(EBR 1x02a) - Back to the Core

These posts are my recap of our group's Star Wars Saga Edition game. They are written as a kind of "Ship's Log", from my character (Burt Larsson)'s point of view.  

3593.05.04, Taungsday

We didn't have to stay on Tatooine for long - barely long enough to allow Montag to catch up.  He had the other Jedi in tow - Taeko, it was - and had managed to catch Adam before they left, too!  The 'Raptor was suddenly feeling that much more crowded... I wonder how long this will go on for?

There was an update from <CLASSIFIED>, too.  Apparently, he had received a ransom - the kidnappers were holding <CLASSIFIED> in order to force <CLASSIFIED> to...no, that's getting confusing.  Let's try this instead.

The kidnappers were holding the senator's son in order to force the senator to vote against some upcoming bill.  I didn't get the full details, but apparently they are trying to introduce tighter blaster control - hah, like that would work!  But clearly, someone out there thinks it is a bad idea, and is going to some pretty big steps to attempt to stop it.  

It's such a crude attempt, I have to wonder if that is truly their goal.  How many senators do they have under their thumb?  If this got out, wouldn't it lead to the bill being passed?  Could that be their true intention?

There was also more information on "The Facebook".  Apparently, they had previously stuck to petty crimes, smuggling, and the occasional raid on small time freighters.  This was a big step forward for them.  All the more reason to stomp them out, I say!

So now we're flashing through hyperspace. I wonder how the Jedi are enjoying the trip?  Being cooped up with the wookie must be a bit of a struggle.  I know they asked to use the cargo bay for their meditation and sparring, but it's kind of full after we picked up those, ah, "spare" speeder bikes.  Hey, waste not, want not, right?  And after the Apple Gangers damaged our bikes, I needed to get the spare parts from somewhere!

Anyway, we had to tell them to just rearrange the tables in the galley.  Even with the wookie, there's still only four of them, and it can comfortably fit seven (on one trip, we managed to double-pack passengers in, and had fourteen individuals being ferried between destinations!).  Still, I wonder if they wish they had their own ship?

We'll have to see how everyone is after being cooped up together for the journey.  I'm sure Anton can't manage another run as fast as last time, so we should be in Duro in about four days.  Plenty of time for everyone to get to know each other.

3593.05.04, Zhellday

You'll never guess what I discovered today!  Well, of course you won't - you're just an electronic note-taking device.  I specifically requested no trace of any artificial intelligence in this model.

Anyway - I was tooling around in the workshop, trying to find a replacement tool for the one that I - uh, that wore out, and was talking myself through the Tatooine events, when the mechanic droid commented that it sounded interesting.  It wasn't just an acknowledgement that it all happened, but rather an actual AI interest in the events!  Turns out, the droid hasn't had as many memory wipes as the previous owners had believed.  If we can fit him up with a bit of spare gear, he even offered to accompany us onto Duro, lend a bit of a hand and carbon-fibre muscle to our group.  Not that we need much more muscle, but an extra blaster overlooking the group would definitely be handy!

Of course, with all of us disembarking, that leaves the old 'Raptor unmanned.  If Duro's space ports are anything like Tatooines, Anton won't be happy leaving it anywhere unsecured.  He will definitely be on the look out for some decent parking...

(EBR 1x01b) - Touchdown on Tatooine

These posts are my recap of our group's Star Wars Saga Edition game. They are written as a kind of "Ship's Log", from my character (Burt Larsson)'s point of view.  

3593.05.04, Centaxday

It felt like a month, but it's only been a few days - the new Hyperdrive Anton equipped clearly works better than I had expected.  Still, we've come all this way, and for what?  The air is dry and miserable, they have no pavement to walk on, so my boots are now filled with sand, the weather is so blasted hot...oh, and <CLASSIFIED> wasn't even here. Well, he was, some time ago, but the time we arrived to meet his 'best man', the fellow was already dead!  Ain't that the height of rudeness: we travel all this way, and he has the hide to go get himself killed right before we turn up.

If he were still alive, I'd be right down annoyed at him!

As it turns out, his killer then tried to kill us - so, at least we have that in common.  Well, I wasn't going to allow her to escape without a harsh word or two, so I heroically leaped into the sky, zooming after her, and finding where her ship (a Ghtroc 720 Space Freighter - slow as the turtle it looks like!  Good thing I talked Anton out of getting one of those!) was parked.  The others finally caught up (oh - did I mention?  The wookie can fly! How something so large manages to stay in the air, I don't know...maybe Adam will get his armour working after all?), and we had an all-out blaster fight.  

Pretty exciting, really, much better than the little skirmishes we'd have amongst the swoop-gangs.  Anton threw around some crates, Ralrlanna crushed more bones than I'd like to count, and Darossk - wow, I've heard takes of the Jedi and their lightsabers, but it was something else to see it in action!  Stopping blasts before they reached him, and slicing right through his enemy, gun and all, as if there was no resistance!

Well, the rodian slipped onto her ship, and Ralrlanna charged in after her, but apparently they had "too many men", or something like that.  I don't know - I think we could have taken them.  How many can really fit onto a ship that size? Only, what, ten? Twelve?  

Anyway, they got away...but man, they were vicious.  As they lifted off, they turned their cannons on us, and fired!  Well, ok - not us directly...their own men! And not just the ones we had captured, to stop them from talking, but all of them, even the dismembered ones who were most certainly dead.  Bizarre doesn't begin to cut it.

Leather Jacket's logo

There wasn't much left after the ship bombarded the area, but Anton did find some strange colourful apple logo on their jackets.  With nothing else to go on (we checked through their Star Yacht - a fancy one indeed, but these Baudo-Class vessels are all style over substance - sure, they could outrun us, but in a stand-up battle, they'd be rupturing that pretty hull before they could ask for the hyperdrive to be turned on!), we're going to follow <CLASSIFIED>'s movements through the various seedy taverns around here, see if anyone remembers them. 

(Oh, and I noticed my journal keeps deleting <CLASSIFIED>'s name...have the Jedi been tampering with our system, or is that Montag's doing?  I'll have to check with Anton, see if he knows anything about it.)

3593.05.04, Centaxday - Addendum #1

It turns out that the "Apple Gangers" are a local band of thugs and criminals.  Well, good thing we didn't go easy on them!  We managed to get a location of their hideout, and then took out the speeders for a ride.  

The new exhausts still make a bit too much noise, I think, and I'm sure there's something off with my steering column, but it's pretty hard to tell when you are racing across a desert...man, that is some boring driving!  I could fall asleep, and not crash into anything!  Good thing we were travelling at night, or there would have been no skill needed.

Oh, and some of those Apple Gangers tried to take us on, on their own speeders.  Hah.  Little did they know who we were!  Two got away, but not before Ralrlanna impressed me again: he leaped from his bike, switching his jetpack on in mid jump, and practically charged through the air at them, power-hammer glowing all ferocious-like!  

By the time we reached their hideout, they were all waiting for us - of course - and though Darossk took a blaster to his face, we managed to clear them out pretty quickly.  He even pulled out a second lightsaber (a training one, I believe?), and subdued one of the gangers for questioning.  Thing was - the ganger wasn't a ganger at all!  Instead of the tell-tale rainbow apple, this fellow had a strangely designed "f" tattooed onto his arm.  He called himself "One of the Facebook", and was merely paying the Apple Gangers to do their dirty work.

The Facebook

For some reason, the others were going to let him walk after their questioning.  Bizarre.  Anyway, I tied up that loose end before we left.

Now, we have a name - or, a few names!  The rodian is "Elizabeth Stapleton" (that's a perculiar name, even for a rodian), and has most likely retreated to her headquarters on Duro.  Not sure where that is, but anywhere has to be a step up from the dry, dusty Tatooine!  How long will it take to get all the grit out of my bikes?

(EBR 1x01a) - The Mission Briefing

These posts are my recap of our group's Star Wars Saga Edition game. They are written as a kind of "Ship's Log", from my character (Burt Larsson)'s point of view.  

3593.05.03, Taungsday.

Anton told me we had a new job - and it wasn't carting around more of those smelly stick-things, either!  Apparently, Zekk Montag, his old contact in the Republic Military had suggested Bronze Raptor and her crew name for the job!  

<CLASSIFIED>, the son of some high ranking Republic senator, went off to Tatooine (Why there? Nothing good ever comes from Tatooine, doubly so now that the Huts have taken control of it...) for his "bucks party" (I know - it was written that way in our information, too - wonder what it was that they were really getting up to?).  Anyway, <CLASSIFIED> vanished, and we're being called in to deal with the situation. Look for him. That kind of 'dealing with it'.  On the down-low, to save his father from any further embarrassment.

Tried to track down Adam, as I know this would be just his sort of thing, but apparently he was off looking for new pieces for his suit.  I doubt he'll ever get it to fly; the days of the Mandaloriens are over, you gotta dress light for battle, or accept that you will stay on the ground.  Anyway, left a few notes here and there, so hopefully he'll catch a transport across, and join in with us over there.  Maybe we could make a trip of it?  Nah, what am I thinking...it's Tatooine!!

Oh, and get this - Montag doesn't even trust us enough to send us out alone!  He's sending a couple of Jedi for "Galactic security", as well as some extra muscle... ah well, more bodies means I'm less of a target, and we'll be compensated for transporting them around, in addition to being paid for the job.  Maybe Anton will finally be able to get those gold-plated taps for the kitchen he's been eyeing off?

3593.05.03, Zhellday.

The 'muscle' was a freaking wookie!! Montag introduced us briefly, before running off with the second Jedi (A nautolan called...Teko? Taki? I'm sure I'll pick it up next time), to do more important "Republic Business" stuff.  I told him to look out for Adam, give him a lift across, if they are done in time.  The plan is for them to meet us on Tatooine, after we've had a chance to look around a bit.

But, back to the wookie - man, that is one big, angry fellow!  At least, I think he's angry - all he does is groan and grumble.  Anton tells me he understands "Rowllar" (wait - I saw it written somewhere... "Ralrlanna", apparently.), but its all just growls to me.  Nod my head and do as he wants, that's my plan.  That, and give him his space. 

I know Anton was concerned for some of his chairs, they were built for comfort, not supporting such bulk.  But me, I'm just worried about my shoulder - I don't know what's in that guy's bags, but they weighed a ton.  Well, my shoulder...and his nose.  Do wookies have a keen sense of smell? I'm sure I packaged those sticks up tightly, and the compartment is supposed to be air-tight, but what if he finds out?  I mean, he's travelling with a Jedi - I don't think anyone would be happy if they found our, ah, more refined cargo.

And on that Jedi - they didn't even leave the friendly one with us.  No, we get a Trandoshan knight, Darossk.  He seems quiet enough, but I know he's just sensing the environment, watching and listening.  When it's time to strike, I have no doubt he has the skill to deal with any threat quickly.  I don't want to be that threat!

3593.05.03, Benduday.

I had expected ferocity, menacing glares, and the need to give the wookie a wide berth.  What I had not expected was the fur!  (Or is it hair?)  Why does that never come up in "101 things to look out for when travelling with Wookies"? Because, man, there is a lot of fur everywhere!  Clumps of it roll down the 'Raptor's corridors, it clings to all my clothes, and I'm sure I heard one of the air filters give out last night.  If we weren't in hyperspace, I'd take little 'Courier out for a spin, just to get some un-wookified air.

But, I gotta say - my initial judgements on Ralrlanna's temperament might have been a little off.  Sure, he growls a lot, but Anton still believes he is communicating with him, and he hasn't ripped a single arm from anyone yet. That's definitely a plus. And - wow - I saw him working over his weapon-of-choice earlier.  He carries a hammer that must have been half the weight of his gear!  It lights up, all bluey-purple like, crackling away like it contains all his anger.  I'm sure it packs a mighty wallop.  Definitely don't want to be on the wrong end of that!

I also saw Darossk sparring in the general quarters, swooshing his glowing blade around like it was nothing...which, I guess, kinda makes sense, as the blade is pretty light.  I barely managed to muster up the courage to ask him not to gut the 'Raptor from within, only for him to simply inform me that the blade was a practice blade - it doesn't cut, merely stuns.  His real saber was still on his hip.  Well, there's something I didn't know before.

Escapades of the Bronze Raptor: Introductions!

Our group has started up a new campaign, this one set in the Star Wars universe, using a slightly-house-ruled "Star Wars Saga Edition" system.  I'll be writing up recaps from my character's (Burt Larssen) point of view, in a "Captain's Log" type of way...even though he's not the captain!
Our adventure takes place a few decades before the invasion of Naboo.  We aren't going to press up towards those prequel movies, but the tech shouldn't be too different to what one would imagine.
We have eight characters, who will rotate as time and availability permits us.  Four begin on our ship, the Bronze Raptor, whilst the other four meet up with, and are added to the crew as the adventure unfolds.

The Old Crew...

That's Viscount to you!

Anton Tuf

Kel Dor Noble / Force Adept / Crime Lord

Anton is a wealthy noble who has just cashed in a large chunk of his inheritance and, with the help from his partner in crime, purchased a space transport. He is hoping to make his fortune...if only he can get someone to purchase these illicit items!

Born on Kel Dor into one of the Great Families, he trained from an early age in the Baran Do tradition.  Since he was ten, he has lived on Coruscant, joining a swoop bike gang, and meeting Burt Larssen and Adam Forbes.

Anton is driven to a luxury lifestyle, and has no great qualms about breaking the law when in his self- interest. He is neither secretive nor showy about using the force, seeing it as just another pathway to success. His early schooling has made him aware of the danger of the dark side, but he is prepared to make limited use of it.

Burt "needs a nickname" Larssen

Burt Larssen

Human Scout / Scoundrel / Soldier / Gunslinger

Burt was born on the wrong side of the law, and has struggled to stay out of serious trouble and make ends meet. Now, he has pooled all his remaining resources with Anton, and hopes that his investment will see some return before it all falls apart around them!

As he grew, Burt developed a talent for the swoop bikes - often taking an unprotected one out for a joy ride.  Through the swoop bike gang, he lost many friends, but also met Anton and Adam.

When a new gambling sensation - a "Sabacc Slot Machine" - destroyed the last remnants of his family, Burt decided it was enough. He would make a difference, he would get revenge, he would tear down the filthy industry. And sure, hopefully a small fortune on the way.

"Nighthawk"

Adam Forbes

Human Scoundrel / Scout / Soldier / Bounty Hunter

A childhood friend of Burt's, Adam never seemed overly interested in the ganger life.  Mostly, he did it for a bit of cash, so he could repair the strange Mandalorien suit of armour he had acquired. (Was it Inherited? Discovered? Bought through some shady deal? Adam was never entirely clear on that point.)  He wanted to fly, wanted to soar higher than the speeder bikes allowed.

For the moment, Adam is just helping out as the 'Raptor's muscle, and long-range fire support, though in time, his full potential should be unlocked!

KH-74

KH-74

4th Degree Droid Soldier / Elite Trooper

More of a surprise than a planned addition to the team, KH was "accidentally" purchased as part of the ship package. He was thought to be a simple mechanic aid, until he decided to make his intelligence and personality known to the crew, and help out on their mission.

Though his programming is pretty straight forward - fight things, shoot things, fix things - it is expected that the reason he hasn't left the ship is that he has a little crush on the transport vessel...

The New Crew...

Officer Montag

Zekk Montag

Zabrak Soldier / Officer / Elite Trooper

An officer in the Republic Military, Zekk knows Anton and his friends from previous (unwritten, or redacted?) adventures. Although he suspects some of their ways are less legal than others, Zekk knows the team to be reliable, and turns a blind eye towards their less-savoury dealings.

Knowing both the 'Raptor's crew, and the other players, he is the joining point between the two teams.  It is through him that the initial quest finds them all joining forces and deciding to work together.

(just growl)

Ralrlanna

Wookie Soldier / Gladiator

Ralrlanna worked through the ranks with Zekk, completing a number of missions together. However, Ralrlanna focused more on direct problem solving than leadership. Eventually, he grew restless of the rigid military life and sought to be discharged.

He worked as a body guard for a while, but that proved to be as just as boring as the military, and involved far more waiting around than anything else. Ralrlanna almost found what he wanted in the legal (mostly) gladiatorial circuit, however, he lacked the charisma to be popular with the crowds. Introduced by Zekk, Ralrlanna agreed to work with Anton, hoping for action, comradery, and possibly glory.

No, try again, with more "sSs"

Darossk

Trandoshan Jedi Knight

Due to the Galactic Security involved with their first mission, the 'Raptor was required to take on board two delegates from the Jedi Council.  Stealth and a low profile were called for, but they are not areas where Darossk excels; true to his nature, the trandoshan is strong, vicious, and intends to make even the power-hammer-wielding wookie look weak.  Still, his Jedi training has taught him to stand back and watch, and not rush in.  Certainly, if it is needed, he can bring the hurt; but Darossk will often be looking for an alternate way around a possible skirmish.

Tay-ko

Taeko

Nautolan Jedi Knight

In contrast to his Jedi companion, Taeko has trained under the Ataru style, allowing him to dance around his opponents, and try to stay ahead of them at all times.  Although a little more absent-minded than Darossk, Taeko brings a lot of knowledge about the Galactic Republic - its planets, its history, and how the Force moves through it all.  Anton just hopes his knowledge on Galactic law isn't as clear...

And...the ship!

The Bronze Raptor

The 'Raptor is a Citadel-Class Cruiser, with ample upgrades to make Anton and his crew that little bit more comfortable.  Clearly, the ship isn't as good as Anton wants - nothing but the best will do, ultimately - and thus it only gets the "Bronze" descriptor.

Most of its original weapons have been stripped out for more cargo space, leaving only a few double lasers and ion cannons, and extra room to power up some significantly solid shields.  The controls have been highly personalised, with all the typical smuggler additions (and jettison options, in case those Jedi get too nosy!)

Although it can hold two starfighters (and did, when they originally purchased it), only Burt's 'Courier is still on board.  The other fighter, a bomber, was stripped of most of its weapons, and fitted out instead with some old crew seats, turning it into a serviceable transport vessel that can hold up to 10 passengers.  Or, a significant amount of contraband.  Just saying...