organisation.

After some negotiations the party agree to the terms and are told that there is a strongbox in the vault of the Cloud Nine casino on Bespins's Cloud City which they need to recover. They are told that they aren't allowed to harm any casino employees or citizens of Cloud City but there are no rules governing competition between teams. The winner will be the team to get the strongbox and return it to the Commander. He tells the party that each group has a 'sponsor' already on Cloud City who will provide backup. He tells them their sponsor is called Risa, the Nine of Staves.

The party are provided with a YT-1300 freighter by the name of The Queen of Air and Darkness to get them to Cloud City as the other teams have already left for Bespin. Unfortunatly in their haste the party makes a major navigational error during the hyperspace jump and end up in the Hoth system which wastes valuable time. Arriving at Bespin the party walk straight off the ship and into an ambush...

......................................................................................

That brought the first session to a close. I decided to keep things fairly simple to allow people to get used to the system so I ended things on a cliff hanger with a bunch of thugs disguised as station staff ambusing the party in the hanger bay. Obviously one of the other teams after the strongbox likes to play rough. Everybody was happy with their characters and we had some interesting party dynamics appearing (Cell being an NPC who tagged 'round after her big sister, MD who was paranoid that Zaq was going to find out he had a bounty on his head and Harrkyn who disliked Corellians but was forever being mistaken for one)

Episode 2 - Welcome to Cloud City. Enjoy your stay.

Having made a small detour though the Hoth system the party finally drop out of hyperspace near Bespin. Chellruke makes a passable attempt to convince Cloud City Security that they are just simple traders on a short stopover between jobs. After being held in a holding pattern for some time they are directed to land in one of the smaller docking bays. Upon setting down the party decides to find Risa based on the directions they recieved from the Commander. As they exit the ship Zaq notices that something is off about the workers in the docking bay. He shouts a warning as the dozen or so thugs wearing Cloud City uniforms draw their blasters and open fire on the party.

The party dives for cover as a hail of blaster fire engulfs the docking bay. Zaq spots a figure dressed in blue combat armour who seems to be directing the thugs. He manages to put several blaster rounds into the leader who manages to stagger away, badly injured. The rest of the team concentrate on taking down the thugs who are quickly overwhelmed once Chellruke stealthily moves into a flanking position and negates their cover advantage. A couple of the attackers manage to flee with their boss but the rest of the thugs (at least the the ones which were injured or stunned rather than killed) and the party are quickly aprehended by Cloud City Security.

The party are marched off the Cloud City Security Center where they have a lot of explaining to do. Fortunatly Zaq (of all people) is able to talk the party out of trouble (Chellruke was in shock after her first real firefight). Security camera footage also backs up the party's story and the party are released but are told not to leave the station until the investigation is over. Deciding they need more information about what they are facing the party heads for Risa's quarters which are located in Midtown which is the part of the station set aside for permanent residents on the station and their families.

After a bit of a search they come across a hab room marked with the Nine of Staves. They knock and are met at the door by a young human female who introduces herself as Risa. She shows the party into her room in which she appears to be building a speeder bike. She plops down on her bed and listens to what the party has to say. She tells them that she was the one who agreed to sponsor them into the Dealer's organisation because 'they seemed like fun'. She also knows that there are two other teams currently on the station looking to steal the strongbox.

The first team are a mercenary organisation known as the Blitzers. They are led by a particularly unpleasent Trandoshan by the name of Vosk who probably organised the little 'welcome party' that the team encountered when they arrived on the station. The Blitzers have been in trouble with the Empire and have suffered several setbacks since the Imperials stepped up their present in the Outer Rim. Vosk is hoping to join the Dealer's organisation in order to rebuild the Blitzers capital and replace the hardware they've lost over the past few weeks. Risa also knows the name of the Blitzers sponsor, a Bothan by the name of Sirrusk Eshka’lya, the Two of Flasks. She tells the party that he spends most of his time driking in the Down Draft club.

The second team are three Twi'lek sisters. Risa doesn't have much information on them but aparantly they are on the run from the Hutts and are acomplished thieves. She doesn't know who their sponsor is but says it must be someone who's higher up in the Dealer's organisation. She is pretty sure the sisters are on the station but hasn't been able to find out anything on their whereabouts.

She's happy to answer the questions the party ask her. She seems to really hit things off with Cell who has been tagging along with the party after Chellruke decides it's too dangerous for her sister to stay on the ship. Risa says the party are welcome to use her workshop to rest up and plan for the heist. The party decide to grab some rest after Leane has patched up the odd blaster burn that the team had taken from the goons. They decided to explore the station and come up with a plan in the morning...

..........................................................................

I called the second session there. We'd run though a good introduction combat which quickly went the way of the party once Blue went down early in the combat. I was very happy with the way things went though as everybody got to emphasis how their character fights. Zaq was fast, accurate and deadly, quickly managing to take out the main threat to the party. MD used his blasters stun setting to good effect. Chellruke used stealth to turn the tables on the goons. Leane picked off targets with scary precision while Harrkyn enthusiasticaly blasted away.

After the combat Chellruke's rolls were really bad so the player decided she was obviously in a state of shock from the combat which played out quite nicely. The rest of the session went pretty well with the party meeting up with Risa and learning a bit more about what they are up against.

Episode 3 - Doing jobs and meeting people.

The party decide to have a look 'round the station before they start planning what they are going to do about getting hold of the strongbox. There was a slightly tense moment for the party as Zaq discovered that MD had a rather large bounty on his head. Risa provides the party with 3,000 credits which they can use to procure equipment and for anything else they might need for the job. The party ask her for advice on where they might be able to get hold of slightly 'illegal' gear such as electronic lockpicks and slicing rigs. Risa directs them towards a shop in Midtown called Abon's Emporium which is run by a rather shady Ithorian who is able to see the party a couple of blasters, a rig and the parts for a lockpick. While MD returns to Risa's apartment to build the lockpick and make sure the slicing rig is working the rest of the team decide to speak to Sirrusk (the sponsor of the Blitzers) in order to try to dig up more information on who they are facing.

Sirruck can usualy be found in Down Draft which is a club located next to the central shaft of Cloud City. The party have to do a bit of legwork to get into the club but eventualy manage to find somebody who will sell them the passes they need to get in. The party spends a bit of time enjoying the drinks and the music before they find Sirrusk in one of the boothes in the VIP section. Sirrusk is actualy happy to see the party as he is fed up of dealing with Vosk and his goons. He tells the party that the only reason why he put the Blitzers forward as candidates was the fact that he owed Vosk a 'favour'. He tells the party that Vosk and the rest of the Blitzers are somewhere in the lower reaches of the station, as far off the grid as they can get. Sirrusk warns them about going after Vosk directly.

He also offers his services to the party claiming that he can smuggle something into (or out of the station) in return for a little favour. As a last tip-bit of information he tells the party that Vosk has asked him to smuggle a lot of high explosives onto the station and that they'll be arriving in the next couple of days. The party return to Risa's to plan out their next move. MD has been wondering how the Blitzers knew which docking bay the party were going to land in so they could set up their ambush so the party decide to go and investigate the lower reaches of the station. They take one of the turbolifts down and spend several hours wandering around before stumbling across a modified computer access pannel whcih seems to have been linked into the security net for the station. MD is unable to hijack the system himself but is able to put a trace on the terminal to tell him the next time it's accessed.

The party then sit down to plan their next move. Fortune smiles on the party as they discover that Cloud Nine is hiring floor staff. Chellruke goes in for an interview which mainly consists of how good she looks in a very skimpy outfit. The party are able to get a good idea about the security layout of the place and things look pretty formidable. The only way into the vault is through the security station. The security door is locked (but Chellruke is pretty confident that she can pick it) but the party have to get past the guards (without killing them) and past anouther security door which needs a keycard to open (which they don't have). The party are also concerned about the time pressure as well as they don't want the Blitzers getting their hands on all that high explosives.

Chellruke goes in for her first shift at Cloud Nine and during the night is pulled aside by a beautiful Twi'lek who tells her that she and her sisters have a propersition for the party...

...................................................................................

So the third episode ended with the party bumping into the third team that was after the strongbox. I was pretty happy with how things had developed over the course of the session. The first obligation was rolled up for MD so I decided that while logging onto the bounty hunter net looking for information on Vosk and the Blitzers Zaq noticed the bounty put out for MD (which offered an awesome role-playing oppertunity) The party had got the information they needed and had laid out some solid plans for the job. The main problem came at the end of the session where they started to plan the heist itself; things started to bog down and the plan started getting more and more stupid/convoluted/downright weird.

At this point I decided that I needed to step in and change my plan for the campaign. Originaly the Twi'lek sisters were supposed to be in direct competition with the party but instead I decided that they'd offer an alliance (with the possibility of some back stabbing once the heist was over) to give the party a basic heist framework to work within.

Episode 4 - Heist Almighty

The episode opened with Chellruke being cornered in Cloud Nine by a Twi'lek calling herself Sura. She offers the party a truce. She and her sisters have aquired an access card to get them into the vault and have obtained some knock out gas in order to put down the security staff In return they want the party to provide security and the use of the Queen of Air and Darkness to get them off the station. Sura provides a secure channel for the party to contact her via commlink when they make a decision.

When Chellruke gets back form work and passes on the message it causes a big arguement. Zaq and Leane think that the sisters will stab the party in the back the first oppertunity they get but they all come to the grudging conclusion that working with the Twi'lek trio is probably the best chance they have of pulling off the heist before Vosk and the Blitzers demolish half the station in their attempt to get the strongbox. The party decides that it's too obvious trying to get the box off the station via the Queen so decide to pay a visit to Sirrusk. In return for owing him a favour he agrees to smuggle the box off the station to a designated drop off point on the fringes of the Hoth system. The party then call the sisters and agree to mount the raid that night.

The party tool up and prepare for the possibility of all out war with the Blitzers. They arrive at the rendezous point and are met by the three sisters. The operation proceeds smoothly with the gas taking the guards out and Chellruke manages to swiftly break though the security locks. Outside the casino Harrkyn sweats at the controls of the speeder the sisters have 'obtained' for a quick escape. The team makes it into the vault and aquire the strongbox. Piling into the speeder the allies make good their escape. It's only then that MD notices that the trace program he put into the terminal the Blitzers were using has gone off. The party realise that Vosk knows they've hit the cassino and will be out to get them.

As the party debate what to do next Harrkyn growls that they are going to take the fight to the enemy and punches the throttle of the speeder. In a breathtaking display of piloting he maneuvers the speeder down an access tunnel and into the core shaft of Cloud City. The party hang on for dear life as the speeder plummets downwards. At the last second Harrkyn pulls the speeder up out of it's dive and levels off in front of some very suprised Blitzers who are clustered around the computer access terminal. The firefight is brief but brutal as the party cut down the exposed mercenaries.

The party decide that it's probably best to conclude their business on Cloud City as soon as possible as Vosk and another band of Blitzers is probably still on the station. They drop the strongbox off with Sirrusk and drag the rather subdued Twi'lek sisters with them onto the Queen and get off Cloud City as quickly as possible. They pick up the strongbox from the designated drop off point in the Hoth system and return to the Commander. He's pleased that the party have retrieved the strongbox and seems happy to overlook the fact that the party teamed up with the Twi'lek sisters. Risa and Sirrusk return to add their congratulations along with an elderly woman who doesn't seem as happy (it turns out she was the sponsor for the sisters and was cross they made a deal with the party).

The party are welcomed to the organisation and are assigned cards. Chellruke becomes the Nine of Flasks. Harrkyn becomes the Four of Staves. Zaq becomes the Two of Sabres. Leane becomes the Ten of Staves and MD becomes the Eight of Staves. The episode concludes with the Commader drawing aside Zaq and Leane to tell them that a mission has come up that needs their particular skill set.

There is a final scene of the Commander sitting alone in the observatory, the strongbox in front of him. He slowly and almost reverently opens the box and lifts an object out.

A lightsabre.

............................................................................

So that concluded the introduction to the campaign. The players were pretty pumped especialy after the cinematic stuff that came out of the counterattack against the Blitzers and I was really happy how things had worked out even if the Twi'lek sisters didn't manage to pull a fast one on the party (given the mess the party made of the Blitzers the sisters decided that discression was the better part of valor). I also had plenty of hooks to work with. The party had earned the enmity of the Blitzers. Owed a 'favour' to Sirrusk. Had potentialy made an enemy (the Twi'lek sisters sponsor) and an ally (Risa) in the organisation.

They also had plenty of questions about the organisation they were now working for.

Episode 5 - One of our agents is missing

The session opened with the Commander telling Zaq and Leane that he has a mission that needs their particular skill set. An agent of the organisation, Silas, has dropped off the radar. The organisation intercepted a garbled message that sounded like a distress call from the Skye system on the Outer Rim. Silas and his partner, a droid by the name of B7-T2 where carrying an important package for the Commander. The Commander wants the team to travel to Syke, locate the agent and secure the package. The party are granted the use of the Consular class cruiser Fortune and Glory which has recently returned from an extended mission in Wild Space.

Zaq and Leana request that the rest of the party travels with them raesoning that they might need all the help they can get in order to track down Silas and T2. The journey to Syke doesn't take long with MD doing a really good job with the astronavigation computer. The rest of the team enjnoy the luxuary of a bigger ship and a few engineering personel to help with the running of the vessel. The Fortune and Glory exits hyperspace at the edge of the Skye system and the party performs a sensor sweep of the system. There isn't much of interest in the system apart from a single habitable planet with a small space station in geostationary orbit around it. MD does some digging through the ships data banks to get some information on the place as the Fortune and Glory moves deeper into the system.

Skye was originaly the home of a small retreat for the Jedi order long before they were 'disbanded' during the Clone Wars. Now the jungle planet is home to a couple of small settlements of people who want to live away from the control of the Empire. They export timber in return for the goods and supplies they need to keep the colonies running. A small station by the name of Far Reach provides a stop over for ships traveling through the system but it's rather old and run down. Soon after discovering this information the party get a call from the station asking if they want to dock. Chellruke gets on the line and convinces the controler that they are a corperation scout looking for business oppertunities on the Outer Rim.

the party dock at the staion and pay a small docking fee before setting off to investigate the station. Chellruke quickly turns up some information that Silas and T2 had been seen on the station a few days ago. The party locate where the pair had been staying. Zaq takes the lead worried that something has happened to the pair. His concerns are realised when he notices partialy concealed blaster burns on the walls and a mark that looks suspiciously like blood outside the door. Chellruke skillfully picks the lock and the team enter the hab rooms. The place has been completely trashed and it looks like somebody has been looking for something. The party hear a mysterious buzzing sond and find the smashed remains of T2 stuffed inside a locker.

The driod has been designed to be a frontier scout and is very tough but a volley of close range blaster fire has smashed him to pieces. MD immediatly goes to work but quickly realises that it's almost beyond his skills to save the droid. With a herculean effort and pieces of his own self repair circuitry he manages to stabilise T2's condition and get him back to the Fortune and Glory. The party come to the conclusion that even the facilities on board the ship aren't enough to repair the droid so they'll need to return him to the organisation before there's the possibility of him being fixed. MD does manage to extract a recording which shows the last few seconds leading up to his destruction. It shows T2 exiting the had room and seeing a bunch of shadowy figures advancing down the hall. The droid takes a volley of blaster fire and drops. His last sight is of a man (obviously Silas) staggering away from the ambush looking like he's been badly wounded. The party concludes that T2 took the brunt of the damage from the ambush and that Silas must have escaped with the package. The ambushers must have searched the room, hidden the remains of the droid and then attempted to remove any trace of the ambush while the rest of the team pursued the injured Silas.

Zaq and Leane return to the hab room and trace the blood stains of Silas's escape. They find that he entered an access shaft and climbed up to the main deck. MD then hacks into the main computer and pulls up the camera records for past week. The party spot the injured Silas, clutching a satchel, making for the outer docking ring and discover that his ship then left the station and that station sensors show that he was descending towards the planet. A short while after a bunch of black clad people appear on the recording heading towards the docking ring and another ship leaves the station for the planet.

The party are now sure that Silas is on the planet and that the mysterious attackers were hard on his heels. The party quickly meet up and decide to head for the planet as fast as they can. Leane suggests that they might want to pick up some jungle survival gear from one of the stations few shops just in case Silas has landed away from the settlements. The party set off for the planet hoping they can catch up with Silas before the black clad assassins do...

..................................................................................................................

I felt that this was a pretty solid start to the 'main' campaign (the Cloud City Caper was more of an introduction for people to learn the ropes of the system). I wanted a bit of an investigation session to start off with and I think the players enjoyed figuring out what had happened to Silas and T2. The stand out part of the session was the repair job MD on T2 (he was really supposes to expire after providing the recording as to what happened to Silas) but MD wouldn't let him die (passing a formidable Mechanics check). He also decided to give up some of his own parts to try to keep T2 alive (which resulted in him taking a bunch of strain and losing his to ability to self repair until T2 was fixed and he could take his parts back). It was a really good 'you're not dying on me dammit' moment in the session.

Episode 6 - Welcome to the Jungle.

The party depart Far Point station on the Fortune and Glory and decend into Skye's atmosphere. MD attempts to find Silas's vessel using the ships sensors. It takes a long time to find any trace of the ship as there is quite a lot of interference on the scanners. MD finally detects what he thinks to be Silas's ship in a small valley miles away from either of Skye's settlements. As Harrkyn drops the Fortune and Glory down the party can see that it looks like Silas's ship has crashed into the jungle. Harrkyn skillfully sets the ship down in the small clearing that has been created by the crash. The party disembark and investigate the area.

MD examines the wreckage of the vessel. Silas isn't there but the droid notices that it looks like the ship was destroyed by an explosion that originated on the hull of the ship (he thinks it was done by a mine or proton torpedo). Leane and Zaq locate a number of tracks. One set which they beleive to be Silas's leads off into the jungle towards a series of ruined building they had spotted from the air which where a few miles away. They also find several sets of boot prints which appear in the middle of the clearing, seems to crisscross the area and then meet back up in the center (they think it's some kind of scout party using a landspeeder).

The party decide to follow Silas's trail into the jungle leaving Chellruke and Cell on board the Fortune and Glory. The rest of the party move into the jungle and start to track their target. Between them Leane and Zaq do a really good job and they easily follow the trail for mile after mile. Conditions do take their toll though and the party decides to camp for the night before pressing on in the morning. Having spent a pretty uncomfortable night the party wake to the sound of a speeder bike flying high over the jungle canopy. They catch a brief glimpse of an Imperial Scout trooper and realise that it might be Imperials who are after Silas. They resolve to push on as quickly as possible while staying alert for any more patrols.

Hours pass but eventually the party comes across the ruins of a village beyond which lies a complex of temples. MD theorises that this must be the old Jedi retreat. Silas's tracks lead towards the temple in the center of the complex which is still standing. As the party enter the temple they see a large stone statue of a Jedi Knight beneith which lies the crumpled form of Silas. He is dead. His wounds and the jugle have taken their toll and he seems to have crawled into the temple to die. The party recover the stachel from his body which contains the box that the Commander described as 'the package'. The team decides to bury Silas under some of the temple rubble rather than leave him for jungle scavengers. Leane is just about to call up Chellruke and ask for her to come and pick them up when the party hears the whine of an approaching landspeeder.

Zaq peeks out of the temple to see an Imperial transport land on the large open area in front of the temple. A party of Imperial Stormtroopers led by a woman in a grey cloak exit the ship and start towards the main temple where the party are hidden. To the party's horror they realise that the other exits to the temple are blocked and that the only way out is though the front entrance. They are trapped. Leane sends out a desperate plea for Chellruke to get her ass in gear and bring the Fortune and Glory as soon as possible while the rest of the team prepares to fight it out with the Stormtroopers.

Zaq springs the ambush by quickly gunning down the Stormtrooper Sergeant but the rest of his squad quickly spread out and pin down the party. The team get a nasty shock at how fast, disipline and tough Imperial Stormtroopers are with only Zaq seeming to have the skill and firepower to match them. Harrkyn gets hit and goes down hard while Leane and MD also get hit. Things go from bad to worse as a side door slides open on the transport and an Imperial stromtrooper levels a missile launcher at the temple. The party hit the dirt as the missile smashes into the Jedi statue, blowing it into a million pieces. Harrkyn is down, everybody is injured and ammo is running low. Things look grim for the team as the remaining Stormtroopers close in.

Just in the nick of time Chellruke swings the Fortune and Glory over the temple. She shouts over the Cell who's in the gunners seat to fire a warning shot over the enemy speeder. "No problem sis! Watch this!". The Imperial speeder explodes into a giant ball of fire. The woman in the grey cloak barks an order at the remaining Stormtroopers telling them to fall back. The trapped party decide that they do the same, grab Harrkyn and make a run for the Fortune and Glory. Blasting out off the planet they dodge an Imperial Vindicator class heavy cruiser that has appeared in orbit which demands they power down and surrender their vessel before escaping into hyperspace.

The party return to the Commander to tell him that although they managed to recover the package, Silas is dead. The Commander thanks them and agrees to repair BY-2T. He is interested that the Imperials were after the package and explains that it's an Ardegan crystal. MD privately goes though his data banks and recalls that the crystal was used in the creation of lightsabres. The Commander tells them that he has a gift for them down in the main hanger bay and that they should swing by there at the next oppertunity. The team swings past the med bay to pick up Harrkyn and go down to the hanger bay to find a brand new YT-2400 waiting for them. As they enter the hanger they notice a figure that's been leaning against the wall waiting for them. Sirrusk congratulates them on their last mission and mentions there's a certain 'little favour' they owe him...

Alone in his office the Commander stands in silence, head bowed. The only light comes from the harsh white glow of a lightsabre that hums in his grip. He raises the blade in an old, half remembered salute and deactivates the weapon, plunging the room into darkness...

..............................................................................................

I was really happy about how this session went. The build up to the battle at the temple was brilliant and the fight itself was so **** cinematic and cool. It was the first real fight where the party were in conciderable danger. The players were impressed at how tough Imperial Stormtroopers were and how much damage they can do with their blaster rifles. If it wasn't for using cover and fighting smart the players agreed that things could have got really messy. Best bit of the session had to be Cell's 'warning shot' (so many successes). Chellruke's player joked that Chellruke doesn't want her sister to have to become a theif like her and now she's worried the Cell will have found her true calling in life to be a ship gunner and will run off to join the Rebellion (not a good life choice either according to Chellruke!)

I'm loving this Kahadras, intriguing story & it sounds like your players are really getting into it! Keep posting your progress, I for one would be really interested to see how it all pans out! kudos for putting together some great Star Wars!

Looks great. I just my campaign goes half as good as yours.

Cheers for the replies. I'm lucky to have a great set of people in my gaming group and I've put a lot of work into writing.

Episode 7 - Doing the Rebellion a favour.

Sirrusk invites the party to step aboard their new ship and discuss certain issues that have come up. He sits down in the galley and casualy explains that he owes a favour to a Rebel Commander who has turned a blind eye to certain cargo runs that have been made though his sector of the Outer Rim. In return Sirrusk has agreed to send a freighter and it's crew to partake in an operation the Rebellion has been planning against the local Imperial presence. Reluctantly the party agrees to help not knowing exactly what they are letting themselves in for. Sirrusk explains that he doesn't know a lot about the plan because he isn't interested in knowing a lot about the plan but he has a set of co-ordinates that the party are to travel to and wait. The co-ordinates drop the party in the middle of no-where where they have a long and boring wait before an X-wing exits hyperspace and contacts the ship, requesting a pass code that Sirrusk thoughfully provided.

The X-wing pilot sends a fresh set of co-ordinates in the Saijo system. The X-wing escorts them to a hidden Rebel base on one of Saijo's many moons. Harrkyn lands in a landing bay that's packed with Rebel starfighters and freighters. The pilot of the X-wing turns out to be a female Mon-Calamari by the name of Merei who offers to show the party to her commanding officer. She warns them that he doesn't trust mercenaries and is probably going to give them a rough time which turns out to be rather accurate. Commander Kal Tolan isn't happy to see the party and makes it very clear to them taht he expects them to sit down, shut up and do their job. After a rather tense exchange Merei rescuses the party and shows them to the main briefing room where Tolan gives a briefing to the entire strike team. The plan is to attack an Imperial space base code named Echo 4 which is located in an area of space known as Black Reach. With Imperial forces spread out in an attempt to hunt down the Rebels Tolan feels it would be an excellent oppertunity to launch a raid.

Tolan explains that the base is protected by a couple of squadrons of TIE fighters and a sensor network. He claims that there is a weakness in the sensor net as the area of space is also home to two black holes. There is a small area of space between the black holes that has been codenamed The Slot which the strike team will use as a 'back door' into the system. When they arrive the X-wings and Y-wings will deal with any TIE fighter patrols and any fixed defences the base has. Shuttles carrying Rebel infantry will then land on the base and will secure a perimeter. The freighters will then move in, land and their crews will move as much equipment, weapons and stores as they can into their cargo bays. The strike team will then place demolition charges and withdraw. Finally the strike force will scatter with the freighters delivering the liberated cargo to designated drop off points. The party are told to meet the Nebulon B frigate White Star and are given co-ordinates to a small backwater system which none of the party have ever heard of.

Tolan orders everybody to their ships as the briefing breaks up. Merei wishes the party luck as she heads for her X-wing. The party board their ship and lift off with the rest of the strike team. They drop out of hyperspace and one by one pass through The Slot, a task which is challenging even for Harrkyn's piloting skill. As the ships exit The Slot they link up into formation. The X-wings are ordered to lock S foils into attack position and the whole formation accelerates to attack speed. One Y-wing calls out incomming TIE fighters and battel is joined. Harrkyn maneuvers the freighter through the dogfight with Chellruke and Cell on the dorsal and ventral guns, blasting away at any TIE fighters which come to close. Tolan, in the lead shuttle, orders his pilot to punch through the combat and land on the station. One by one the shuttles roll in and make a run on the landing bays. Defencive fire rips into a couple of them, causing them to slam into the side of the station in a massive fireball. The party then are ordered into the attack. Harrkyn jinks and weaves until he's close enough to make a dash for the landing bay.

The ship has barely had chance to set down before Zaq is out of his seat and halfway down the boarding ramp. The rest of the team join him and are greeted by scenes of total chaos. The Rebels have pushed the Imperial security teams back but with the loss of the shuttles and their soldiers means that they might not have the numbers to deal with the Imperial troops once they get over their initial suprise. Tolan barks at the party ordering them to help the infantry. The party follows the sound of combat and finds the Rebels slugging it out with the Imperial security force who are starting to get organised. While the firefight rages Zaq, Leane, Harrkyn and Chellruke work around the flanks of the Imperial forces (defeating an Imperial party which was trying to do the same to the Rebels) and catch the Imperials in a crossfire forcing them to fall back. Meanwhile MD had sliced into the main computer, cut the Imperials out of control and has locked down the entire station! As the remaining Imperials where either falling back or locked in other parts of the station the party makes a run on the Imperial stores (liberating a few 'items' for their own personal use). Once their ship is loaded up they take off and make a break for open space. Merei and the remaining Rebel starfighters cover the retreat of the freighters and shuttles. The starike team then scatters. As the party enters hyperspace Chellruke wants to know where this Endor place is that they're going to meet the White Star...

A few hours later the computer pings to let the Harrkyn know that they have reached Endor. He throttles the ship down to sublight and suddenly needs to call on every bit of skill he has to dodge the debris field they have appeared in. Proximity alarms wail as he flings the frighter around as though its a starfighter. The rest of the team are rudely woken as they are thrown against various bulkheads. Staggering into the cockpit Leane demands to know what's going on before stopping in horror to gaze at what's outside the cockpit windows. The smashed and twisted remains of the White Star drifts lifeless around her. As she slides into the co-pilot seat her mind reels in shock as her scanners pick up the debris of more and more Rebel ships.. The rest of the party arrive to be informed that the White Star is gone......just gone.

.....................................................................................................................

This was a big planned set piece and it was really fun to run. There was the initial offer which the party grudgingly went along with. Then the party were looking at each other in the briefing thinking 'what have we got ourselves into'. Then there was the building tension of the passage between the black holes and the commands to report in and assume attack formations. From then on it was just constant action, constant dice rolling, constant decisions. I tried to keep the pressure on the players making them feel that they didn't have time to plan or sit back which I felt worked very well. Although a lot of the episode focus on Harrkyn and his flying skills it was another good episode for the team all getting a chance to shine. Leane treating wounded Rebel soldiers. Zaq leading the flanking attack. MD slicing the base computer (then shutting all the blast doors). Chellruke ordering Cell to stay on the Rebel base (and then being thoroughly ignored) which got a good laugh from the players.

Episode 9 - Search and Rescue

The session opens with Harrkyn still dodging debris for the White Star. Scanners show that she, and her snubfighter escorts, have been mostly blasted into little more than space junk but upon closer inspection the party notices that the command section of the White Star is still in one piece. There's a sharp disagreement in the party about what they are going to do. Chellruke wants to ditch the cargo and run for it. They can explain to Sirrusk what happened and he can clear things up with the Rebellion. Harrkyn suggests that there may be survivors on the remains of the White Star or on the forest moon of Endor and thinks it might be a good idea to investigate before whatever destroyed the White Star shows up again. Eventualy the party agrees to send a small team over to the hulk of the White Star to try to get some more information. Harrkyn manages to find a relativly undamaged docking port while Zaq and Leane suit up (MD is going as well but he doesn't care about a lack of atmosphere).

The interior of the White Star is almost as badly damaged as it's experior. The team makes a sweep of the lower decks but don't find any survivors. They do stumble across a well stocked sickbay which seems to have escaped the worst of the damage and manage to salvage a bacta tank, several canisters of bacta, a medikit and a few stimpacks. They eventualy get to the bridge and MD manages to access what remins of the ships computer. It turns out that the White Star and her escorts exited hyperspace right on top of a pair of Imperial Star Destroyers. The crew had little chance to react before they got hit by the Imperials. The captain orders the crew to abandon ship before the recording suddenly cuts out. Back on board the freighter Harrkyn has run some sensor scans of the planet and believes that he's picked up a couple of Rebel distress codes. The team meets back up and the arguement continues about whether they should get involved or not. Eventualy they decided to go down and see if they can help any survivors.

Harrkyn drops the freighter down through the atmosphere and finds a small clearing in the forest where he can land which isn't too far away from where one of the signals was comming from. The party pile out of the freighter and set off to help any survivors they can find. A few hours later they come across a small camp which contains the survivors of the White Star. They are met by a female Duros who introduces herself as lieutenant Vendi. She begs the party for help to get the survivors off the planet. The party agrees to helping Vendi and the rest of the White Star crew hoping for a decent reward for the Rebellion in return. A Rebel soldier by the name of Orin is less optomistic about the plan. He claims that he's been in this kind of situation before and the Imperials are bound to have dropped off kill teams to hunt down surviviors. The party decides to move out as quickly as possible. The survivors are going to be quite slow as there are several wounded crewmen that need looking after. The party overrides any suggestion of going to look for more survivors saying that there isn't time if Imperial stormtroopers are in the area. To speed things up they send MD and Harrkyn back to the ship ahead of the rest of the team.

Leane leads the survivors and the rest of the team back towards the freighter and is fortunate to spot the tripwire before she sets it off. The Imperial kill team, realising that they've been noticed, opens fire on the group cutting down several survivors before they can get into cover. A vicious firefight then ensues with the party comming off the worse of it. Zaq gets hit early on and goes down. Calls to Harrkyn and MD for support turns out to be impossible as the trees make it too difficult for Harrkyn to land any closer or for MD to provide any fire support. Things are looking really bad for the team but Chellruke manages to disable the tripwire and gets hold of the cluster of grenades that was attached to it. As Leane manages to pick off a couple of the kill team Chellruke ghosts round their flank and lobs the grenades into the middle of the remaining Imperials, wiping them out to a man.

The party pick up Harrkyn and the remaining Rebel survivors and make a dash for the clearing. They have to ditch a lot of the stolen Imperial supplies in order to get everybody onto the ship then they take off as quickly as is humanly posible. Vendi provides the co-ordinates of a Rebel base in the Codia system where she and the rest of the survivors can be dropped off at. She tells the party that the White Star was looking for a remote planet that the Rebellion can use to set up a permenant base but says that Endor is out of the question now. The party arrives at the Codia base and are met by General Reiikan who thanks the party for their help and offers them a decent reward in return for the rescue of their people. He agrees with Vendi that Endor and the surrounding systems are now not an option (Harrkyn mentions that the Hoth system was devoid of any Imperial presence the last time they where there). Finally the party leave to head back to Sirrusk. While in hyperspace the party finally agrees on a name for their new freighter. The Idiot's Array.....

During the night Harrkyn awakes in his room to find the force shade of his mother standing at the bottom of his bunk. She tells him that the force is strong in their family and that he must go to the Skye system, there to recieve training from the Jedi Knight Orn Al'kina, a friend of hers from better days. She warns him of the dangers of the dark side of the force before fading away leaving her son to grieve the loss of someone he now realises that he never truly knew....

......................................................................................................

This session didn't really go well I'm afraid. The set up was fairly simple which was a Predator style episode. The party are hunted by an skillful Imperial kill team while they try to extract a bunch of wounded survivors from the planet. It seemed like a cool idea but everybody did as much as they could to avoid plot. The first plan was to ditch the cargo and go back to Sirrusk. When they finally decided to go to the planet they decided not to bother investigating anything, ignore any warnings that NPC's were giving them, split the party up despite the fact they knew there could be some fighting to do and seemed to forget basic information that I'd given them previously about the forest making it impossible to land the ship or see though the canopy.

It was just annoying on so many levels as certain players had a bit of a whinge afterwards about how they didn't get much reward for the session and how hard the fight had been. The fight was hard because the party split up despite all indications there was going to be a tough fight comming up. The party didn't get much of a reward because they bypassed so much stuff. They didn't look for any other survivors, they didn't speak to any NPC's so missed the possibility of fixing a damaged X-wing and didn't uncover the potential traitor in the survivors. It was just a collection of missed oppertunities. It was still a solid session but I was personaly disappointed that it hadn't been quite as good as some of the previous sessions had been.

That's how it goes from what I have read.

GM spends all month on an Nemesis? Dies three rounds into combat by a lucky shot.

Random minion designed to go down in the first round? Not only survives but manages to get crits on three different PCs and manages to get them to run away.

Yeah sometimes sessions don't go as planned. I spent a lot of time designing episode nine compared to some of the other missions which is why I felt it was such a let down.

Yeah sometimes sessions don't go as planned. I spent a lot of time designing episode nine compared to some of the other missions which is why I felt it was such a let down.

Just curious, but did you use any of the published adventures for your campaign?

Episode 10 - Hi ho. Hi ho.

Having returned to the station to tell Sirrusk they'd completed the task that he'd ask them to do Harrkyn and Leane were immediatly dispatched by the Commander on another mission leaving Zaq, MD and Chellruke with some time on their hands. This wasn't to last though as they were invited up to the observation deck by Risa who tells them that the Commander has a little job he wants them to do. When the party step out of the turbolift they are met by the sight of a large party. Tables and chairs have been set out while colourful fabrics have been draped from the ceiling. Dancing girls perform on a large stage in the center of the room while at the back a band plays. It turns out that a young Hutt by the name of Jirra has decided to visit the station as part of a grand tour of the galaxy. Risa tells them that he provided a lot of the credits that were used to set up the Dealer's operation and is concidered a 'business partner' by the organisation. A harried looking Commander appears and tells the party that Jirra wants them to look into a new operation that he has aquired. He leads them through the party to Jirra who informs them that he's recently aquired the rights to a mining operation on the planet of Gavos. He wants somebody to check out the operation and collect the money that he is owed.

The Commander orders the party and Risa to take a shuttle, investigate the facility, aquire the funds that Jirra has requested and return to the station as quickly as possible. He tells them that T5-D1 will fly them there and that he wants them to leave as soon as possible. As they are about the enter the turbolift Zaq notices another Rodian bounty hunter in Jirra's retinue that he recognised. The other Rodian, who goes by the name of Sal, indicates that he'd like to speak to Zaq in private. As the rest of the party goes to the hanger Zaq hangs back and meets Sal who tells him that Jirra is the one who Zaq's father owes money to. Sal tells him that he's actualy in the employ of another party who want Jirra out of the picture permanently. He suggests that Zaq might be interested in helping out, especialy if the third party were happy to wide away the debt. Sal tells him to think it over and disappears back into the party.

The jump to Gavos is quite a long one and gives Zaq plenty of time to brood over the offer that Sal's put forward. Once they arrive the party find that the isolated mining facility isn't answering any of their hails. The party set down on one of the landing pads and MD slices the door controls allowing them access into the facility. It soon turns out that something is badly wrong as the party uncover several miners who have been gunned down. Initialy it seems like it's the work of pirates but it soon turns out that the facilities droids have risen up to overthrow their masters. The party leads a resuce mission into the mines to locate and rescue the remaining station personel who fled when the uprising started. Although the droid ring-leaders escape the party are able to secure the facility and put it back into operation. They also manage to secure the funds that Jirra requested.

Returning to the station they provide a full report on what had taken place. Jirra seems happy with their actions and asks the Commander to reward them. Once Jirra has left the Commander allows the party to take some time off. Harrkyn who has return from the supply run request that the party heads to Skye as he belives that there is someone on the planet who can provide some answers as to the what happened to his mother. The party agrees to help him and they depart for Skye in the Array with Zaq still trying to make up his mind about Sal's 'offer'.

...............................................................

I ran this episode as a quick one shot by modifying the adventure from the GM guide as we were down to players that weekend. I decided to keep things fairly simple but threw in a plot thread for Zaq that the party might want to follow up on later. When the players originaly rolled up their obligations I wrote a quick 'side arc' for each player which would give their character a chance to develop. With Harrkyn it was for him to find out that his mother was a Jedi and to go down the same path. With Zaq it was to find out that his father owed money to the Hutt's and for the possibility of wiping away the debt. Obviously there is one for each character which may crop up in later episodes/seasons.

Just curious, but did you use any of the published adventures for your campaign?

I think episode 10 answers that question.

A lot of it is my own writing but I've got the Beyond the Rim adventure module which I'm thinking of including into season 2. I'm pretty happy to borrow and adapt stuff that fits in with what I want to do. One shots are great as I can drop them in at short notice if people are going to be absent.

Episode 11 - The Force is strong in my family

The episode opens at another time and place. A young lady in a grey cloak kneels before a figure shrouded by a dark cloak. She reports that she was unable to recover the crystal on Skye but the mysterious figure tell her that it is of no matter. He says that there are more pressing matters that she needs to attend to. She bows and retreats from his presense. Two burning red eyes from beneith the cowl watch her as she asks to take her leave.

"By your command Inquisitor Bale."

.......................................................................................................................

The party agree to return to Skye to halp Harrkyn search for the person who has information about his mother. Before they go to Skye they want to pay a visit to Duros to aquire some upgrades for the Idiot's Array and to go shopping. After a couple of days R&R the team was ready to jump to the Syke system to look for this mysterious Orn Al'kina. The Arrey exits hyperspace to a famliar system. Skye is still there as is the Farpoint station in orbit around the planet. There's no sign of any Imperial presence in the system and the party decide to land in the primary settlement of Skye which is apropriatly named Skyefall. After asking around the settlement they don't find any infomation relating to the name but somebody suggests that they try the other settlement called Freetown. The party catch a landspeeder over to the second settlement where they dig up some information regarding a third settlement on the planet that has long since been abandoned. There are rumours that a couple of diehards are still camped out at the old setttlement. The locals warn the party about a ferocious species, called Mist Serpents, which lives in the area of the third settlement and led to it being abandoned.

The party decide to go to the thrid settlement as it's the best lead they have to find this Al'kina character. The party leave Freetown and plunge into the jungle. After several hours of travel they near the loaction of the their settlement but are ambushed by a couple of the Mist Lizards that the people of Skye described. Fortunatly the party are up to the challenge and manage to kill the creatures before they manage to pull down anybody (although there are some close calls). As the party tries to enter the abandoned settlement they are met by a half cyborg Twi'lek who challenges them as to why they have come. After Harrkyn introduces himself the Twi'lek admits that he is Orn Al'kina but is less than impressed that the party have disturbed him. He tells Harrkyn that he did know his mother but she decided to leave a long time ago to challenge the Empire. When Harrkyn asks him why he didn't join her he angrily responds that it was his decision to challenge Darth Vader that left him in his current condition (indicating his lost right arm and right leg)

The party convince him to let them stay the night and by the morning his mood towards Harrkyn has softened. He presents him with a lightsaber which he claims was Harrkyn's mother's back when she was a young Padowan. He tells the party that he's decided to leave Skye and wants them to take him to Cloud City on Bespin. The party retrace their steps to Freetown and then to Skyefall before leaving the planet. Before he disembarks Orn tells Harrkyn that he needs to return to Bespin, promising that he will teach him the ways of the Force. Harrkyn agrees to return when he gets the chance and watches the old Twi'lek disappear into the city. The party chart a course back to the station and jump to hyperspace.

Back in his quarters Harrkyn sits on his bed and in the cold blue light of his lightsaber decides that he is going to become a Jedi, like his mother before him.....

.............................................................................................................................

This was a pretty cool session. Plenty of RP and the meeting between the angry old Twi'lek and the party was really good. The Mist Lizards worked really well as a fight as there hadn't been much stuff that the party has faced that wanted to rip their faces off rather than shoot them from a distance. The party were like 'how scary can these lizards be' until they ran into them and then were like 'OK let's not meet them again'. This session completed the first step in Harrkyn's Jedi arc.

So having run for three monthes I decided that we'd call it a day for the 1st season after 12 sessions. People were still engaged with what was going on and I had plenty to work with but I decided that I didn't want to get to the stage where either myself or one of the players started to feel that it was a chore. There are plenty of people who want to run stuff themselves so I decided to do a big epic climax for the first season and lay the groundwork for an interesting second season as well as introducing a nemesis for the party to contend with.

OK so here we go...

Episode 12 - The Conclave

The party arrive back from Skye to find the station a hive of activity. It seems like every member of the organisation has been recalled and the party bump into several old friends from previous missions once they manage to squeeze the Idiot's Array into one of the packed hanger bays. Risa contacts them and tells them that there's going to be a meeting in the stations auditorium for the whole organisation. When the party arrive they find that the room is packed but Risa has managed to save them some seats. The four Commanders enter the room led by the Commander of Staves. He announces that due to the current war between the Empire and the Rebellion the leader of the Black Sun, Prince Xizor, has called for a meeting of the various 'illegal' organisations to discuss the problem.

He says that these meeting are called Conclaves and were originaly intended to keep the peace between the various factions. Prince Xizor has invited the Dealer's organisation to take part and attendance is mandatory. The Commander annouces that he is going as the Dealer's representative and that he's taking a small team with him. At this point he looks meaningfully at Risa who then looks meaningfully at the team. A few other members pick up on this and a whisper goes around the room that the Idiot's are going (the party asked for this nickname with the name they came up with for their ship). The Commander ends the meeting and the four leaders leave. Risa asks to see Leane in private before they depart the station.

Leane follows Risa to her quarters on the station. Risa apologises that she has to tell her this and hands her a large object wrapped in cloth. Leane's heart sinks as she unwraps the blaster rifle. It's been heavily modified and she recognises it as belonging to her younger brother. As she struggles to come to terms with what this could mean she listens to Risa explain that one of their survey teams in Wild Space came across a crashed ship. It was abandoned but the organiastion managed to track it's registration back to her brother. They found the weapon inside the cockpit. Risa says that the team searched the surrounding area but couldn't find any sign of any survivors. She tells Leane that she can understand if she doesn't want to come to the Conclave.

Leane returns to the party and explains that her brother might be dead. Zaq decides that he's going to go after her brother. He points out that a bounty hunter isn't much use at a diplomatic meeting. He contacts Risa who agrees to lend him T5-D1 and a shuttle. The party split up with Leane telling Zaq that she'll meet him once the Conclave is over. The party join the Commander and Risa on the Fortune and Glory whcih departs for a meeting point somewhere in the Inner Core. Harrkyn notices that the Commander is wearing a lightsabre and decides to use the journey to confide to him that he's discovered that he can use the Force. The Commander seems suprised that Harrkyn would approach him but doesn't claim to be a Jedi himself. What he does do is offer to train Harrkyn to use his lightsabre.

The Fortune and Glory exits hyperspace and recieves a transmission detailing where they need to jump to next. Eventually the ship exits hyperspace over a mysterious world. A large collection of ships in orbit indicates that this is the place for the meeting. Harrkyn guides the Fortune and Glory down to a huge palacial complex which seems to be the only man made structure on the planet. Harrkyn follows a controllers landing instructions and sets down in a small starport near the 'resort'. The team are met by a small party all who are wearing a Black Sun uniform. They have to submit to several scans before they are allowed to leave the star port but are allowed to keep their sidearms.

During the shart walk to the resort complex they get a good look at the planet which seems to be a beautiful garden world. The resort complex itself is built out of a white stone and seems sculpted to fit in with the surrounding landscape (it's very pretty). The party are guided around the complex by another official whose wearing the Black Sun uniform. He shows them to the main building which seems to serve as a hotel for visitors. The party are then shown to a huge suit of rooms which have been allocated to them for the duration of their visit. The Commander tells them that there will be a reception in the eveing and that they better get changed (it turns out that he's brought formal attire for the entire party).

The party get a chance to explore some of the complex before they are required to return to their rooms and change. The Commander steps out dressed in a simple white uniform with a stunning young girl in a long blue gown (it takes the party several seconds to recognise that it's Risa). The rest of the team form up behind them and they proceed down to a massive ballroom where the rest of the organisations are gathering. The team are formally announced as they enter. The Commander orders them to mingle and have a good time. The evening passes without a hitch except for them bumping into a tall, muscular Trandoshan who tells them he knows who they are and they are going to pay for Cloud City (hello Vosk!). After an hour or two Prince Xizor arrives with his entourage. He makes a small speech welcoming everybody and telling them to enjoy the evening.

The party circle the room keeping their eyes and ears open (while trying to avoid bumping into Vosk again). Through the crowd Chellruke spots Xizor near the main doors in deep conversation with a young woman. Something about the girl tugs at Chellruke's memory but she can't quite place where it's from. The woman quickly departs the party and Xizor goes back to his guests. Once the party is over the party straggle back to their rooms. The Commander informs them that a large meeting is organised for the next morning and tells them to get a good nights rest.

After breakfast the team assemble and proceed to a huge auditorium. All of the big organisations are there; the Hutts, the Broken Horn Syndicate, the Crymorah Syndicate, the Smugglers Guild, Nal Raka, the Rodian Syndicate and a host of smaller organisation along with them. Xizor steps forward to open proceedings. He explains that the war between the Empire and the Rebels is causing turmoil across the Galaxy and that organisations like there's can ill afford another Shadow War. The party look quizically at Risa at his point. She quietly explains that during the Seperatists war before the Empire was created there was another war fought between the various other 'organisations' in the Galaxy. Some organisations supported the Republic, some supported the Seperatists. It was a war fought in the shadows, a conflict of assasination, betrayal, revenge and murder, a war where no one was sure what side they were on. One of the main reasons for the Conclave was to make sure that another Shadow War didn't happen.

Chellruke is slightly bored by proceedings. Different speakers step forward to outline their organisations view of Galactic events. She glances around the room and spots the woman from the night before. She's leaning up against a pillar at the back of the auditorium and seems amused by the proceedings. Suddenly Chellruke gets a flashback to Skye, of the ruined temple, of a woman in a grey cloak....

to be contiuned.......

part two....

Chellruke stiffens as she recognises the woman from Skye. Imperial agents are in the Conclave and that could spell real trouble for the party. Chellruke is smart enough to keep quiet and when she next glances back towards where the woman was she has disappeared. The rest of the meeting passes in a blur of arguement and counter arguement as the different organisations put forward their point of view. Eventauly Xizor calls a halt to proceedings. He announces that they will break for refreshments and the leaders of the main factions will meet again in the afternoon for another round of discussions.

The instant the team are out of earshot of the rest of the delegates Chellruke reveals that the woman in the grey cloak is on the planet. The Commander tells the team that he and Risa need to attend the afternoon meeting and orders the party to investigate. He gives them a secure comms frequency to contact them in the event that they discover anything. The party gear up and prepare to investigate the Black Sun complex. MD hacks into the facility computer and discovers that a large area of the basement of the facility is current sealed off due to a radiation leak. The party decide to take a look and manage to secure a maintanence pass that gets them into the lift to the basement. Suiting up in hazmat suits they get Chellruke to bypass the lockdown and enter the lower reaches of the facility. After a short time they discover that raditation levels are normal and suspect that somebody else is using this area.

They come across a shaft with a large platfrom. A figure in a black robe stands on the platform with a figure in grey kneeling before them. The black figure announces that the time has come to spring the trap. He orders the lady in grey to target the factions that are in favour of supporting the Rebellion. It becomes obvious to the party that Xizor is in league with the Empire and has lured them into a trap. At this point the figure in black announces that they have visitors and looks straight up at the party. Deciding that discression is the better part of valor the party decide to run. Tumbling back out of the secured section the party split up. Harrkyn, Leane and Chellruke head for the surface to warn the Commander while MD decides to head for the underground reactor that powers the facility to make sure that the Empire aren't going to detonate it and kill everybody in the complex.

As it turns out the reactor technicians don't believe that MD is telling the truth about Imperial Stromtroopers being in the base until a squad appears and takes everybody into custody. MD only escapes by the skin of his teeth by pretending to be a maintanence droid. The rest of the team meet up with the Commander and Risa as the complex is rocked by explosions. The Commander orders everybody to make for the Fortune and Glory. As the party dash outside they are met by an incredable sight. There are three Imperial Star Destroyers in orbit that are splitting their firepower between ships in orbit and the facility. TIE fighters spin in a wild dogfight with various snubfighters above the facility. Security staff fight a losing battle with the Imperial Stromtroopers that have appeared in their midst while Imperial drop ships are landing a few miles away from the complex and are disgorging AT-AT's and AT-ST's. The only good news is that the complex has a forcefield which is still holding strong against the bombardment.

As the party dash down the front steps of the hotel they are met by two figures. The Imperial Inquisitor pushes back is cowl and quietly orders the party to drop their weapons. The Commander steps forward and draws his lightsabre, it's blade bursts into life in a flash of white light. He calmly tells the party to run as the Inquisitor raises his lightsabre in responce. The party run. Harrkyn glances back to see the Commander stepping forward. Inquistor Bale lunges at him. The woman in grey dodges around the combat and pursues the party. The team race through the space port towards the Fortune and Glory. Looking over his shoulder Harrkyn realises that the woman in grey is going to catch them before they get to the ship. He draws his lightsabre.

Blue light collides with red as the woman in grey draws her own lightsabre and throws herself at Harrkyn. Somehow he manages to keep her at bay as the pair strike and parry, his speed and agility somehow managing to keep up with her formal training. MD reaches the ship first and starts prepping the ship for take off. Risa reaches the cockpit and screams at him that they aren't going without Saul. Harrkyn spots his oppertunity, punches the woman in grey full in the face and makes a run for the Fortune and Glory. As he grabs the landing ramp and swings inside he hears a scream of impotent rage from behind him.

Risa swings the Fortune and Glory over the complex. Below the Commander is clearly outmatched. The Inqisitor is faster than him, stronger than him and has the Force as an ally. Even as the party watch he hurls a massive chunk of masonary at the Commander, sending him sprawling. Leane staggers towards the ramp as the Fortune and Glory swoops in. She aims her brother's rifle and puts a bolt into the Inquisitors head. He staggers slightly from the impact and roars in anger. Leane fires again, gouging more flesh from his face and to her horror can now see the fact that there is a metal endoskeleton beneith his skin. The Commander takes to oppertunity to run. Harrkyn grabs him and pulls him into the ship. Leane hauls him off to the sickbay as Harrkyn makes for the bridge. He boots Risa out of the pilot seat and takes control. Skillfully spinning the ship out of the Star Destroyers line of fire he makes a break for deep space.

The few TIE fighters that break off to follow are unable to keep up and the Fortune and Glory makes it to hyperspace. The party sit back with a sigh of relief....

With a massive bang the Fortune and Glory drops back into real space. Alarms scream as Harrkyn scrambles to regain control. To his horror he realises that the Empire has one more suprise up its sleave, an Inderdictor Cruiser. TIE fighters swarm the ship as Harrkyn desperatly tries to get the Fortune and Glory out of danger. Leane and Chellruke grimly hammer away with the ships turbolaser but they are outmatched and outgunned. Despite MD's best efforts the shields start to fail and more and more shots start striking the hull. All hope seems lost when a bloodied and battered Cammander appears on he flight deck. He asks the party to transmit a code before slumping down into the command chair.

Salvation appears in the form of a Corellian Corvette which drops out of hyperspace and identifies itself as the Last Chance. A squadron of Y-Wings accompany her and the taskforce makes short work of the pursuing TIE fighters. As the party gaze upon their salvation Leane shakes her head and asks how. The Commander leans back in his chair, closes his eyes and, with a small smile, almost to himself, quietly utters a single line.

"The House always wins."

Great job with going for a cliff hanger. It leaves several questions open and more than likely generated additional threads for you to use.

Biggest question to me is: how close are you going to get to the main Star Wars Universe involving the movies/books? Seems like there is an extreme possibility that it could happen.

Second: You have used some of the published adventures. Are you planning on using others for the 2nd Season?

Would there be an opportunity for the crew to get mission as well as training with the Alliance?

My additional questions are based off the three above. Hopefully they let you ponder what is coming out next.

how close are you going to get to the main Star Wars Universe involving the movies/books? Seems like there is an extreme possibility that it could happen.

I think the idea at the moment to just touch on the 'main' Star Wars universe stuff. I think my players like hints of what's going on with in the cannon (stuff about the Death Star, the Rebellion looking for a new base, the Empire securing Endor. If I drop these in from time to time it makes players who are into the Star Wars lore happy without making those who don't know as much about the universe feel left out.

You have used some of the published adventures. Are you planning on using others for the 2nd Season?

Yes. I have the Beyond the Rim book and I'm probably going to use that as a part of season 2. It should be a lot of fun and will get the party traveling to the other side of the Galaxy. Having said that I've got a lot of my own idea's that I want to start working on as well. I've still got the side arc's for MD and Chellruke to bring in plus a host of other stuff. Inquisitor Bale is going to be after Harrkyn. Leane wants to find out what's happened to her brother. Zaq hasn't decided whether to take Sal up on his offer...

Would there be an opportunity for the crew to get mission as well as training with the Alliance?

I'm going to steer clear of the Alliance certainly for the forseeable future. The next season is going to be a bit darker than the first as the 'main' Star Wars universe moves towards the events of the Empire Strikes Back. The party will be faced with the possibility of a mirror of the larger Galactic conflict in the form of the Shadow War which is in danger of breaking out between the different 'criminal' organisations after the events of the Conclave.

Epilogue -

The battered Fortune and Glory drops out of hyperspace, bringing the party home. Harrkyn brings the ship into the main landing bay which is packed with people. As the party leave the ship a cheer goes up and the crowd surges forward to shake their hands, slap their backs, hoist them onto their shoulders and basically treat them like returning heroes. The celebrations continue long into the night and it's early in the morning before many of the party make it back to their bunks.

Risa contacts the team at a reasonable hour the next day and asks them to come to the Commander's office. She tells them that she didn't get the chance to thank them for their work during the Conclave. She says that the Commander is currently down in sickbay but wishes to pass on his thanks as well. She informs the party that things are rather chaotic at the moment but it's looking more and more like the Imperial raid was a targeted strike against the organisations which supported the Alliance. She grimly points out that Prince Xizor and the Black Sun could well have started a second Shadow War and that the organisation is going to need them more than ever in the comming struggle.

She does admit that the organisation also owes the party a debt and tells them that the Commander has decided that they can take some time away if they want to. The team decides to take her up on the offer and the party splits up.

Leane and MD take the Idiot's Array to join Zaq in the hunt for Leane's missing brother out in Wild Space.

Harrkyn borrows a Y-Wing and departs for Bespin. He plans to find Orn and take his first steps on the road to becomming a Jedi.

Chellruke decides that Cell needs to see more of the Galaxy beyond that of organised crime. Risa decides to go with them telling Cell that they should totaly go to Corellia and watch (take part in) Swoop bike racing.

The final scene is of three ships leaving the station and splitting up to take the party members to their different destinations.

Chellruke gets the last word in telling Cell that there is no way that she is going to become a Swoop bike pilot!

So that's where we stand at the moment. I'm thinking of calling the second series The Shadow War and having the party get involved in a type of conflict which there are no clear answers. It's not like the Rebellion vs the Empire which is very much a struggle of good versus evil. This isn't going to be a war between starship or soldiers. It's a knife in the dark, it's a backalley brawl in which nobody is sure whose side everybody else is on....

Should be fun.

Now that I've finnished with an overview of the campaign over the next few posts I'm going to take a closer look at the various characters, locations and organisations that I used. Hopefully it will provide inspiration for other peoples characters or campaigns.

Zaq Liagri - Rodian Bountyhunter - The 2 of Sabres

The player who created Zaq didn't really know much about the Star Wars setting outside of the first three movies (4, 5 and 6). He was also new to the system and hadn't played other FFG RPG's like WFRP which used a similar system. He decided to keep things simple by playing a combat character; big gun, plenty of armour, good at shooting things, done. He went for the Family obligation and decided that his father owed a lot of money to certain 'people' and Zaq decided to go out into the Galaxy to help him pay it back. Looking at careers he decided that Zaq obviously decided that bounty hunting was a quick way to earn enough money to pay off his familiy's debts. He noticed that Rodians are supposed to be good bounty hunters so pretty much went with the flow.

The player decided that Zaq liked messing about with guns and armour so really went for the Gadgeteer talent tree. Once the campaign started the rest of the party began to suspect that Zaq was more into the Bounty hunter business so he could legally walk around decked out in all of his sweet gear rather than actually hunting down bounties. Once the fighting started though he proved to be very effective at taking down the most threatening enemy targets which the rest of the team apreciated. His charater seemed to get on well with Leane as he respected her talents as a tracker and MD who shared his interest for tinkering.

The apperance of Sal served to remind Zaq of the obligation that he had to pay off his father's debt. Although he had been sending credits home it was only serving to pay the interest on the debt rather than wipe it away. Though Sal there was presented the oppertunity to take the matter into his own hands. It's an interesting moral dilema for the character and one that he hasn't decided on yet (something I'll press in season 2)

As a GM I liked the fact that Zaq was fairly uncomplicated. The only real problem was that his player had real world issues and couldn't make every session. This wasn't too bad but as he was the only really combat orientated character certain combats had to be scaled back slightly.