Star Wars: RSO

In 2016, I was finally able to run a Star Wars: Edge of the Empire scenario. This one, a creation of my own, had been simmering for many years and constituted the first real adventure I wanted to publish (if only on this site, in electronic format). Even though we did not completely finish the scenario, I believe our session write-ups deserve to be typed up again and published on this blog, so that you, ingenious GMs, may eventually draw inspiration from them for your own games.

The scenario is called "Requiem for the Golden Sun" and is based on the official publication "Battle for the Golden Sun". As you will see, its atmosphere, however, aims to be radically different.

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The Akaanir Ori'Vod Cantina

Ahead of schedule, Diana has been waiting for several minutes in an "alcove" of the Akaanir Ori'Vod Cantina, out of sight. Then enters her first candidate, Galrow the Wookiee, who walks up to the counter and orders a drink from the thuggish Ewok barkeep. He has indeed noticed Diana, but prudence demands that he observe the fauna before joining her directly. Next comes Nolan's turn to cross the Cantina's threshold. His attitude is similar: he quickly spots his potential client, but pretends not to be interested. More precisely, he scans the room and eventually discovers a Botan who seems to be watching her. When at last TRCJ bursts into the room, everyone turns towards him: built of brushed black metal, endowed with a single reddish sensor for eyes, ostentatiously equipped to kill, the Droid heads straight for Diana without asking any questions. Galrow follows suit - at this stage, discretion is no longer required - but Nolan prefers to sit a short distance away from the group.

All this commotion considerably irritates Diana. After all, this is already the third wave of clowns showing up to work on the contract. Surely, the roughly 30,000 credits offered for a "simple" missing persons affair do not only attract the greatest geniuses of Coruscant. Without waiting for Nolan's arrival, Diana presents a hologram of Linda Garvik, which succinctly sums up the affair:

• She is looking for four armed mercenaries, potentially in danger.
• She only has a visual of one of them: a small, blond, muscular man, apparently terrified, whose "photo" seems to have been taken inside a space station.
• She wants the group to be extracted to a destination that will be communicated in due time.
• All other questions are to be addressed to her representative, Diana.

No sooner said than done, the hologram vanishes, leaving Galrow crestfallen - just like Nolan, who took the liberty of barging in. Might as well look for a needle in a haystack. But while the conversation is in full swing about whether it is really feasible to look for four individuals of whom only one is identifiable amid Coruscant's billions of inhabitants, a brawl breaks out between an overzealous Republican soldier and the local fauna, essentially composed of tipsy Mandalorians. Nolan flees first, taking the opportunity to follow the strange Botan, who glares at him before disappearing into the crowd. Diana and Galrow then leave the area - the Wookiee using the table as a shield - followed by TRCJ, on whom the fists of the local drunks painfully collide, as much as their pride. Once outside, Diana hands out comlinks to the group, intended to ease communication between them. The first step of the investigation: a quick stop in a HoloCafé, to try to identify the rare clues on the photo of the small blond man.

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The Call of the Mando'a

The group heads to the first HoloCafé they find, where Nolan vainly performs a few surface searches concerning the insignia partially visible on the wanted person's shoulder tab. TRCJ gives it a try too, but ends up on an official page of the Fel Empire that seems to be tracking its every move. Meanwhile, Galrow uses his beastly charm to convince the HoloCafé's only employee - a Twi'lek - to run a search for him. Our furry friend's charisma does not suffice; he must dip into his meager purse before she accepts this strange request, which she carries out quickly: the crest of the person they are looking for manifestly belongs to a Mandalorian clan, "Ka'ra Gra'tua" or "The Starlit Vengeance". Our hapless "investigators" leave the premises as soon as this information is acquired, for they fear their digital wanderings may have attracted the attention of a few unsavory individuals.

The Mandalorians' involvement pushes the group to question one of their own at Akaanir Ori'Vod. After bitter discussions, Nolan reaches an agreement: the Mandalorian accepts to look into "Ka'ra Gra'tua" using the photo of the blond man, but promises to repaint his portrait should his intentions prove harmful. While waiting for the answer, the group confers at a counter of the Bantha King chain about the recent events: already, Nolan suspects a botched job behind this whole story. Does Linda Garvik have a bone to pick with the Mandalorians, in which case it would be better to make a run for it? Is the salary really sufficient to justify all these risks? Diana gives in and tries to obtain more information from her boss, who does not answer for the moment.

A few hours later, the Mandalorian and his gang find the group's trail and - thank the Force - tell them that a certain Kejar Vet'Hali, a member of the clan, has answered him. Apparently, the man - an old veteran physician residing in Iziz, the capital of Onderon - was recently contacted by the person the investigators are looking for. He however asks them to come get him before offering more information. Knowing that a trip to Onderon takes an average of 36 hours, Nolan seizes this chance to bill his passengers for a full inter-system flight - expenses he fully intends to claim from the old Garvik.

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Under the Cartel's nose

After much discussion and a show of strength from Galrow and TRCJ to convince Nolan to fly, the group sets sail for Onderon, capital of the independent Japrael Federation. Onderon being heavily policed, ranged weapons are forbidden there without a proper permit: Galrow removes the assassin droid's onboard blasters, while Nolan arranges the landing. A quick pass through customs opens the gates of Iziz, the heart of Onderon, a glittering city.

After a vain detour through the central market, the investigators head to the Inn of the Prodigious Mythosaur to meet Kejar. Without any further precaution, they ask for their contact at the front desk, trampling the most elementary rules of discretion. This blunder earns them the attention of a Gamorrean who had been waiting in the lobby. In response, they head up to Kejar's room as fast as possible, rather than waiting for the Gamorrean to come to them. Up there, they meet the old man and note that his luggage is already packed. Since time is of the essence, he does not dwell at length on the reasons driving him to flee. The group manages to slip out through a window of the establishment, then splits in two - on one side, Nolan and Diana carrying Kejar in his own luggage, and on the other, Galrow and TRCJ who try to steal a landspeeder to leave the city by land. The first team quickly discovers that their pursuers have significant control over Iziz, when the officer in charge of the shuttles to the spaceport refuses to let them board immediately: apparently, he has been ordered to slow them down.

Galrow and TRCJ have more luck. They manage to steal a speeder, not without triggering a brawl and getting collared by the Gamorrean glimpsed at the inn: he claims "The Cartel will not let them get away!", finally revealing the caliber of Kejar's creditors. Nolan and Diana prefer to pay a taxi to the nearest colony, even if it means putting the driver to sleep before the end of the ride and leaving him in the middle of the jungle. There is no such thing as a small profit! The four eventually meet up near a small city, where they pay a rich merchant to be taken directly to the spaceport. There, they rush through customs and take off towards Coruscant.

Kejar Vet'Hali finally spills the beans. He knows the man the group is looking for : his name is Aaren. Years ago, he slammed the door on his clan to embrace a mercenary life. Aaren contacted him recently to ask for help, for he is wounded and stranded on Coruscant. Out of pity more than honor, Kejar accepted to offer him his help, even if it means incurring the Cartel's wrath towards whom his debt is far from settled.

Back in the galactic capital, the group heads to the hospital, where Diana volunteers herself, accompanied by Nolan. Their hypothesis: Aaren must have visited the place before reaching out to Kejar. All that remains is to check the digital records...