Star Wars RPG story hour- The Emperor's Game

I thought Rhode Squadron could use a different kind-a thread, so here we go... This is a story I'm writing up based on an ongoing RPG campaign, posted in chunks. Idarii is one of the characters.

This is the sequel to another story, played about a year ago. You don't HAVE to read that one to understand this one, but it would help. If you'd like to read that, head here: www.dr-midnight.com/starwars/wotr.htm



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PROLOGUE

General Madine took a breath and said it. ?No.?

Across the table, Luke Skywalker blinked. ?What??

?I said no. Permission denied.?

Luke gritted his teeth. ?General, with all due respect, this man is as responsible for the destruction of the Death Star as I am. Without his support, I would have died in that trench, and all the rebels on Yavin would have died only minutes afterward.?

Madine ran a hand through his hair and structured his argument in his head. ?He was well-paid for that support, if you recall. He bled our resources dry with his ?reward money?.? He looked at Luke and saw only hurt. ?Han Solo is a mercenary.?

?He?s a good man,? Luke replied. ?and he?s of great use to the Rebellion.?

The general agreed. ?Absolutely. And if things were different, I would fully endorse sending you, Organa, and Calrissian in to save him, as you suggest. However, I have to consider certain things. The Rebellion needs you, first and foremost? and this ?Jedi Training? leave time you?ve been taking has genuinely hurt us here. I like to think we?ve been very lenient in that regard: allowing you months at a time off on some hidden planet, training to be a ?Jedi?, using one of our ships as transport.? Luke opened his mouth to retort, and Madine went on. ?Furthermore, a man like Solo would be of much greater use to us if he didn?t demand compensation for every little deed. He?s not an enlisted man, like yourself. He works for us. At this time, we don?t feel that his rescue is worth sending you, three other high-ranking Rebels, and two serviceable droids to Tatooine. Han?s criminal background caught up to him, and he?s paying the price.?

Luke remained calm. ?I won?t leave my friend in the clutches of a gangster.?

The general had had enough. ?You WILL follow orders, soldier,? he growled. ?Have you forgotten that we?re fighting a war? You?re needed here. Permission denied. That is all.? Luke got up and stormed to the exit.

Madine called out to him. ?I?m sorry, Luke. It?s not our fight.?

Luke paused briefly, then left the room. He walked away briskly. Princess Leia Organa stood up from her seat and followed. ?Let me guess,? she said.

?He?s wrong,? Luke said angrily. ?Quantifying people by their worth isn?t what will make the New Republic great.?

?He?s a general,? Leia said, hurrying to keep up with Luke?s long strides. ?He has to make hard decisions every day.?

Luke sighed. ?I shouldn?t be getting angry like this. I have to learn to separate myself from my feelings.? He slowed to a stop, and Leia stopped with him. They stood in the center of a long hallway. Luke spoke after a time. ?We can?t just leave Han like this.?

Leia bit her lower lip and thought. ?No,? she said. ?We?re going to get him.?

Skywalker looked up at her, confused. ?We are??

?Yes. I have an idea.?

?What about Madine??

?To Hell with Madine and his orders,? She snarled.

Luke was surprised by the outburst of emotion from Leia. The young woman was normally diplomatic and reserved- a true politician, she rarely let her feelings flare like this? except, of course, where Han Solo was involved. ?What?s your idea??

She told him, and he listened. In the end, he agreed that it was a dangerous game they were playing, but that rescuing Han was the end to which all means were justified. ?Let?s do it. When can we put the plan into motion??

?As soon as the others get back,? she said nervously. ?Do you want me to talk to them??

?No, I?ll do it, I guess.? He stepped forward and hugged her, and she hu

 

PROLOGUE CHAPTER II

With a squirbling bleep, the little Astromech droid came back to function. Its diode came back on and its trapezoidal dome ?head? swiveled around. It began to curiously examine its surroundings. Kneeling there before it was a blue-green Twi?lek woman, soldering wires within the droid?s frame.

?Hey there, you?re up,? she said. The droid tweeted anxiously. ?I don?t know who- much less where- ?Dent? may be. You?re on a Rebel Flagship, and you?re in pretty sad shape, my friend. Don?t strain yourself.?

The droid whistled, and the woman chuckled. ?You got cut in half by a blaster bolt or something is what happened. By all rights you should be scrap? but apparently the powers that be want you whole again.?

A gurgling boip. ?No, we?ve never met before,? she replied.

The droid chirped softly. The Twi?lek woman laughed and put up her goggles. Through the goggles? leather headdress her two long, tattooed lekku hung down her back. Her honey-colored eyes regarded the green and yellow droid?s view-lens kindly. ?I?m glad to meet you, R5-F6. I?m Avara Tel. There, we?re not strangers anymore? no need to be so nervous.? She picked up a 3/5ths Ganudu wrench and began loosening the bolts over R5?s filament casing. ?Hey, while you?re conscious? mind telling me what this goes to?? She held up a piece of metal from the ground.

R5 twittered, and she nodded. ?Motivator servo. Got it.?

From behind her, a voice: ?Tech Specialist Tel??

Avara whirled on her knees, eyes darting around. ?What??

A hangar worker stood there, holding two cases at his sides. ?I, uh? I was told you?d need a set of torquescopes for the Astromech you?re repairing.?

She relaxed somewhat. ?Yeah. Yeah, I need one of those, yes I do. Leave it there, thanks.?

He stood there motionless for a moment, then asked ?Um. Which set??

Avara looked at him. ?What??

He held up the case in his left hand. ?Helial,? then the one in his right. ??or Sedrial?? Tel sat there staring at the cases until the worker said ?Oh, it?s just an R5. You?ll want the Helial, then.? He put it down.

Avara took the set and opened the case, examining the tools within. ?Yes, Helial, that?s right. Thank you.? The worker walked away. She waited until he was gone and then picked up one of the torquescope attachments, turning it over and examining it.

R5-F6 made a modulated bleating sound. ?Nothing,? she said. ?Examing the craftsmanship. Good tools. Anyway, tell me about this ?Dent? friend of yours.? She lowered her goggles back over her eyes and returned to work on the little droid?s insides while the other blurped and beeped happily about Dent Darkstar and the travels they?d had together.

Avara listened, nodding, then stopped as R5 detailed one of their more exciting adventures they?d had some time ago. Again, Avara raised her goggles. ?You were there when the Death Star was destroyed??

R5 whistled that no, in fact, he remained on the ship during the adventure, but Dent and his friends had gone into the Death Star and rescued the Rebel detainees from the detention block even as Rogue Squadron flew toward the station from the other side. Avara listened intently as R5 told the tale of how they?d barely escaped in the Chandrila Surveyor, trailing several transports behind, as Luke Skywalker made his historic shot to the Star?s reactor core. The droid played a tinny-sounding explosion noise to climax the story.

?I remember,? Tel said with careful interest. ?I was one of the people they saved that day.? R5 tweeted excitedly. ?Yes, I was. I was arrested for? being Rebel scum. Then, your friends came by and saved us all.? She frowned as she got back to work on the droid?s circuitry. ?Of course, no one told us then that we?d be stuck on this ship for the rest of time. Nobody ever told me the life of a tech specialist would be so dull and sedentary. I?ve got things to do, y?know??

She soldered for a minute more, then stopped. ?Say, where is Dent now? Does his team make frequent trips off-base?? R5 beeped an affirmative. ?All the time, eh?? Avar

 

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

STAR WARS

THE EMPEROR'S GAME

It has become clear that the Empire is
closer to victory than it has ever been. The
recently discovered Imperial base of
Farlan-Eul is training "Force Troopers",
elite infantry with knowledge of the Force.
If this experiment proves successful, the
Emperor's grip on teh galaxy will tighten to
a stranglehold. Captain DENT DARKSTAR
and his heroic crew have met and confronted
the threat at Farlan-Eul, destroying DARTH
XELL, the head of training of the Force
Trooper project... but left the base intact,
fleeing when a traitor attacked them from
within. With the base still functional, the
future of the plans for a "New Republic" are
in grave peril...

Woonwooken growled.

Dent looked up from his spot on the floor where he was tweaking the ship's secondary compressor units. He spoke without much real interest. "What's her problem now?"

"She's grumpy," Lexo Yust replied, ruffling the fur on his wookiee companion's head. "We haven't seen any action for a while. She's getting restless."

Dent went back to "Well, who's she got to blame for that?"

The Chandrila Surveyor flew through hyperspace. Through the windows, countless stars winked at them as they passed by, almost instantaneously. Whole systems flashed by in the breadth of a second. Hyperspace is one of the most fascinating sights, most agree, that a galactic citizen could hope to see.

?Unless, that is, you've seen it hundreds of times before. Woonwooken growled again. "I know you're bored," Lexo said soothingly. This is what happens when you get demoted. You get all the dull jobs." Woonie made a warbling, mournful grunt. Lexo nodded and said "I agree. It's not fair."

"Not fair?!" Dent sat up again. "You were court-martialed for perfectly good and just reasons. You released a known enemy of the Rebellion into space. One that had only hours before turned on us and destroyed a droid- MY droid- that possessed the station plans to a critical Imperial installation." He gestured with his wrench angrily. "He turned into a snarling beast, betraying everyone who trusted him, and you two let him go in one of MY ship's escape pods. You're LUCKY you were only demoted. You're lucky I even let you on my ship anymore."

Lexo sighed. Dent got like this, now and again? he was upset about his team being set back in mission status, and now and then he lashed out. It would pass. "T'ek deserved a fair chance," Lexo said quietly, petting Woonwooken's head.

"Don't even say his name aboard my ship," Dent said bitterly, laying back to return to his work.

A figure appeared in the doorway. The man had auburn hair and a dingy off-white and tan outfit. His appearance was that of a common moisture farmer. He spoke. "You two did what you thought was right. We just wish you'd discussed it with us."

"We didn't think you'd approve, Zybor."

"We wouldn't have."

The Jedi Zybor-Jae had changed his image, going "underground" even among his contacts within the Rebellion. The reasoning was explained to him by Obi-Wan Kenobi, through T'ek Nova. Obi-Wan thinks that if Luke Skywalker knows we exist, T'ek had told him long ago, He would see us as his superiors and never come to lead the new Jedi order in his own right. In retrospect, T'ek may have lied and suggested the plan to weaken the new Jedi? but the idea still made sense. The new Jedi order would need a new leader, instead of drawing knowledge from the old guard, which had grown bloated and unbalanced. Zybor had taken the identity of a simple fringer to allay suspicion, and kept his double-bladed lightsaber hidden in the folds of his loose tabard... all the better to stay disguised and maintain a more secretive Jedi presence within the Rebellion.

Zybor had disapproved of Lexo and Woonwooken's actions, but unlike Dent, he enjoyed the new nature of their assignments. These new missions were almost always peaceful and diplomatic in nature. A courier job here, a transport job there, peacekeeping at an information

 

Within minutes, they came out of hyperspace somewhere in the inner rim. Moments later, a three-winged Imperial Shuttle came out of hyerspace nearby. Its two side fins folded up to touch the high dorsal wing, and the ship angled itself over the Surveyor. The two craft docked together, forming an airtight seal between the two as circular doors opened to allow movement.

Colonel Wellion climbed down into the Surveyor, followed by two Rebel troops. ?Hello,? he said as he stood facing the sitting heroes. ?I?m sorry to have called you out of hyperspace like this, but I?m afraid there?s a situation.?

?No problem at all, Colonel,? Dent said. ?What?s this all about??

?We wouldn?t have contacted you, but only about twelve light-years away, over the planet of Ambria, an entire Star Destroyer has been disabled. An Ion wash hit the I.N.S. Impervious about two hours ago. It?s sitting in space with only minimal function and no propulsive power. We don?t believe they?ll be able to fix their instruments anytime soon, and we?ve intercepted the specialist tech squad that was en route to them? which is how we came to own the Lambda ship.?

Lexo spoke up. ?Wouldn?t a Star Destroyer have techs on board??

?They do, Yust, but this wash has disabled them so badly that they can?t fix it on their own, not anytime within the next six hours. For that amount of time, that ship is vulnerable to a Rebel group that can get there fast enough.?

?Which is where we come in,? Dent said. ?but we can?t take out a disabled Star Destroyer? it?s still too powerful.?

?That?s right. It?s surrounded by TIEs and other defensive craft. Your ship would be cut apart. We want you to penetrate the Impervious in the Lambda ship. Once you?re inside, you?re to separate and permanently disable your targets, including the hyperdrive matrix and sub-light drive.?

Lexo sat up. ?Wait, wait? the sub-light drive on a Star Destroyer is an extremely intricate and complicated system. Disabling that thing won?t be easy- it?s not like pulling a switch.?

?Plus,? Dent said. ?Those things are wired with a labyrinth of pitfalls and alarms. They?re engineered to be practically impossible to permanently shut down. We can?t do it. We?d need an expert tech specialist for a mission like this.?

Wellion smiled. ?Luckily for you, Captain Darkstar, we?ve brought an expert tech specialist with us. Tel?? On his cue, a slender Twi?lek woman with blue-green skin descended the ladder. She stood and coolly regarded the room with amber eyes. ?This is Tech Specialist Avara Tel. She?s an ace with a set of tools, and it looks like she can handle herself in a fight. In fact, she?s the one who single-handedly repaired your droid, Darkstar.?

Dent stood up and offerend his hand to Avara. ?You?ve fixed R5? I owe you many thanks- I thought he might never pull through. You must be a whiz with technology.?

Tel shook his hand. ?Oh, absolutely. If it has wires I can fix it.?

?You?re most welcome here. Have a seat.?

Wellion cleared his throat. ?If we?re through with the introductions, there?s a mission to discuss. I?ve uploaded your mission objectives to your datapads. Please review them with me. One- Infiltrate threatened area around Star Destroyer Impervious in Imperial vessel posing as Imperial tech repair squadron. This one?s fairly simple, you?ll take the Lambda craft and we?ll pilot the Surveyor back to base.?

?No you won?t,? Dent said. ?The others can take your ship and I?ll bring you back to base in mine. I only let a few people touch my ship?s controls, and none of them are here.?

Woonwooken sadly grunted that yes, this was true? too often had she tried to ?help? Dent pilot the ship, and he would kick her out of his cockpit. He never really forgot the time she ripped his gun controls right out of the deck.

?That will be fine, Darkstar,? Wellion said reluctantly. ?Objective two: Transmit code 1115-A23578-D72. This is the code that came with the ship, so they?ll be expecting it at the Impervious. Three: Gain entry to docking bay. Use whatever means necessary to mo

 

?State your code,? a nervous voice said through the console?s speaker.

?1115-A23578-D72,? Avara answered.

?The tech squad,? the voice said with audible relief. ?We?ve been waiting for you. Please pull into the hangar bay immediately.?

The ship drifted into the Impervious? landing bay. The four passengers aboard held their breath as their tiny shuttle was swallowed whole by the enormous craft. Behind them, TIE fighters swooped and cut through space, on alert for any threat.

The shuttle touched down inside the massive hangar. The hangar was white-walled and rimmed with bright white lights. The floor was a polished, nearly mirror-bright black. All around, different ships were grounded or being guided into or out of place by Imperial landing crew.

An officer flanked by two stormtroopers were approaching the shuttle. ?Okay,? Lexo said. He was no longer wearing his primitive ice bear-hunting suit. He was dressed in the steel-gray finery of an Imperial officer. Without his breathing mask, his eyes were blue and handsome. ?Avara and Zybor are Team B. Woonie and I will bring up Team A. Woonie is a labor slave, and Avara is a tech slave. Zybor and I are techs and overseers. Got it??

Avara flushed. ?I will NOT be a ?tech slave?. What in space is a ?tech slave?, anyway?!? She crossed her arms indignantly.

?I don?t know. Improvise.? The hatch opened and Lexo turned and slipped right into character. ?Commandant,? he said, all business. ?I hear you?ve had some trouble.?

?Yes, and thank the Emperor you?re here,? the nervous Commandant said. ?We were hit by an ion wash??

?I?ve heard the story,? Lexo sniffed dismissively.

?Of course,? the officer replied. He then noticed the nonhumans standing within the ship and his eyes widened. ?What are those things behind you??

?Ahh,? Lexo said. ?This wookiee is my manual labor slave. She moves what I cannot. This twi?lek is our tech slave.?

?Tech slave?? the Commandant muttered. He stepped up to Avara and looked her up and down. ?I?ve never heard of a ?tech slave?. Besides, I?ve never heard that twi?lek women were good for much else besides the obvious.?

Lexo sent calming emotions into the visibly bristling Tel, and said ?Oh, they are. Anyway, we?d like to get to work. Could you have some of your people show us where the problem areas are? We?ll need two teams to show us to the Hyperdrive Control, Ion Cannon Targeting Control, Main Weapons Canyon and Main Drive Systems Room.?

The Commandant signaled to his men. ?Immediately,? he said.

Two small squads of six stormtroopers marched up and led the two teams off in differing directions. ?Good luck with your repairs,? Lexo called to the other group.

?And with yours,? Zybor answered.

Lexo and Woonie walked toward the fore of the ship. The stormtroopers escorting them walked two ahead, four behind. They obviously didn?t trust the wookiee, and kept their blaster rifles leveled at her back. Woonwooken growled softly and Lexo whispered ?Easy. Soon enough.?

They were taken to the Hyperdrive Control room. The door opened, and before Lexo stretched the largest hyperdrive he had ever seen. It must have been 150 meters tall. It towered above them, and stretched below- the floor they stood on was at the center of the Hyperdrive?s height? a seventy-five meter distance to the roof, and a seventy-five foot drop to the deck plates below. They stood on a large deck, surrounded by neat stacks of tools and manual datachips.

?Hey, do you have a repulsorlift device of some kind, for us to access the ?drive?? Lexo asked of a nearby trooper.

?Yes sir.? The trooper walked to the ladder and climbed below, to fire up a small one-man repulsorlift platform. It slowly lifted up to the standing area.

?Be ready,? Lexo whispered to Woonie. She chuckled and began eyeing the armed guards.

?Here you go, sir,? the stormtrooper said as the repulsorlift platform floated level with the deck.

Lexo reached out and ripped a handful of wires free from the platform?s drive control. ?Thanks,? he said as the stormtroope

 

?So, you?re really one of those Jedi,? Avara asked as they rode a rapid elevator to the floor leading to the hangar bay.

?I?m afraid so.? Zybor held his lightsaber loosely in one hand, turned off- for now. He breathed and tried to concentrate on the moment, to open his feelings to his surroundings.

?I thought you were all dead.?

?No. Not all.?

Avara could see she wasn?t getting much out of Zybor on the topic, so she sighed and dropped it, rolling her eyes. She then checked the elevator?s reading. Twenty floors to go. Lights rushed past the transparisteel housing as they flew. The Twi?lek readied her blaster rifle in her hands and shook her head clear, readying for whatever would be waiting for them. Escaping from a panicking Star Destroyer- on a harsh schedule- was not likely to be easy.

The doors opened, and they ran out into a hallway filled with Stormtroopers and officers. Luckily, everyone was running in different directions like rabid Wampas, and no one paid attention to the two. The filled hallway, though, was most difficult to navigate as the two Rebels pushed their way to the hangar. As it turned out, most of the people here seemed to have the same idea.

?Return to your posts!? Someone was yelling frantically. ?If we all calm down, the tech staff can reach the defray mechanism and enter the code! There is no cause to panic! I repeat??

?SEVEN MINUTES THIRTY SECONDS TO DETONATION?, the voice droned over the speakers.

?There?s the hangar,? Avara said, sighting the large bay door ahead. ?If we can just cut through these thugs, we can make it to a ship??

Meanwhile, in the other direction, Lexo Yust and Woonwooken the Woolly were rocketing down the hall on a repulsorlift device made for one. Woonie had rewired the system to set the thing to flying as fast as it could go, and they were bashing through scores of armored troopers and officers. Only a few managed to raise their rifles in time and take a shot. A few shots grazed Woonie?s already scorched (and shaved) fur. A few more shots Lexo blocked with his hand. One shot into the lift?s framework, and sparks shot from the small console. This thing wasn?t made to be flown at this speed or be fired upon, it was clear. The craft started to shake as it flew.

?Hold together, baby,? Lexo muttered nervously as he fired his blaster with one hand, blocking blasterfire with the other. ?We?re close to the hang - LOOK OUT!? Just ahead, a whole squad of Stormtroopers was leveling blasters at them. The hallway lit up with bright red blaster bolts, and the heroic duo crashed to the ground as the flaming lift craft crashed to the deck panels. Lexo rolled to his feet and used the influence of the Byfrexian Ice Bears to lift a piece of the wreckage from the ground and send it flying into a wall-mounted control panel, where it smashed the CLOSE DOOR button. Szzzzt!! The twin doors shut, closing most of the Stormtroopers off from the action. The remaining few in the front backed up, firing.

Woonie stood up, grabbing a Stormtrooper by the ankles and swinging him into three others. Lexo swung his Force Pike around him in a dizzying arc and slew the others. ?Hallway?s closed? we need to take a shortcut. Here!? They cut through a door to the right.

Within this room, a number of large, thick vehicles sat docked in a darkened space. A dull red glow lit from each of the vehicles? oblong rear compartments- cargo ships, Lexo deduced. Simple, squat crafts meant for the transport of ore and minerals, things of that nature. ?Can you fly that, Woonie??

Woonie grunted indignantly. Of course she could fly it.

They ran to the ship and Lexo picked up a red object lying near the ship. It was a glowing red crystal. The ship?s cargo hold overflowed with them? they piled high from the hold?s top. He stared at the crystal while Woonie warmed up the ship. She growled at him, and he said ?Sorry? coming.? He jumped in. ?It?s just that- unless I?m wrong, this is an Adegan crystal. Is this what they were doing over Ambria? Mining these??

Woonwooken bellowed.

?Wh