The party regroups — as Logger and On-Warr depart for Endor, the Raraza arrives from the Champion of Dantooine in orbit. Introductions are made for Jazz and Oro, and then the party takes a rest.
The next day is the big negotiations between the Republic and the Sith with the Skakoan Council for Development over control of Myzil V. Ras, Lyta and Oro will be part of the negotiation team alongside Jedi Master Jenica Vigil and her Padawan Bastila Shan, while Kazbich, Jazz, Gobmush and Kelef will act as security outside in the foyer. The Republic forces process in, followed by the Sith forces: twelve troopers act as security opposite the party, while two Sith officers, a Twi'lek diplomat named Tol Olan, and the red-bone-armor-wearing Sith lady Cariaga Sin (finally revealed the name of the character more than a year after introducing her!) make up the Sith delegation.
The Sith argued that they represented a new galactic order and that the Skakoans would receive a high rank in the Sith army; that the Republic is too weak to defend its own interests and is on the wrong side of history; and that the Skakoans don't join them, the Sith will simply wipe them out with the rest of the Republic. Ras and Lyta countered all of their arguments, saying that the Sith wouldn't honor their agreements, that the Republic successfully held back the Sith at Ithor, and the Republic honors the Skakoans by holding them equal with all other species. At the same time, the group in the foyer started gambling and making small talk with the Sith.
As the Sith considered their next move, the serving droids both in the council chamber and the lobby exploded, and comms were jammed. Energy curtains suddenly activated, protecting the Council for Development and trapped everybody in their respective rooms. Tensions immediately flared up, and the Republic accused the Sith of starting the fight, provoking Cariaga to hurl Jenica into the wall, and leading to a melee in the council chamber as the council made a retreat. Gas poured out of the broken droid in the foyer, filling the room with nontoxic, concealing gas. Sensing treachery, Kazbich shot first, lobbing a grenade for good measure. Gobmush, Jazz, Kazbich, and Kelif dispatched of the twelve troopers in the room with them.
While Ras fought the Sith officers, Tol Olan cowered near the door, while Cariaga brutally attacked Bastila and Jenica, wielding two lightsabers as a master duelist. Lyta helped patch up a badly wounded Jenica and Bastila, and once the officers were dispatched, Cariaga phased through the wall to escape. In the foyer, Skakoan guards wielding stun vibro-axes opened the energy shield, attacking Gobmush and quickly knocking Jazz unconscious. Kazbich tried to hack through the door, only to find the panels were written in Skakoform. Instead, he and Kelif decided to cover the entrance to the main chamber, and when that door opened, Tol Olan ran outside, where he quickly surrendered to Kazbich and Kelif. Once the Skakoans burst into the council chamber, they arrested the Republic forces.
The males and females were separated into separate holding cells. Gobmush used his one phone call to contact Novin, the Arkanian lawyer, who quickly arrived and said that like the rest of the party, he'd been roped into working for the Republic too. He arranged to have Gobmush transferred to Republic custody. In the female cell, Ras failed to negotiate with the Skakoan security forces, so she and Bastila mind-tricked their way out of the cells, freeing the rest of the party. Jenica disapproved, and indicated as much to Lyta, but what's done was done. Ras also picked up a video copy of the surveillance in the council chamber, in hopes of figuring out what had happened with the serving droid. While everybody believed the Sith were responsible, no one had any hard proof.
Back at the Republic embassy, Commander Levatt debriefed the party, just as a transmission came in. Sith Ambassador Pedric Harrak told the Republic and the Council for Development that given that the negotiations had not gone the Sith's way, they would be taking matters into their own hands. The Sith had planted bombs under the Aunaumi Casino, which would explode in one hour; the casino would crash into the Pit, cracking the atmospheric seal on the Skakoan colony, causing the toxic gasses to escape; the Skakoans would suffocate on the oxygen, and everybody on the Ridge would suffocate on the Skakoan gasses, effectively destroying the entire colony.
With only one hour to save the colony from certain destruction, the party split up. Kazbich, Gobmush, Chuckles, and Oro gathered four Republic troopers and an airspeeder in hopes of disarming the bombs in time. Bastila and Jenica Vigil helped the Republic evacuate key staff. Ras, Lyta, Jazz, and Kelif went to the Sith embassy in hopes of finding a way to stop Ambassador Harrak from detonating the explosives; Ras would go as a Sith acolyte (with Kelif as her bodyguard), while Lyta and Jazz would go separately as diplomatic envoys from the Republic looking for a peaceful solution.
Novin used his knowledge of engineering to pinpoint where the bombs would have to be to crash the casino, and Gobmush quickly tracked where the first bomb was. When Kazbich moved to deactivate it, it immediately started talking, thanking Kazbich for trying to deactivate it. Gobmush sensed treachery, however, and realized the bombs contained droid brains programmed to give bad advice to any saboteur who came by to deactivate it. The first bomb was successfully deactivated.
Lyta and Jazz arrived at the Sith embassy, seeking the diplomatic corps, and were directed to the third floor. They arrived at Ambassador Harrak's office and tried to persuade him to stop this madness. Harrak seemed receptive — explaining that he was from Telos and he'd joined the Sith out of fear when they destroyed his homeworld, and intimating that the Sith had an eye on his family — but activated the alarm anyway, summoning Sith guards to escort Lyta and Jazz to holding cells.
Ras and Kelif arrived at the Sith embassy, seeking the Sith training facility, and were directed to the fourth floor. They were stopped by another Sith acolyte who hit on Ras, who in turn gave up Jazz's comlink number. They coerced the receptionist into granting them access to Cariaga Sin's files before trying to leave — just as Sin arrived at the front entrance. She quickly subdued them (though Ras did convince her to let her hold on to her lightsaber, promising she wouldn't use her lightsaber to escape) and had them imprisoned in the holding cells on the second level, where they saw Lyta, Jazz, and Elbor, the Herglic they'd previous mind-tricked into eating Jedi Scout Cookies. (So should we call them Multiclass Cookies? Zing!) He'd been caught going through the Sith embassy's garbage looking for more cookies to eat. At about this time, Kazbich successfully deactivated the last bombs (with 20 minutes to spare), but on trying to contact the other party members, got only static. He did manage to send a garbled message to Lyta, finding out they were being held in the Sith embassy. (Note: That most of the party was trapped in Sith holding cells when the bombs could've gone off, leaving them to die horribly and causing 3 players to make new characters and 1 player to make a new follower, did not escape me.)
As Kazbich and Gobmush gathered 24 good Republic soldiers (and a bomber) to launch an attack on the embassy for holding their friends, Ras began her escape plan, very slowly using the Force to unscrew wall panels around her and the other prisoners so they'd be able to all escape into her cell (just like Zayne Carrick in Knights of the Old Republic #17, true believers!), then used her lightsaber to open a hole leading down to the first floor. The entire group landed in a first floor conference room, next to a catering droid, and began making their escape.
At this time, Kazbich and Gobmush rushed the embassy, attacking the Sith guards and forcing them into a full retreat. The two groups recombined, chasing the Sith to their rear docking bay. Lyta saw Ambassador Harrak running out and chased after him, just as the last Sith shuttle lifted off, stranding a few of their men, including Harrak. They surrendered to the Republic, and Commander Levatt countermanded Kazbich's order to bomb the embassy, saying that the Republic could benefit from the Sith computers still inside.
Upon regrouping back at the Republic embassy again, Commander Levatt informed the group that Myzil V agreed to throw its support behind the Republic, and Jenica Vigil informed Ras that in light of her success in the negotiations and saving the Myzil V colony, she has been recommended for Jedi Knighthood, and has been told to travel to Coruscant to meet with the Jedi High Council.
Next stop: Coruscant!
[Achievement unlocked: Hero of Myzil V]
Save Myzil V colony from destruction
[Achievement unlocked: Name Checker]
All characters created by GM before campaign started now named in-game
[Achievement unlocked: I've Been Looking Forward to This for A Long Time]
Kazbich shoots first
3 comments:
Lyta wasn't convinced the Sith blew up the droids. While the obvious suspects, tactically it seemed more an act to sabotage negotiations that the Sith had (seemingly) entered into willingly. And the Sith didn't take advantage of the explosions. Doesn't add up to her - unless the Sith are even more inept than she suspects.
Also - this was go time for Lyta to be impressed by Jedi, to maybe have her soften her views on the Order. What she witnessed, however, only cemented her beliefs.
The untargeted nature of exploding droids also makes it seem a little suspicious. Why set off explosions in the same room as your own diplomats? They didn't even hurt anyone, if I recall correctly. Just a waste of droids and an excuse to yell "Jedi treachery!"
Clearly the Republic set off the bombs, hoping that Kazbich and his Untouchables would either wipe out the Sith ambassadors, or themselves be wiped out.
This could be something for you to follow up on when the party gets to Coruscant.
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