Starting Conditions

Experience Points

Part 1

Tavasi and Haasef sat in the pilot and co-pilot seats of the Nightingale, as they neared the Toprawa system. Josette sat in the third seat in the rear of the cockpit, after receiving strict instructions from Tavasi: don’t touch anything.

Malor was strapped into the turret. In the event they encountered trouble when entering the system, he wanted to be ready to deal with it.

As the countdown timer reached zero, Haasef pulled the hyperspace lever and the spinning kaleidoscope of hyperspace resolved itself into the familiar darkness of normal space. The planet Toprawa lay directly ahead, already close enough for them to pick out the large ocean in its western hemisphere and the mountains and forests near their destination in the northeast.

The Nightingale was equipped with somewhat limited sensors, and Tavasi and Haasef both studied their scopes carefully. There was nothing unusual on the scanners — just standard satellites and normal planetary traffic.

Tavasi gave Haasef a thumbs up. This next step was tricky, and the two of them had discussed it for about an hour, after Tavasi found him sleeping in the cockpit. Nodding to her, Haasef opened the program he had written to slice into and disable the ship’s transponder.

All civilian starships carried transponders which identified the ship and conveyed its registration. Practically, this information was used for navigation and communications with other starships. The Empire also relied on these transponders to track and identify vessels, without detailed scans. Because of this, transponders were designed to resist efforts to tamper with them or disable them. Doing either was highly illegal.

However, after blasting their way off of Shenzou Station, Tavasi and Haasef had agreed that a little anonymity was worth the risk. The Duros nodded to Tavasi and then executed the program.

Haasef frowned, as the program ran. The transponder had not been deactivated, but no alarms had been triggered. He relayed that information to Tavasi. “Okay, we knew that might happen,” she said calmly. “Let’s get the ship down to the surface.”

Haasef opened the map of potential landing zones that Tavasi had sketched, while planning with Malor. He had created navigation waypoints for each one, as well as the town of Sotuna, itself. He was careful to color-code Sotuna in red, since they wanted to avoid flying too close to the town itself. As they descended to the surface, Tavasi would be able to see the waypoints on her heads up display, to more easily navigate the ship.

Haasef watched the scope carefully during the their descent, but there was no pursuit or intercept detected. The Nightingale entered atmosphere and flew towards the town of Sotuna, unmolested.

Part 2

Tavasi flew over the several of the potential landing sites before selecting the one she felt was most secluded. It was a clearing to the southwest of Sotuna, only about ten meters larger than the ship, on each side. The Nightingale fit comfortably in the space, and Tavasi expected it would be hard to spot from the air, unless someone was deliberately searching for them. The downside was the distance — they were about five kilometers from the town itself, and would have to walk a few hours through forest and hills to reach it.

After setting the Nightingale down, Tavasi asked Haasef to put the ship’s systems into standby. While he did so, she went into the galley and packed some of the food — protein cubes, nuna jerky, nutripaste, and ration bars — into a small daypack. She also grabbed her stimpacks.

Malor and Josette stood at the top of the ship’s ramp. Haasef exited the cockpit and met them there. Malor asked, “Do you have a blaster, Haasef?”

The Duros shook his head negatively. “They were not permitted for us on the station. I have a knife, but that is all.”

Tavasi joined them from the galley. Malor asked if she had any spare weapons aboard for Haasef.

“No, just my own sidearm.” Forcing a little bravado, she added, “Let’s try to stay out of trouble.” With that, she hit the switch to lower the ramp.

The team emerged from the ship and was greeted by Toprawa’s warm, humid air. Some steam was still venting from the ship’s underside, but the forest sounds had returned to normal after the Nightingale’s arrival. Birds chirped and insects twittered.

Toprawa rotated very slowly around its axis. As a result, the planet seemed to go through a season each standard month. A cold, sunless winter with plentiful snow gave way to a short spring with lengthening days and warming temperatures. In turn, this transitioned to a short, hot summer with perpetual sunlight, then a period of autumn cooling and waning sunlight. The cycle repeated about three times per standard year.

It was early autumn when and where the Nightingale landed. The sky was partly cloudy — this was common during the two temperate seasons. By contrast, winter and summer tended to be overcast with heavy precipitation.

Haasef stared in wonder at the tall, broad-leafed trees. After being in a penal colony and then a space station for the last few years, the contrast of the outdoors was astounding. He paused just outside the Nightingale’s shadow to breath deeply and take in the scent of the forest.

Malor scanned the edge of the clearing carefully, hands on his blaster carbine. He set out to the northeast, in the direction of the town of Sotuna, and took a knee at the edge of the clearing. Tavasi and Josette joined him there. Haasef hurried over a few seconds later, a little embarrassed at his own absent-mindedness.

Holding up the map on his datapad, Maleor said “It should take us two to three hours to get to the outskirts of the town. We’ll want to observe for a while before we go in, so we’ll look for a vantage point outside of town, probably to the south.”

Malor looked at Tavasi. “I’ll take point and scout ahead. You’re the only other one with a blaster, so you lead these two. Stay about fifty meters behind me. Be as quiet as you can.”

Tavasi nodded and Malor started off. After he had gone forty or fifty meters, Tavasi looked at Josette to Haasef. “You heard the man! Follow me, keep your eyes open.”

Part 3

Malor halted the group for a short rest, a little over an hour after they had set out. The team had hiked in near silence, to this point. Clouds had moved in, making the forest darker and eerier than anticipated. Still, it was dry and they had made good time.

The team was resting against a boulder and felled tree. Malor checked the map on his datapad for what Tavasi presumed was the millionth time. Speaking quietly — not quite a whisper, but more softly than normal — he told them, “We’re about halfway to town. I’m going to bend us a little to the south. The ground is higher there, and I’m hoping we can find a spot where we can see into town. I want to get a sense of traffic, security, how busy it is.”

They all nodded in acknowledgement and then set out again. As Malor had indicated, they traveled more to the east than north, this time. The ground began to slope gradually upwards and it became hillier. After another kilometer of travel, the trees had thinned out and they were traversing an area of rocky hills. Turning to the north, they drew closer to the southern edge of Sotuna, until they were a few hundred meters away.

None of them had macrobinoculars, so they could not study the details of Sotuna. Tavasi and Malor could not make out many details. Haasef, however, was able to pick out a few. He could tell that the town was laid out in a grid, roughly four blocks square, with farms and buildings dotting lands to the north and east of the town. A modest landing field was northwest of town — it was hard to make out details, but Haasef saw what looked like a grey- and red-painted YT-2400 freighter approach and land out of sight behind the trees.

Haasef also noticed that speeders of several sizes moved around town, along with plenty of pedestrian traffic. There was definitely a block or two that was busier than the others, which he thought might be a central business district. He saw no obvious security presence.

After conferring for a moment, they decided to approach the town proper. A cool drizzle began to fall as they began walking north.

Starting Conditions

Experience Points

Tavasi XP

Purchase	Cost
Upgrade Skill: Ranged (Light) (Rank 0 to 1)	5xp for Rank 5xp for non-career Skill
Talent: Full Throttle (Smuggler, Pilot specialization)	5xp
Talent: Skilled Jockey (Smuggler, Pilot specialization)	5xp

Tavasi will hold onto the unspent 10xp.

Haasef XP

Purchase	Cost
Upgrade Skill: Computers (Rank 1 to 2)	10xp for Rank
Upgrade Skill: Brawl (Rank 0 to 1)	5xp
Upgrade Skill: Piloting (Planetary) (Rank 0 to 1)	5xp
Talent: Solid Repairs (Technician, Mechanic specialization)	5xp

Haasef will hold onto the unspent 5xp.

Malor XP

Purchase	Cost
Upgrade Skill: Vigilance (Rank 0 to 1)	5xp for Rank 5xp for non-career Skill
Upgrade Skill: Medicine (Rank 0 to 1)	5xp
Upgrade Skill: Melee (Rank 0 to 1)	5xp
Talent: Physical Training	5xp (Rank 1)
Talent: Point Blank	5xp (Rank 1)

Part 1

No one spoke for a minute, each alone with their thoughts. Tavasi started to shake as the adrenaline wore off. Haasef stared straight ahead, shocked at where the day had taken him. Malor sat mesmerized by the twisting lines of hyperspace that seemed to be all around him outside the turret’s bubble canopy.

Malor was the first to move. The turret suddenly came to life, as power was restored. The targeting system and charging indicator distracted him from the view outside the canopy. He shut down the turret, placed the headset back in its holder, and climbed out of the harness.

When he got to the top of the ladder, Josette had just entered the chamber behind the cockpit. She looked at him hesitantly. “I felt the ship jump to hyperspace. Are we…” she trailed off for a moment. “Are we safe?”

Malor nodded, tiredly. “For now, anyway.”

Josette started to tear up again, then saw the wound on his arm. “You’re hurt!”

Malor looked at the wound, as if noticing it for the first time. “So’s the pilot. Let’s go check on her.”

Together, they entered the cockpit. Haasef continued to stare straight ahead and did not register their presence. Tavasi jumped when the cockpit door opened, surprised by the noise. Looking over her shoulder at her two passengers, she straightened up.

Malor looked at her and smiled. “That was some great flying, Captain!”

Tavasi nodded. “Thanks.” Shaking her head, she whispered, “Not even a scratch.” She patted the Nightingale’s console.

As the adrenaline wore off, her side started to burn, and she grasped it involuntarily. Her hand came away bloody.

Seeing this, Malor dropped to a knee. His hand went into his daypack and he produced a stimpack. He gestured towards her. “May I?”

She nodded and closed her eyes as Malor injected the stimpack. After a few seconds, the combination of medicine, chemicals, and a small amount of bacta began to take effect. Her pain subsided to a dull ache.

“Thanks,” Tavasi said to Malor, genuinely appreciative. He nodded and dropped the empty injector back in his day pack.

Tavasi pointed at his arm. “How about you? There’s a medpac and a couple of stims down in the galley.”

Looking at his wound, Malor shrugged. “Just a graze. I’ll slap a bandage on it later.” He looked at Haasef, who was still starting blankly ahead, then back at Tavasi. “How long to Toprawa?”

Tavasi called Haasef’s name twice, then gently touched his arm. He jerked away, then seemed to realize where he was. “My pardon, Mistress Tavasi. I was… lost in thought.”

“Welcome back,” she said dryly. Jerking her thumb at Malor and Josette, she said, “Our guests would like to know how long the trip to Toprawa will be.”

Haasef turned and noticed them for the first time. Josette gave him a small smile and he nodded at her. Turning back to his console, he checked the navicomputer. “We will arrive in about sixteen hours.”

Josette closed her eyes and mumbled, “Thank the maker.”

Tavasi stepped out of the pilots seat, being careful to protect her wounded side. Despite the stimpack, it was still tender and would likely be that way for another day or so. Standing, she turned to face Josette. “You said you had family on Toprawa. Is this known to the Empire? Could they be waiting for us when we drop out of hyperspace?”

Malor tilted his head and looked at Josette. He had not considered this, in their rush to get off the station.

Josette swallowed. “I don’t think so. I have an Aunt — great Aunt — there. We comm each other and send messages, periodically.” Josette shook her head, more certain now. “I never mentioned her officially, so she shouldn’t be listed in my personnel file. I don’t talk about her, so she isn’t someone my colleagues on the station will be aware of…”

Malor looked at Tavasi. “ISB will look through her comm traffic eventually. But it will take them some time.” Tavasi grunted in reply.

Josette continued, “Aunt Annakath… she works with clones. Deserters, from the war, who could not — or would not — fight.”

Malor’s face turned ugly. “Deserters? You mean cowards?”

Josette shrugged. “Some, maybe.” She pointed at his legs, “Others lost limbs or had other wounds and couldn’t continue the fight.” She shrugged again. “The Republic — or Empire, if you prefer — abandoned them after the war. Annakath is a kind of teacher and counselor to a colony of them on Toprawa.”

Malor considered this and seemed to calm down a little. He leaned against a bulkhead, lost in thought.

Haasef got up from his seat as Josette was talking. He asked, quietly but intently, “Dr. Agnel, why is the Empire looking for you? Why did you have to leave the station?”

Josette looked at Malor, who shook his head. She swallowed and turned back to Haasef. “It’s best if I don’t tell you everything, Haasef. Just know that I had a good reason. The details will only cause you more trouble.”

Haasef made a noise, dissatisfied with the explanation. “I am an Imperial convict who just broke his parole and tore out of a station occupied by the Empire. Along the way, we killed a squad of troopers and avoided a pair of TIE fighters intent on destroying this ship.” He looked from Josette to Malor. “I fail to see how I could get in too much more trouble,” he exclaimed.

Josette looked at him helplessly. Then, Tavasi giggled, breaking the tension. The other three looked at the Zabraki, who was reading her datapad. She looked up and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.” She turned to Haasef and showed him the message.

Haasef shook his head, but a small smile crept across his face. He could not help but see humor in the absurdity of the situation.

Tavasi gently punched him in the shoulder. “We’re going to do great!” She waved her datapad at him. “Send me your account number so I can set up transfers. Sixty-forty after expenses, remember?”

Haasef shook his head. “I do not have a personal datapad, Mistress Tavasi. Only the company device.” He pulled out the Grey Technologies datapad and made sure it was switched off. “Perhaps I can refurbish this, later. I do have my account number memorized.”

Tavasi tapped a couple of keys and then handed Haasef her datapad, so he could enter his information. She stepped forward and gently pushed Malor and Josette out of the cockpit. “Let’s get you two over to the galley for a quick meal, then I’ll show you the bunks and the ‘fresher. This isn’t a passenger liner, but we should all try to grab a snack and some rest before we arrive.”

Finished entering his account number, Haasef returned her datapad and followed them to the galley.

Part 2

Tavasi had pulled several food packs out of the galley and arrayed them on the table. Two packets each of ration bars, sweet protein cubes, and spicy nuna jerky lay on a tray, along with a pitcher of water. Tavasi had decided against brewing caf, hoping to get some sleep before arriving at Toprawa.

Malor immediately grabbed a ration bar and started chewing. Soldiers rarely turn down a meal. As he ate, he began to field strip and clean his E5 carbine.

Haasef looked uncertain, then selected a piece of nuna jerkey and began to chew. The spices caused his eyes to widen and made him sniffle a bit, but he enjoyed the taste. Nutrient paste was his most common meal in prison and on the station — the new flavor was welcome.

Josette sat back, sipping some water, lost in thought. Tavasi watched her for a moment, then popped a protein cube into her mouth and asked, “How do you plan to meet up with your aunt? It would be best to avoid bringing the Empire down on her and her clone friends?”

Josette sipped a little more water and then replied, “Their settlement is in the forested hills of Toprajj, in the north. It’s very secluded. The settlement of Sotuna is closest, a few hundred kilometers to the west. Do you think we could put down outside of Sotunu and I can contact Annakath from there?”

Seeing Tavasi and Malor nodding, Josette went on. “Once we make contact, I will get you the rest of your credits and find transport to meet up with her.” She looked at Malor. “I hadn’t thought past that part.”

Malor nodded at her. “Decent plan. We’ll make it work.”

Josette locked eyes with him. “I’ll get you several thousand credits, as well. You’ve done so much for me…”

Malor patted her arm. “You know me. I can’t leave a friend in need.” He shifted position awkwardly and went back to cleaning his carbine.

Tavasi watched the two of them for a moment, then cleared her throat. “Malor, you can bunk here. I’ve got two cabins on the port side. Haasef, one of those is yours, now. Josette can use the other.” She checked her datapad. “We’ve got about 15 hours before we arrive at Toprawa. We should all try to get a little sleep. Let’s meet here in 12 hours. We’ll have a real meal, review a map of the planet, and get organized before we make orbit.”

Haasef pulled out his company datapad and asked, “Do you mind if I spend some time with the computer to reprogram this datapad? It would be useful to have one.”

Nodding, Tavasi said, “Of course. There’s a tech station and workbench outside the cockpit. Some tools in the storage cabinet there and also in the engineering compartment.” Haasef smiled and bowed his head in thanks.

“C’mon Josette — I’ll show you to your cabin.”

Part 3

Haasef spent a couple of hours trying to sleep, but was never able to do more than doze off. He was a jumble of emotions. Fear, and a little exhilaration, from being on the run from the Empire. Excitement and apprehension from having joined up with Tavasi and taking on this job. The events of the last few hours were completely disorienting.

He gave up trying to sleep and decided to work on the datapad. He quietly walked over to the tech station that Tavasi had mentioned. It was behind the cockpit, against a wall, near the hatch Malor had used to access the turret. Except for the deep hum of the hyperdrive engines, the ship was silent. Haaset familiarized himself with the console and then plugged a couple of wires into ports on the datapad.

Haasef sat down at the console and typed in a few commands. He was able to quickly slice into the datapad and access it via the command line. He entered the commands to wipe the datapad’s memory and then its operating system. He also did a low level format of its memory. Once those processes were complete, he started a fresh installation of the datapad operating system.

A few minutes later, the datapad chimed. It asked him to enter his name and a set up an access code. Haasef started to do that, and then froze. His name. The Empire would be looking for him. He shut the datapad down and slipped it into a pocket. He wanted to talk to Tavasi, first.

Feeling a little more settled, he went into the cockpit and sat in the copilot’s seat. He called up the ship’s manuals, and started to read. He was determined to better understand the Nightingale and wanted to be prepared to take the controls and pilot the ship. He read for more than an hour, head bobbing several times, until he fell asleep.

Part 4

A few hours later, the alarm Tavasi had set in her quarters chimed. She sat up, looking at the repeater displays for key ship systems. Everything was quiet. They had about three hours before they arrived at Toprawa. After a quick shower in the refresher, she slipped on a dark tan jumpsuit and yawned.

Walking through the ship to the galley, she could smell the caf. Stepping into the galley, she saw Malor using the entertainment console to review maps of the Toprajj region of northern Toprawa and the settlement called Sotuna. She noticed that he had put a simple bandage over the blaster burn on his right arm. He looked up as she walked into the room and nodded to her, “Captain.”

She gave him a mock salute and poured herself a cup of caf. It was good and she told him so. Malor smiled. “Glad you like it. How’s your side?”

Involuntarily, Tavasi ran her hand over the wound in her side. She had not even thought about it since waking. It was a little sore to the touch — bruised, really — but that was all.

“Much better, thanks.” She looked at him for a moment. “What’s your story, Malor? How did you get tied up in all of this,” she asked, gesturing broadly.

He frowned, and then shrugged. “Not much to tell. I mustered out of the army a few months ago. Started working security on the station to make ends meet. Josette and I became friends. She told me about her problem… and here I am.”

“Imperial Army,” Tavasi asked a little nervously.

Malor raised his hands in mock surrender. “Yes, but I got screwed and so did my team. I’m no fan of the Empire.” He started to say more, and then stopped. Instead, he quietly added, “At least, not now.”

Tavasi decided to change the subject — clearly this was a touchy point for him. She pointed to the maps he had open on the console. “Come up with a plan?”

He nodded slightly and waved her over. “I’ve been looking at the settlement that Josette mentioned, Sotuna. I figure we want to land outside of town, hopefully avoid having the ship and ourselves seen as we slip in. We also need to find a comm station so she can reach her Aunt. Something public.”

Tavasi nodded thoughtfully. “This town is kind of small. I was hoping to find some new credentials for this ship and my copilot, while we’re here”

Malor zoomed the map out and scrolled to the southwest. He clicked in on a larger city just north of the planet’s equator. “Old Toprawa, the capital city. It’s got a stellar-class starport and about three million inhabitants. Probably just seedy enough to have what you need, if you can get in and out without being seen.”

Tilting her head, Tavasi asked, “What’s the Imperial presence like here?”

Pointing at Old Toprawa, Malor replied, “There is an Army regiment garrisoned in Old Toprawa, along with a Customs office and Navy presence. Couple battalions of Stormtroopers stage out of a small based west of the city.”

Zooming the map out, he continued, “It looks like the Navy runs flight control at the starport and has has a headquarters element in the city, as well. From there, they handle a group of customs corvettes and three TIE squadrons that the Empire keeps in system.”

Malor looked at her. “Once we drop out of hyperspace, we’ll have to see if any elements of the Kalamith sector fleet are in-system.” Waving his datapad, he added “NewsNet and Imperial Holovision aren’t reporting any major news or activity in the system.”

Tavasi nodded — she was impressed with the level of research.

Zooming back into Sotuna on the map, Malor said, “Unfortunately, there’s hardly any information available about this settlement or region. I can’t tell if there is any kind of garrison or Imperial presence. We’ll have to be careful once we get on the ground.”

After Malor finished, Tavasi sipped her caf and zoomed in and out of areas around Sotuna. She switched the display from imagery to topography and then back again, a few times. She made note of several possible landing spots and marked them on the map. None were closer than two kilometers from the town. Tavasi saved the locations and synced them to her datapad.

Looking at Malor, she said, “You’re good at this, Malor! We have a plan. Let’s wake the others.”

Starting Conditions

Part 1

Tavasi and Malor scrambled into the cockpit of the Nightingale. They were both breathing heavily after their battle with the security team. Malor had a jagged burn across his right bicep, where a blaster bolt had singed him. Tavasi was clutching her side, where she had taken a shot in the ribs.

She slid in to the pilot’s seat and got on the ship’s speaker, “You better be strapped in, down there. We’re getting out of here.” She immediately engaged the repulsorlifts and the ship eased off its landing struts and into a hover. Malor sat down at the auxiliary station, behind the pilot and copilot, and buckled in.

Tavasi spun the Nightingale around, towards the landing bay approach tunnel. After turning in, she engaged the main engines and accelerated down the tunnel and through the magnetic shield protecting the station’s atmosphere. They were in open space.

Haasef activated the sensors and reported to Tavasi, “Three freighters inbound to the station. None on our vector. The Imperial cruiser Valorum is at the far side of the station.”

Tavasi pushed the throttles forward to full power and turned the ship so the station was between the Nightingale and the Valorum. “How long until we can jump?”

As she asked the question, she heard her datapad chime from her pocket.

Haasef’s fingers danced across his controls. “Four minutes, Mistress Tavasi.”

There was silence in the cockpit for a few seconds, then a red light began to flash on the main console and a quiet alarm began to sound. Hassef flipped a switch to kill the alarm, and quietly announced, “The Valorum has accelerated and is on an intercept course. Two TIE fighters are inbound.”

Haasef checked the scope and said “The TIEs will be in weapons range in two minutes.”

From his seat behind them, Malor asked, “Does this crate have any weapons?”

Tavasi and Haasef shared a look. “We have a ventral laser turret, but its offline,” Tavasi explained. “We used the power to accelerate the hyperdrive restart.”

Checking the instruments, Haasef added, “Weapons will be online in about five minutes.”

It was quiet for a moment, then Malor unbuckled his harness and stood up. “I’m going to check out that turret. Once the power is back up, I’ll be ready.”

He exited the cockpit and opened the access hatch in the floor behind the cockpit. A short ladder led down to the ventral turret with its dual laser cannons. Malor climbed into the turret, strapped on the harness, and then slipped on a headset. “I don’t suppose those TIEs turned around, did they?”

Haasef’s dry voice came through his headset. “TIEs will be in range in thirty seconds. The Valorum will not be in range for six minutes.”

In the cockpit, Tavasi clenched and unclenched her hand, making tiny adjustments to the control yoke. “Deflectors at maximum, double aft,” she stated to no one in particular, as she adjusted the shield controls.

Hassef added, “Three minutes, forty-five seconds to jump.”

Part 2

Half a minute later, two TIE/ln starfighters screamed into position behind the Nightingale and let loose a volley of green fire.

Tavasi rolled the ship counterclockwise and then jinked hard to starboard. The maneuver moved the ship out of the way of the first TIE’s shots and they went wide into empty space. The Nightingale’s abrupt turn forced the TIE pilot to reduce speed and maneuver to port to avoid a collision. It fell behind the freighter and other fighter, and would take a moment to catch up.

The second TIE lined up to fire just as Tavasi made the hard evasion to starboard. Its shots also went into empty space, but it stayed with the Nightingale.

Tavasi’s hands were manipulating control yoke and throttle, while her feet danced across the ship’s etheric rudder. So far, they had avoided any hits. “Time to jump,” she demanded to know.

Haasef responded instantly. “Two minutes.”

“Anything you can do to give me guns,” Malor asked.

Haasef worked at his controls for a few seconds, before shaking his head and replying. “Negative. About three point five minutes before power is restored.”

Malor sighed in reply. On her scope, Tavasi watched the more distant TIE accelerating to rejoin the fight. The nearer TIE was rolling in for an attack.

Acting on instinct, Tavasi pulled hard to starboard again, just as the TIE unleashed a volley of blaster bolts. The Nightingale slipped out of the line of fire and evaded the attack. Tavasi turned the ship back to a vector away from the station, towards their calculated jump route.

“One minute!” Haasef called out, excitedly.

The trailing TIE rejoined its wingman. The two ships spread out, behind and above the Nightingale, and dove in for another attack.

Tavasi pitched the Nightingale’s nose up as the two fighters began their attack, spitting angry green blaster bolts at them. Her maneuver forced the first TIE to dive away at high speed to avoid a collision with the Nightingale. Its pilot was disoriented and lost control for a moment, giving Tavasi the time she needed to barrel roll away from the second TIE fighter’s attack.

Tavasi was maneuvering wildly when she saw the timer count down to zero. “Haasef, make the jump –” before she could finish, he had slid the hyperdrive lever forward “– to lightspeed!”

The Nightingale accelerated impossibly fast for a moment, and then was gone. The TIE fighter that had been closest captured its vector and communicated it to the Valorum, before making a sweeping curve to return to the ship.

Part 1

Tavasi watched as a binary loadlifter moved the last cargo container down the ramp and onto Haasef’s freight sled. He scanned the final box with his datapad, which chimed twice.

Haasef looked up at her. “The shipment is marked as complete, Mistress Tavasi. Your payment should come across soon.”

She smiled at him and walked over to the sled. “Thank you, Haasef.” She wanted to do something for the Duros, but felt helpless.

“How long do you have to work for Grey,” she asked him, instead.

Haasef’s looked at her with his large red eyes. “It will be several years. Two years is the duration of my parole. And then I will have their debt to contend with. It is several hundred credits per month.” He lowered his gaze. “If I save, work extra jobs, perhaps some day…” he trailed off, shaking his head sadly.

Tavasi reached out and grabbed his arm. “You know,” she said slyly. “I could use a mechanic to help keep the Nightingale running.”

The Duros took a step back away from her grasp. He was shaking his head.

Tavasi did not move. But, she did not stop talking, either. “I can get you off of this rock, Haasef. You don’t have much of a future here. Maybe you can find a better one,” she waved towards open space outside of the landing bay, “out there.”

Haasef had stopped shaking his head and started wringing his hands. “I am a criminal on probation, Mistress Tavasi. If I am found, the Empire will arrest me and send me back to prison. I’ll spend my life on the run.”

“Then we’ll find a slicer to make you a new ID. We’ll…” She stopped, shaking her own head. “I don’t want to push you. By the Force, I just met you! But if you stay here, it sounds like you’re destined to a lifetime of debt and servitude. It doesn’t have to be like that.”

They were quiet for a moment. Haasef was opening his mouth to speak when a male voice called out, “Excuse me… is this your ship? I’m looking to hire a transport.”

---

Malor and Josette had crept through the corridors of the landing bay. The first landing pad that they approached was empty. The second held a mid-size cargo shuttle — the pad was deserted but the ship was locked, ending Malor’s long-shot plan to hot-wire it and escape on their own.

Approaching the next landing pad, he heard voices and cautiously peered in from the shadows near the open bay doors. He saw a Questor-class freighter. A Zabraki woman and a Duros were having an animated conversation near a cargo sled. Malor was pretty sure it was the same freighter he had watched land a little while ago.

He slung his blaster carbine to appear less threatening and stepped into the landing bay. With Josette following closely behind, he called out to the two figures.

---

Tavasi spun to her left, surprised by the voice. She saw two humans approaching. The first was an athletic male with brown hair and a blaster slung across his back. The other was a thin woman wearing a grey lab coat the same color as Haasef’s jumpsuit. She appeared frightened.

Tavasi looked at the woman and then Haasef. “Friend or coworker of yours,” she asked?

“Dr. Agnel?”

Tavasi was surprised when Haasef addressed the woman directly. She had only been kidding.

“Haasef?!” Josette smiled and walked quickly over to Haasef. Over her shoulder, she said to Malor, “Haasef is a friend. He has done some work in the lab.”

Malor gave a polite nod to Haasef but kept his attention focused on Tavasi. “So, is this your ship?”

Tavasi sized the man up. Everything about him, from his build, to his bearing, to the way he carried his slung carbine screamed soldier to her. That usually did not bode well.

“Yes, I own and operate the Nightingale,” she answered cautiously.

Malor nodded and gently pulled on her elbow, steering her away from Josette and Haasef, who were chatting by the cargo sled. “We are… looking for transport. Off the station. Would you be available for a charter?”

Tavasi yanked her elbow out of his grip. “A charter to where?”

Malor swallowed. He had not thought this very far ahead. “If you’re moving cargo, perhaps we could catch a ride to your next stop? We’re trying to make it to Toprawa, but the first step is to get away from here and… disappear for a while.”

Tavasi glared at him. “What’s the problem?” She pointed at Josette. “Husband?” She pointed at Malor. “Wife?”

Malor shook his head and smiled slightly. “I wish it was that simple.” He took a chance. “Would you believe… Empire?”

Taking a step away from him, Tavasi said, “There’s a lot of that going around. What makes you two special?”

Malor looked her in the eye. “My name is Malor. That’s my friend Josette,” he said, pointing to the scientist. “The Empire is after her. Right now. I want to get her out of here. We’ll pay what we can.”

Tavasi was a little taken aback by the honest reply. She was about to ask a question when Haasef and the human woman joined them. Tavasi turned to her, instead. “He tells me you’re trying to get to Toprawa.”

Josette nodded. “I have family there. Can you take us?”

Tavasi tilted her head and gave the woman a piercing stare. “He also tells me the Empire is after you. That makes this more dangerous. Four thousand credits. Each.”

Josette opened her mouth to speak, but Malor interrupted her. “That’s outrageous!”

Tavasi held up a finger, as she spoke. “You need to get out of here quickly, and this ship available.” She held up a second finger. “You’re paying a risk premium because the Empire is after you.” She held up a third finger. “I don’t have other cargo, so I can take you directly to Toprawa.”

She put her hand down. “You’re not gonna get a better deal.”

Malor started to speak again, but Josette grabbed his arm. “I don’t have eight thousand credits on me.” She pulled several large-denomination credit chips out of her handbag. “I have twenty-five hundred here. I can get you another… say seventy-five hundred when we reach my family on Toprawa? But we have to leave.” She looked Tavasi in the eye. “Now.”

Tavasi was stunned — what a day. But ten thousand credits to haul these two to Toprawa… “I’m Tavasi Bonebow.” She pointed to the ship. “That’s the Nightingale. Let’s get aboard.” She nodded to Josette. “Now.”

She looked at Haasef. “Last chance. If you want out of here, you’re crew. I’ll split those credits with you, sixty-forty, after fuel and maintenance costs. I take captain’s share. Same deal as long as we work together.”

Josette grabbed Haasef’s arm. “C’mon… let’s get out of here, Haasef. This place is no good for either of us!”

As Haasef answered, alarms rang throughout the station, drowning him out. “Attention, this is a security lockdown! Attention, this is a security lockdown! All station personnel are ordered to shelter in place and follow the instructions of security personnel.” The message began to repeat.

Tavasi and Malor shared a look, the former shaking her head at the latter. Malor shrugged, flashed a quick smile, and then unslung his blaster and took up a position behind the freight sled, near the ship’s ramp.

Tavasi ran up the ramp, followed by Josette who was pulling the startled Duros behind her. Tavasi yelled backwards as she ran into the cockpit, “Haasef, get up here!”

Part 2

Tavasi raced into the cockpit and started readying the ship for flight. It was then that she remembered that she was going to have to cold-start an iffy hyperdrive. “Blast!” she exclaimed.

Haasef came into the cockpit slowly, looking around. Although he had been in starship cockpits before, years of prison had made him believe he would never see one again.

Tavasi threw a glance over her shoulder at him. “What can you do?”

He swallowed and tilted his head — he was reeling from the unexpected situation. “I am a trained pilot and astronavigator, with some experience. I served on a bulk freighter for about two years before my arrest.” He swallowed again. “Mistress Tavasi, I have not flown in several years. This is all happening so fast…”

She pointed at the copilot’s seat next to her and ordered, “Sit down and familiarize yourself with the ship and controls. I had some hyperdrive warnings when I flew in, so I had to shut it down completely. I’ll get it restarted — gonna take a few minutes. Run diagnostics on the hyperdrive and then look up Toprawa on the star charts. Be ready to lay in a course. We’re going to have to jump quickly once we take off.” She narrowed her eyes, and then said, “I spotted an Imperial cruiser on the flight in.”

Haasef hesitated for a moment, and then sat down next to her in the copilot’s seat. He ran his hands over the control board, studying the instruments. Tavasi watched him for about half a minute and then turned to her own console to restart the hyperdrive.

Haasef spent a few minutes working at the console. He called up the diagnostic program, then reviewed the logs. Frowning, he looked at how the diagnostic program worked, and particularly its configuration. His fingers flew across the keypad as he grew more comfortable with the work. He had done this, years before.

After about ten minutes of work, he re-ran the hyperdrive diagnostics. Then he called up the ship’s power schematic and reviewed power utilization across the ship. Once he cross-checked some figures, he spoke. ”Mistress Tavasi, I have discovered and corrected an error in the diagnostic configuration. The hyperdrive is fully functional; it was the diagnostic program that was in error.”

Tavasi smiled at him. “That’s great!”

Haasef continued, “Looking at the ship’s power, I believe we can accelerate the hyperdrive restart, if we shunt power from the ventral cannons. This should roughly halve the remaining time required to restart the hyperdrive. But, it will take the weapons offline for some time.”

This was an easy decision for Tavasi. “Do it. We’re not going to do much with those cannons, anyway. Speed is more important.”

Haasef worked his controls, and then nodded to Tavasi. “Power transfer in progress.”

Tavasi checked the hyperdrive readiness and watched the timer drop from twenty minutes required for restart to just over eleven. “Two for two, Haasef,” she told him. “Great work!”

A couple of minutes later, preflight was complete. Haasef had started the navicomputer and plotted a preliminary route to Toprawa. Specific calculations would have to wait until they were in flight. Tavasi climbed out of her seat saying, “Ready for takeoff. I’m going to get our passengers settled in.”

Walking towards the ramp, she saw Josette standing in the cargo loading area, looking a little lost. Tavasi pointed Josette to the starboard corridor, which led to the crew lounge, suggesting she strap in for takeoff.

Tavasi turned and walked down the ramp. She called down to Malor, saying “Ready for takeoff, you should get —“ She stopped in mid-sentence and she saw a station security trooper come around the blast door and into the landing bay.

Malor had just turned to Tavasi when she stopped talking. She shouted “Troopers!” and drew her blaster pistol as she ran down the ramp to join Malor in cover behind the freight sled. 

Malor leaned out from cover and aimed at the first trooper. He fired a burst from his carbine, which went wide, sending sparking flying from the landing pad floor. The trooper stumbled in shock, not expecting the attack.  

The first and second troopers fired at Malor nearly in unison. The first shot went wide, but the second trooper had dropped to a knee and taken more careful aim at Malor’s exposed form. A blaster bolt burned a line across the big man’s right bicep. Malor grunted from the impact and burn, but was not seriously hurt.

Tavasi rose up from behind a crate and snapped off two quick shots. The first struck the trooper reeling from Malor’s burst. He flew backwards and lay unmoving, a smoking hole in his chest. Tavasi’s second shot struck the next trooper in the chest, as well. He grunted from the painful impact, but managed to stay on his feet. 

The last two troopers ran into the landing bay, firing as they came. A blaster bolt slammed into the crate next to Malor. He was uninjured, but the sparks disrupted his vision. A split second later, he heard Tavasi yelp as a blaster bolt from the last trooper slammed into her side. She dropped into cover in pain, and with the wind knocked out of her. 

Malor lined up a shot on the injured trooper and fired, blowing a hole in the man’s helmet and killing him instantly. He cooly switched to the third trooper and dispatched her with a single shot to the torso.

The last trooper fired at Tavasi, but the shot was low and slammed into the freight sled that she was crouched behind. She slipped between two crates and fired back at the trooper — the bolt hit him right between the eyes. The trooper dropped in a heap.

Tavasi was breathing heavily, staring down her sights at the room with four smoking corpses. The alarm continued to blare in the background.

Malor rose from cover and began backing towards the ship, his carbine raised, sweeping back and forth for more targets.

He hissed at Tavasi, “Get on the ship!” She shook her head, holstered her blaster and ran up the ramp. Malor slid in behind her, slapping the switch to raise the ramp.

Introduction

This final prologue will introduce Malor Lendoran, a former special forces operative turned gun-for-hire. Malor was mustered out of the Imperial Army after the loss of his squad during a battle against the Free Ryloth Movement.

Starting Conditions

Since Tavasi and Haasef have both been introduced, I will roll two Force Die to establish the Destiny Pool.

• Dice Pool:
• Result: 3 Dark Side

We haven’t used force points yet, but… ouch! Also, we will increase the Chaos Factor to 6. In the last prologue, Tavasi learned of Haasef’s indentured servitude to Gray Technologies and an Imperial officer discovered the smuggling compartments on the Nightingale. Things were a bit out of control.

Part 1

---

I want to introduce Malor as he is working through a mission, so I will use Mythic and UNE to come up with a contact and mission. First, we’ll roll on UNE to determine who hired him.

• NPC Modifier: d100… 49… scholarly
• NPC Noun: d100… 43… conscript

Next, I’ll use the Mythic Event Action/Subject tables to determine the purpose of his mission.

• Event Action: d100…10… communicate
• Event Subject: d100… 23… balance

So, a “scholarly conscript” has hired Malor to “communicate balance”.

Okay — there is a secret lab on the station. Something associated with coaxium research for the Empire. A scientist working in the lab has discovered something dangerous. That person is get the word out about what the Empire has learned.

---

Malor Lendoran sat in the station commissary, at a small table near the observation gallery. The floor to ceiling transparisteel viewports provided a panoramic view of ships coming and going from the landing bays above and below. He glanced at the tray in front of him. Malor had arrived at the station ten days ago and he still objected to the food. He poked at the two soggy, yet rock-hard, reconstituted nerf patties with a fork and pushed the tray away, with a sigh. Malor desperately wanted a drink, but he had deliberately left his flask in his quarters, for that very reason. Self control was an ongoing struggle.

Looking out the viewport, he watched a freighter approach the lower landing bay. He recognized the distinctive three-cylinder design of a Starfeld Industries Questor-class ship. The pilot brought the vessel in smoothly and glided gently into the landing bay. He nodded approvingly.

Malor watched as Dr. Josette Agnel slipped quietly into the chair across from him. Malor had been hired to work security for Grey Technologies on the station, and his job was essentially to guard the laboratory where Dr. Agnel worked. The two had struck up a casual friendship, mostly chatting in the halls and complaining equally about their employer and the poor quality of their meals.

Agnel appeared to be in her mid-forties, her dark hair showing a few silver streaks. She was tall and thin, nearly always dressed in the blue-grey lab coat worn by researchers from Grey Technologies. Her bookish personality contrasted starkly with Malor’s gruff military demeanor, but the two shared a sarcastic streak and hit it off.

Malor looked at Agnel; she seemed unhappy and nervous. He leaned in towards her in concern. “Are you okay, Josie?” That was his nickname for her.

Josette would not meet his gaze. She took a bite of her meal — some kind of flash-frozen reheated vegetable mix — and chewed slowly before speaking. She quietly asked, “Malor… how difficult would it be to get off this station?”

The question caught Malor off guard — he thought maybe she was stressed about work, or that insufferable Dr. Kopvey that she worked for and was always complaining about. He tilted his head and jokingly asked, “You thinking of taking a vacation?” He smiled at her.

When she finally made eye contact, the smile disappeared from his face. Her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot. They had dark circles under them, as if she had not slept in a couple of days. She was chewing on her lip, nervously.

“Josie, what is it?” Malor asked.

“I need to get off this station, Lendoran. I… found something. I…” she trailed off, shaking.

Malor reached out to touch her arm. “Found what?” he asked, concern in his voice. Josette was his only friend here, and he had grown very fond of her.

Agnel shook her head, almost fearfully. “Please… I can’t explain here. Just tell me — if I needed to get out of here, quickly, without anyone knowing… what could I do?”

His mind raced and he spoke quietly. “The Empire and the companies monitor every transport in and out of here, to make sure nobody tries to smuggle out any coaxium. It’s too valuable” He sipped some water from his glass. “Maybe hire a ship, or stow away on a freighter or something? It’s not going to be easy.”

A trio of Imperial technicians walked into the commissary, talking amongst themselves. Agnel’s eyes shot back and forth, and she seemed to shrink down in her seat a little bit. It was obvious to Malor that whatever she had found had something to do with the Empire.

She grasped his hand, and he held onto it. “What about a message or datacard or something like that?”

He was thoughtful. “I’d bet that the Empire is analyzing most message traffic. The ISB has been doing that on most planets, for a while,” he said, referring to the Imperial Security Bureau. “They’ll get suspicious about any encoded messages, and I’m guessing you don’t want to send this in the clear. “

She shook her head negatively. He continued, “Smuggling a data card out would be easier than a person. Much easier to hide. But, you’d have to trust the messenger to deliver it or transmit it, or whatever.”

He squeezed her hand. “Josie, this is dangerous stuff. What the hell is going on?”

Josette shook her head again. “Not here. Can we take a walk or something?”

Malor nodded and stood. He dropped their trays into the recycler chute, then motioned for her to follow him. He glanced around cautiously, but no one paid them any attention as they left.

Part 2

Malor and Josette left the commissary and took the turbolift down to Landing Bay Three. The bay was divided into two levels, A and B, with landing bays on the station’s “east” side and cargo storage on the opposite side. Level A was mostly used by incoming freighters depositing unrefined coaxium ore, for processing on the station. Level B was used by general freighters carrying equipment and supplies. Both levels featured wide open corridors, views of the landing pads and ships, and plenty of activity and loud noises. Ships were constantly coming and going, and cargo and ore were always on the move.

Josette leaned into Malor as they took the stairs from the turbolift down to B level. She was clearly exhausted and leaning on him for physical and emotional support. She spoke very quietly as they walked.

“You know my lab is doing research on coaxium for the Empire, right?” He nodded and she continued. “We’ve been working on increasing the efficiency of large hyperdive reaction chambers. Coaxium coats the inner surface of the reaction chamber, so bigger chambers require more coaxium.” She was quiet while a cargo sled drove past, carrying a pair of binary loadlifters.

“Basically, the size of the reaction chamber is proportional to the mass that can be moved through hyperspace. Bigger ships, bigger reaction chambers, more coaxium. But since it has to coat the inner surface area, the coaxium requirements don’t increase linearly. It’s an exponential increase!”

Malor was not dumb, but he was not a scientist or engineer. “When do we get to the scary part?” he asked.

She went on with her whispered mini-lecture, as if he had not interrupted. “My specific research has focused on the thickness of the coaxium coating. At millions of credits per square meter, thinner coatings or patterns that maintain the reaction but reduce the coaxium requirements can save a lot of credits.” Josette looked up at him. “A few days ago, I was asked to run calculations on a new drive design. The biggest I’ve ever seen.”

He glanced down at her, then returned his gaze to scan their surroundings. He was quiet, as a small sled carrying two Imperials sped past. “Bigger than a Star Destroyer?”

She nodded. “Yes. Much bigger. Hundreds or thousands of times more massive.”

That caught Malor’s attention. “What the hell is a thousand times more massive than a Star Destroyer? A space station?”

Josette shook her head. “I don’t know. That, or maybe a big asteroid or small moon?”

---

I think this is a good time to ask the Fate Chart if anyone is looking for Josette. I think its somewhat likely — based on her appearance and nervousness, someone else may have caught on to her. So, Chaos Factor 6, odds Somewhat Likely.

• Question: “Are the Imperials looking for Dr. Josette Agnel?
• Roll: d100… 75
• Result: Yes

---

Josette jumped as her comlink chimed. She looked at Malor, “Should I answer it?”

Malor considered. “If you’d usually answer, it will seem odd if you don’t…”

Shakily, she thumbed it on. “This Dr. Agnel.”

A nasally voice came through the speaker. “Josette, this is Dr. Kopvey. What is your location?”

Malor was shaking his head, and Josette’s mind was racing. “Uh…. I’m going for a walk. Near landing bay… two. What seems to be the trouble?” Malor gave her a thumbs up.

“I need you to return to the lab, Josette. There’s an Imperial officer here — they are looking into some kind of security alert from the computer system. We need to talk with you.”

Josette went pale. Malor motioned towards the comlink, while making an “ok” signal with his other hand. She nodded and closed her eyes to steady herself. “Oh, no… Umm… okay. I’ll be there in a few minutes, Dr. Kopvey.” She clicked the comlink off.

Malor pulled her into the shadows outside of a landing bay. He looked at her sternly. “What did you do?”

Jossete pulled a datacard our of her lab coat. “I… I downloaded everything I could onto this card, and encrypted it with my personal cypher. I thought I covered my tracks, but I guess it wasn’t good enough.”

Malor’s eyes widened. “Why? Because of an oversized hyperdrive?”

Josette stopped shaking and stared at him. “Because whatever the Empire wants to move, that’s big enough to need that kind of oversized hyperdrive, it’s not good. They’re evil, Malor! I just… wanted someone to know. Maybe someone can stop them.”

Malor was impressed with her conviction. He knew the empire was evil, from first-hand experience. “We have to get you out of here. You’re in deep bantha crap.”

She looked as him, shaking her head. “No, you have to get away from me. You’ll just get in trouble!”

He looked her in the eyes. “Josie, I’m already in trouble. When they go through the security logs looking for you, they’re going to see us together in the commissary and walking down here together.” He shrugged and smiled. “This job sucked anyway. Time to find a ship.”

Part 3

Malor was staring at the layout of the station on his datapad, when it chimed with an incoming message, and then another.

The first message was a station-wide alert sent to all security personnel — including Lendoran, since he worked security for Grey Technologies — advising them of warrants for the arrest of Dr. Josette Agnel and Malor Lendoran.

The second message was from Grey Technologies, terminating his employment contract.

Malor chuckled and then said “Station security is onto us.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Both of us.”

Tears began to run down Josette’s cheeks. Malor gave her a quick hug and a wink. “No time for that. Let’s get out of here.”

He drew the E5 carbine that was slung over his back and adjusted the sling so it rested comfortably across his chest. He silenced his datapad and placed it in a pocket. He flicked his comlink to silent and asked Josette to do the same with hers; she did.

Malor watched a sled go past, carrying two Imperials. He thought it was the same two he’d seen previously, going the opposite direction. Some errand accomplished, he supposed.

After it was quiet, he turned to Josette. “We’re going to find a ship and get you off this station. Stay behind me and stay quiet. Do exactly as I say. “

Josette was suprised by the change in Malor’s demeanor. She knew that he had been an Imperial soldier, but she did not really know much about him. She swallowed hard and then nodded.

Malor raised his carbine in a ready pose and slipped quietly out of the shadows down the corridor. Josette followed a couple of paces behind, trying — and failing — to move as smoothly and quietly as he did.

---

I hope you enjoyed this final prologue and the introduction of Malor Lendoran and his friend, Dr. Josette Agnel! I think Session 1 is set up for an interesting — and potentially explosive — first meeting between our characters. I’m looking forward to seeing the story develop in the next session.

Disclaimer

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion, Star Wars: Force and Destiny, and related materials in those product lines are the property of Fantasy Flight Games.

Star Wars, the Star Wars logo, all names and pictures of Star Wars characters, vehicles and any other Star Wars related items are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of Lucasfilm Ltd. or their respective trademark and copyright holders or licensees.

Any other products used or mentioned herein remain the property of their respective creators. Original content, player character names, and other concepts remain the intellectual property of the author.

Introduction

This prologue will introduce Haasef, a Duros technician/mechanic that has been living and working on Shenzou Station.

Starting Conditions

Let’s roll for this session’s Destiny Pool. Since Tavasi is the only PC, I’ll roll a single Force Die.

• Dice Pool:
• Result: 1 Dark Side

The Chaos Factor is still at 5.

Part 1: Cargo Offload

The Grey Technologies cargo team arrived at the Nightgale‘s landing pad at 18:45 hours. A green-skinned Duros in a khaki jumpsuit arrived at the controls of a flat freight sled bearing two binary loadlifters. Tavasi lowered the cargo ramp and walked down, as the Duros activated the droids.

“You are Tavasi Bonebow?” asked the Duros, politely.

She nodded. “Yes. You have my payment?”

Gesturing to his datapad, the Duros said “Ma’am, once the droids offload the cargo and we confirm that we have everything, the company should process your payment within one hour.”

Tavasi nodded again. She watched the load lifters ascend the ramp and disappear into the cargo bay. She turned to appraise the Duros. His jumpsuit was clean and the condition of the tools and equipment on his utility belt told her that he was diligent about his appearance and gear. He had also been very polit. This was an unexpected combination in a hellhole like Shenzou Station.

---

I’m going to have Tavasi roll Perception, to see if she noticed anything interesting about the Duros. I have an idea, if she does.

• Dice Pool:
• Result: 1 Failure, 2 Advantages

Let’s interpret those results:

• Failure: Tavasi does not notice anything interesting or extraordinary about him, beyond his general appearance
• 2 Advantages: by showing an interest in him, Tavasi will get a bonus to any attempt to influence the Duros

---

After a few moments, the first loadlifter descended the ramp, carrying a cargo container. The droid placed it on the sled, and then turned back towards the ship, as the other droid marched slowly down the ramp. with its own burden. The Duros scanned the cargo container with his datapad and the device chimed as it logged the transfer.

“I’m Tavasi. What’s your name?”

The Duros scanned the second cargo before turning to face her. “Hello, Mistress Tavasi. I am Haasef.” He bowed slightly, which made her smile.

“Just Tavasi, Haasef. It’s nice to meet you. How long have you been working here?”

A cloud seemed to pass over Haasef’s face before he responded. “I have been on the station for three weeks, Mistress Tavasi.” He scanned a container, as the droids made another trip from the ship to the sled. “Have you been to the station before?”

Tavasi studied him for a moment before replying. “No, first trip, just this cargo run.” She leaned against the sled. “How’s the commissary? I was thinking of getting something to eat after we’re done here.”

Haasef scanned another cargo box, and then looked at her. “It’s what you should expect from a cafe… in a coaxium refinery… built into an asteroid… in the middle of nowhere.”

They both laughed and Tavasi shook her head. “The amazing life of a freighter captain!”

He smiled for the first time. “And a mechanic.” He gave a little bow again. “This is your ship?”

Tavasi smiled proudly. It might just be a tramp freighter, but it was her tramp freighter. “Yes, owner and operator.” She gestured with her thumb. “The Nightingale.”

Haasef looked at her and the ship wondrously, almost like a child. “How amazing it must be. To travel the stars and see new things.” He turned and scanned another cargo pod.

Tavasi tilted her head. “You said you’re a mechanic? Plenty of ships looking for technicians. Surely you could find a way onto one, if that’s what you want.”

He smiled, sadly this time. “I am tied to this job and this place, I’m afraid.” Haasef scanned another cargo container, then eyes lingered on the Nightingale. “My situation… does not permit it.”

Tavasi started to ask what that meant, but was interrupted when another, smaller, dark grey sled arrived on the landing pad. At the controls was an Imperial technician in a light grey jumpsuit. Seated next to her was a young officer in a crisp, dark grey uniform. The sled stopped and the two humans climbed out. The officer approached Tavasi and Haasef. “I am Lieutenant Orozco. You were informed that an inspection of this shipment is required?”

Tavasi nodded. “Yes. Would you like to scan the cargo containers or do you want me to open a few for inspection?”

---

Let’s see what this Imperial officer is like. I’m going to dip into UNE for the first time, and use its NPC Modifier table to get a sense of what he is like.

• Roll: d100
• Result: 71
• Outcome: “inconsiderate”

An inconsiderate officer. Fabulous.

---

The Lieutenant’s eyes narrowed and he stood a little taller, as if he found Tavasi’s question offensive. “The Empire does not require your assistance. Stand aside!”

Orozco turned to the technician, who had unloaded a backpack with a portable scanner from their sled. He pointed to the cargo pods on Haasef’s sled and began issuing orders. “Scan the containers on this sled first. Then, go into the ship and scan the remainder.” He turned back and looked Tavasi up and down. “In fact, scan the entire ship for contraband!”

Tavasi objected, “I have no contraband! Just this cargo, why are you–“

Lieutenant Orozco interrupted her. “If you have nothing to hide, then a little scan will not be a problem.” His hand moved to his blaster. “Will it?”

Tavasi raised her hands and took a step backwards. “Whoa — of course not, Lieutenant. I have nothing to hide.”

“Good.” His hand still on his blaster, Orozco turned to Haasef. “You will deactivate these droids and power them down, until the inspection is complete.”

Haasef seemed to shrink under the gaze of the Imperial officer. “Yes, sir.” With his datapad, he ordered the two droids to return to the bottom of the Nightingale’s ramp and power down.

Orozco stomped up the Nightingale’s ramp, as the Imperial technician began to scan the cargo containers. Tavasi mumbled “Bastard!” under her breath, just loud enough for Haasef to hear. She walked away, to the wall of the landing bay, where she could lean against a bulkhead. She gestured for Haasef to join her.

He hesitated for a moment, then walked over. “I’m sorry Mistress Tavasi. These Imperials are difficult.”

“Thugs and bullies,” she replied. “Not your fault.”

They stood in silence for a moment. Then Tavasi put her hand on Haasef’s arm. “I don’t mean to pry, but it sounds like you are stuck here. If there is a way for me to help…”

---

Tavasi knows there is more to Haasef’s story and is trying to get him to open up. I’m going to use the Charm skill and include that bonus die from the advantage on Tavasi’s last check.

• Dice Pool:
• Result: 2 Successes, 1 Threat

Interesting… with those successes, she’s clearly going to get him to open up. But, what does that Threat mean? I have no idea. Let’s keep the story moving — we’ll circle back to that later.

---

Haasef hesitated for a moment and then began. “I was brought on by Grey Technologies a couple of months ago. After I was released from prison.” He skipped a bear to see if Tavasi would respond to that statement, but she was nonplussed. “One day you’re an Imperial prisoner, the next you work for Grey.”

He gestured to the freight sled. “It sounds great — they take prisoners that are eligible for parole. If you sign up, you are paroled to Grey with a job, a salary, a place to live. A chance to start over.”

He shook his head. “But, then… you realize they are taking food, housing, even uniforms and safety equipment out of your salary. Your first job is on a remote station? Well, they will be deducting the cost of transporting you there from your pay for the next year. Very quickly, you’re in debt and it just gets worse.”

Haasef looked down at his feet. “Their program with the Empire also makes a company representative your parole officer. Complain too much, they’ll say you violated your parole and send you back.” He stopped and looked at Tavasi. “Their program… it’s not so much of a job as a labor pipeline. They take ex-convicts that lack means and have nowhere to go and roll them right into a different kind of prison.”

He tilted his head to look her in the eyes. “So… I would very much like to leave as you suggested, Mistress Tavasi. But my situation is… complicated.”

Tavasi shook her head angrily. “Indentured servitude.”

He nodded and smiled weakly. “At least my job is safe. I move cargo around, repair droids, do minor maintenance on the station. Some folks from Grey are working in really dangerous areas of the refinery here, with poor safety protocols. Radiation hazards, chemicals, all kinds of risks.”

He patted her shoulder and laughed. “I don’t have it so bad. I get to meet some nice people.”

Tavasi gave him a sad smile. “Thanks for telling me, Haasef.”

He smiled at her again. “What about you, Mistress Tavasi? What is your story?”

Tavasi told Haasef about her parents and growing up on a freighter. She described her parents’ retirement and how happy she was when they gave her the Nightingale. Haasef was astounded by the number of planets and systems she had visited.

They had just started to talk about food when Lieutenant Orozco stomped back down the ship’s ramp. He beckoned them over impatiently, and Tavasi and Haasef crossed the landing bay to meet him. They noticed the technician was loading her backpack scanner into the dark grey Imperial sled.

---

I figured out what that Threat means!

---

Orozco looked at Tavasi. “You are the captain and owner of this vessel?”

Tavasi eyed him warily. “Yes.”

“Everything is in order with your cargo.” Orozco paused. “However, you really should better disguise your smuggling compartments.” Tavasi paled slightly, as he waved his datapad. “You’re carrying no contraband, but I have recorded the existence and location of those compartments in Imperial records. I suggest you use care in the future, smuggler!”

Orozco looked at Haasef. “You may continue with cargo unloading. Good day.” With that, he walked over to the sled and the two Imperials drove away, without another word. Tavasi had closed her eyes. Her color returned, but inside she was fuming.

Haasef felt badly for her but he needed to get back to work. He grabbed his datapad and reactivated the droids. Less than half the cargo had been unloaded and he was now behind schedule. As if on queue, his comlink chirped — it was his supervisor demanding an update.

“This is Haasef.” A pause. “Yes sir, we are still unloading. The offload was delayed by an Imperial inspection and we just resumed.” A longer pause. “Yes sir, I’ll ensure it is unloaded tonight. On my own time — no problem, boss.” He clicked off and pocketed his comlink.

The interaction seemed to pull Tavasi out of her reverie. She looked at him and asked, “You’re being penalized due to the delay caused by those Imperial clowns?”

Hassef shrugged. “I’ll work a couple of extra hours tonight to make up the time. That is all.”

Tavasi crossed her arms and shook her head. She knew the galaxy was a hard place. Her travels had exposed her to tremendous wealth and intense poverty. She’d smuggled illegal goods to make a profit, and she had witnessed crime and violence. But, she had not previously seen the level of systemic exploitation of sentients that Haasef had described.

She watched one of the droids clamber down the ramp with another cargo box.

---

Thanks for joining my second prologue! Stay tuned for the third and final prologue, where I’ll introduce Malor Lendoran, a former special forces operative turned gun-for-hire, who was recently mustered out of the Imperial Army after the loss of his squad.

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Disclaimer

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion, Star Wars: Force and Destiny, and related materials in those product lines are the property of Fantasy Flight Games.

Star Wars, the Star Wars logo, all names and pictures of Star Wars characters, vehicles and any other Star Wars related items are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of Lucasfilm Ltd. or their respective trademark and copyright holders or licensees.

Any other products used or mentioned herein remain the property of their respective creators. Original content, player character names, and other concepts remain the intellectual property of the author.

Introduction

This prologue will introduce Tavasi Bonebow, a Zabrak smuggler/pilot and owner of the Nightingale, a light freighter.

Tavasi has lived in space most of her life — her parents operated the Nightingale before her, and the life of a trader and smuggler is all she has ever known. After retiring last year, Tavasi’s parents gifted her the Nightingale, so she could run her own business and continue in their footsteps. She is ambitious, hoping to travel the galaxy and build a successful business. Tavasi also hopes to share some of that success with her parents, and pay them back for a lifetime of learning and the gift of the Nightingale.

Starting Conditions

Each session in this campaign will include a couple of starting conditions.

First, each scene in the FFG Star Wars roleplaying game begins with players rolling for the Destiny Pool. This is a collection of Light Side and Dark Side force points.

Players can use Light Side points to upgrade a dice by one step, downgrade the difficulty of a check, or add something to the narrative. Dark Side points are used the same way, but by the gamemaster to work against the PCs by making checks more difficult for the players, adding benefits to villains, or making the narrative or environment more challenging. The pool is established at the beginning of each session by rolling one Force Die for each character.

Let’s roll for this session’s Destiny Pool. Since Tavasi is the only character in this session, we roll just a single Force Die.

• Dice Pool:
• Result: 1 Light Side

Since I am using the Mythic GME to assist with solo / GM-less play, I will also track the Chaos Factor. The Chaos Factor (CF) describes the level of control that a character has over the story. It ranges from 1 (in control) to 9 (totally out of control), and starts at 5. The Chaos Factor affects the odds of a yes/no answer when asking the Mythic Fate chart a question to drive the story/fiction. This value is constant for the session, and then changes at the end of the session, based on what happened during the game.

Since this is the first session, the Chaos Factor is set at 5.

Part 1: On Approach

Tavasi Bonebow was seated in the cockpit of her ZH-25 Questor light freighter, the Nightingale. She yawned and rolled her neck, trying to work out a kink. The computer’s insistent pinging had just woken her from a nap, alerting Tavasi that the ship was approaching its destination.

The Nightingale was inbound to Shenzou Station in the Ruuria system, on a so-called drop point delivery run from Cantonica. She carried twenty cargo containers (about ten tons) of power converters and spare parts on behalf of Grey Technologies, a corporation supporting coaxium refining on the station.

Drop point deliveries were simple cargo operations, generally advertised to pilots and traders via the Holonet. Mission parameters were simple: pick up so much of cargo A, deliver it to destination B, by date C, get paid D. Payments could be fixed fee or based on volume, and may include bonuses and penalties for early or late delivery. Cargo volumes were usually modest, in the range of 5 to 100 tons, and somewhat time sensitive. That combination of factors made it economically feasible for shippers to use private freighters, rather than hiring bulk shipping companies or using their own transports.

The Nightingale was equipped with a Class 2 hyperdrive, which meant that a flight from Cantonica to Shenzou Station would generally take two to six days, depending on the pilot’s astronavigation calculations. Tavasi’s contract paid ten credits, per ton, per day of travel, plus two days’ fees for cargo loading and unloading (another two hundred credits). With anticipated delivery in three-and-a-half days, this was a 550job. Delivery in three-and-a-half days or less offered a 100 bonus, while delivery after that deadline was penalized 50 per day.

Tavasi expected her operating costs for this trip would be approximately 70 in fuel, 100 in taxes and landing fees, and any wear and tear on the Nightingale. Her funds had taken a beating after the last set of repairs she had made, so a few hundred credits in profit was good news. She hoped to string together a few milk runs like this to build up a little savings.

---

This is a little out of order, since navigation checks are usually made when entering hyperspace… but, we’re jumping in mid-flight here, so I’m going to make an Astrogation check for Tavasi to see whether or not she can make the trip within 3.5 days. Since that is the average timeline, I’ll make it Average difficulty.

• Dice Pool:
• Result: 1 Success, 1 Threat

Now we have to interpret the meaning of the Success and Threat. The FFG system’s dice mechanics are great because they give us narrative input as part of every check.

• A single Success means that Tavasi made it from Cantonica to Shenzou Station within the 3.5 day window. She can maximize her profits by securing that bonus!
• The Threat will mean that as the Nightingale drops out of hyperspace, the ship’s computer begins showing warnings and alerts about the condition of the hyperdrive.

---

Watching the countdown timer reach zero, Tavasi pulled back on the hyperdrive lever. Outside the transparisteel cockpit, the winding, random white lines of hyperspace straightened and then resolved themselves into normal space.

After checking her sensors, Tavasi smiled. The Nightingale had made great time and she should be able to grab that early delivery bonus. Her smile immediately changed to a grimace when the Nightingale‘s main computer began chirping an angry-sounding alarm and error messages about the hyperdrive filled her main display.

“Damn”, Tavasi said to herself, as she slapped the switches to shut down the hyperdrive. She was nearly broke and now the hyperdrive was acting up! After turning the ship onto an approach vector for the station, Tavasi shut off the alarms and re-ran the diagnostic routine. But, it was no use; the computer produced the same list of warnings.

Tavasi uttered a few more curses in her native Zabraki, then hit the comm switch to open a channel to the station. “Shenzou Control, this is freighter Nightingale, requesting landing clearance for cargo delivery.”

A few seconds later, a bored-sounding Imperial-accented voice responded. “Nightingale, this is Shenzou Control. You are entering a restricted zone. Reduce speed and transmit your cargo manifest on this channel.”

Tavasi rolled her eyes. The Empire did not control the coaxium production on Shenzou, leaving that dangerous work to Grey Technologies, a poorly-regulated subsidiary of TransGalMeg Industries. Still, the Empire did closely monitor the traffic in and out of the station to prevent theft and smuggling. Given that 100 kilograms of refined coaxium was worth about sixty million credits, she supposed that is made a kind of sense.

She gently slid the throttles back a couple of steps. “Nightingale reducing speed. Transmitting manifest.” Tavasi pushed a sequence of buttons on her comm panel and sent her cargo manifest to the station.

---

Under Starting Conditions, I touched on the Mythic Chaos Factor. One of the uses of the Chaos Factor is a check to determine whether or not a scene is going as expected, modified, or altered. I think this is a good time to introduce that mechanic, as it could have a big impact on Tavasi’s attempt to offload her cargo on schedule.

The mechanic works like this. Roll a d10. If the value is equal to or less than the Chaos Factor, then the scene is modified. If you roll above the Chaos Factor, the scene proceeds as expected.

If the scene is modified, we look at whether our roll was odd or even.

• If the roll was an odd number, then the scene is altered. Something new, different, or challenging happens to change the scene in progress
• If the roll was an even number, then the scene is interrupted. Something completely unexpected happens to challenge or derail the characters’ plans.

So, let’s make that scene check. Rolling 1d10… 5. This is equal to the Chaos Factor, and odd, so the scene is altered.

Mythic’s guidance on determining how a scene is altered is pretty straightforward. First, think about the most logical alteration and run with it. If that doesn’t work, we can ask the Mythic Fate Chart a question and interpret the results. Either way, keep the fiction flowing and the game moving.

In this case, since Tavasi is talking to an Imperial flight controller, it makes sense that it has something to do with the Empire. So, let’s ask the Fate Chart a question:

• Question: “Has the Imperial presence on the station increased?”
• Odds: Likely (as I think this is the most likely alteration)
• Roll and Result: d100… 20
• Outcome: YES

So, there is an increased Imperial presence on the station. Cool!

---

As Tavasi waited, her scope picked up an Imperial light cruiser emerging from the station’s shadow. The cruiser’s transponder identified it as the Valorum. Tavasi watched the ship warily, but it made no changes to course or speed. It appeared to just be orbiting the station.

A couple of minutes later — just long enough to make her wonder if she had done something wrong, but not long enough to comm the station a second time — the speaker crackled and the same bored voice gave new instructions. “Nightingale, Shenzou Control. You are cleared for approach. Follow instructions from nav-buoy two-six. Approach docking bay three, landing pad bravo-four. Do not deviate from assigned course.”

Tavasi adjusted course before replying. “Copy, Control. Nightingale switching to buoy two-six, inbound for bay three, pad B-4. Nightingale out.”

A few seconds after adjusting her comm to receive buoy’s automated navigation signal, approach markers appeared on her heads-up display, guiding the Nightingale onto the approved course for approach to the station. The route took made a wide loop clockwise around the station’s axis — and away from the Imperial cruiser — before spiraling to approach the station’s lowest docking bay from the opposite direction.

---

Let’s roll a piloting check to see how smoothly (or not) Tavasi lands the ship. This is an average difficulty roll and Tavasi has one rank in Piloting (Space).

• Dice Pool:
• Result: 3 Successes, 1 Threat, 1 Triumph

Let’s interpret those results:

• 3 Successes: not only was it a smooth landing, somebody noticed what a great pilot Tavasi was and may have a job for her…
• 1 Threat: after landing, an Imperial representative will definitely inspect her cargo
• 1 Triumph: that hyperdrive issue was just a glitch!

---

A few minutes later, Tavasi triggered the landing sequence and gently touched the Nightingale down on her assigned landing pad. As steam vented from the ship’s underside, Tavasi went through her shutdown checklist, putting most of the systems into standby. She was careful to completely shut down the hyperdrive, since she was going to need to investigate those alarms. It would take about thirty minutes for a cold restart, but it was the only way to safely perform maintenance.

Part 2: Shenzou Station

Tavasi was no expert in hyperdrive repairs, so she was not looking forward to that job. “First things first,” she said to herself. She called up the delivery order and followed the instructions to log her arrival and location, so Grey Technologies could arrange to offload the cargo and transfer her payment.

Tavasi considered her options. Until she got paid, she did not have the credits to hire a mechanic to look at the hyperdrive. She decided to run the diagnostics one more time and then take a look for herself.

It took about 10 minutes for the hyperdrive to completely shut down. Once complete, she ran the diagnostic routine again. Thankfully, there were no warnings this tine. According to the computer, the hyperdrive was functioning perfectly. Tavasi sighed with relief — the cold restart, when she was ready to leave the station, would be the real test.

As she closed down the diagnostics, her datapad chimed with an incoming message. Tavasi called it up:

FROM: Albile Émibrecht
TO: Tavasi Bonebow, Nightingale
SUBJECT: Cargo Offload

Cargo offload scheduled 17:30-19:30 hours GT today. Imperial inspection required.

Payment transfer to account ****-****-****-****-ac130002, upon completion.

A. Émibrecht
Logistics Specialist
Grey Technologies

Tavasi sighed — the Imperial inspection would slow things down, but she had no real concerns. Her cargo was completely legitimate and she had no contraband aboard. She stretched and decided to finish that nap before the offload. Then she could grab dinner and a drink at the station commissary.

---

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this introduction to Tavasi Bonebow. I also hope I was able to introduce some of the mechanics I’ll be using, including the FFG Star Wars rules and how I use Mythic GME. The other goal of the prologues is to give characters a bid of depth and background before we jump into the main campaign. I hope you’ll stick with me and read the next prologue, where we introduce a new character and learn a little more about Tavasi, as well!

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Disclaimer

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion, Star Wars: Force and Destiny, and related materials in those product lines are the property of Fantasy Flight Games.

Star Wars, the Star Wars logo, all names and pictures of Star Wars characters, vehicles and any other Star Wars related items are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of Lucasfilm Ltd. or their respective trademark and copyright holders or licensees.

Any other products used or mentioned herein remain the property of their respective creators. Original content, player character names, and other concepts remain the intellectual property of the author.

Welcome to my Star Wars story, using the Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars Roleplaying system! I’ve been itching to play a sci-fi solo campaign for a while, so I’m eager to get started. I hope you enjoy these stories!

This is a solo campaign, meaning I’ll take on the role of player(s) and game master. I’ll use the rules presented in the Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, and Force and Destiny rule books, along with various supplements for those products.

Since I’m playing solo, I’ll rely heavily on the Mythic Game Master Emulator (GME) and UNE: The Universal NPC Emulator. These will help me make decisions and keep NPCs interesting and a bit random. I’ll combine them with my imagination and some custom tables, to emulate GM decisions and NPCs.

These actual play reports will rely heavily on storytelling — basically, my session notes converted to a story, including location descriptions and dialogue. I expect to add images, maps, and other details, as well.

I will explain mechanics checks, game-mastering decisions, and solo role-play notes using a different color and size, so it is easier to differentiate these out-of-character sections from the rest of the story.

It wouldn’t be Star Wars without an opening crawl, so lets close with that:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

It is a dark time in the galaxy. The GALACTIC EMPIRE is
growing in strength. EMPEROR PALPATINE has increased
order and security at the price of freedom and corruption.

Few can resist the growing IMPERIAL military and dreaded
IMPERIAL SECURITY BUREAU. Rich and well-connected humans
thrive, at the expense of ordinary citizens and non-humans.
THE HUTTS, BLACK SUN, and other criminals fill the
vacuum created by poor IMPERIAL policies.

At remote SHENZOU STATION in the RUURIA SYSTEM,
the EMPIRE monitors COAXIUM production, to power the
hyperdrives of its expanding fleet. Here, the paths of three adventurers
will soon cross, leading each of them closer to their DESTINY…

Disclaimer

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion, Star Wars: Force and Destiny, and related materials in those product lines are the property of Fantasy Flight Games.

Star Wars, the Star Wars logo, all names and pictures of Star Wars characters, vehicles and any other Star Wars related items are registered trademarks and/or copyrights of Lucasfilm Ltd. or their respective trademark and copyright holders or licensees.

Any other products used or mentioned herein remain the property of their respective creators. Original content, player character names, and other concepts remain the intellectual property of the author.