USH'S STAR WARS GAME- CAMPAIGN II, EPISODE I (LIGHT SIDE)- Conspiracy
It had not taken long for the delegates to start squabbling, in the darkened stone room.
“I didn’t come here to bandy words about trade quotas and agricultural reform!” said the Zanxian delegate, slamming an emphatic hand against the large round wooden table around which a variety of species sat. “This is meant to be a call to arms and action!”
“And I did not come here to talk terrorism,” said a tentacled creature from the underwater farming world of Nulai. “Political pressure must remain our primary objective.”
“Hah! More words! Ten thousand years of words has done you no good, why would any more suit you now? The Republic won’t listen. Or at least the Senate will not. We are all here for the same reason- the Senate no longer represents the interests of its members! Our worlds our suffering for the greed and powermongering of the political elite!”
“The Chancellor is amenable to…”
“Two years he has already been given! Time enough, I say. Now is our time to act. We can all nationalise our own financial interests. Dare the Republic to do anything about it! I know I am not the only one who feels like this. What says Damagran?”
Bendaea, the uniformed representative of Damagran’s representative assembly, the Duma, shifted in his chair.
“It’s only been two years since my world nearly tore itself apart over the issue of direct action,” he said. “I do not think more violence at this time would be our objective, and violence is what it would come to. The current administration on Damagran came to power on a promise to resolve our issues peaceably.”
“In the face of an illegal Republican blockade! And promises of aid from the Jedi that were never made good.”
“Best to put these issues behind us for the good of all. And regardless, the Jedi did at least solve our major problem.”
“Before abandoning you, for a million other worries. The Senators expect the Jedi to solve all their problems for them, and those that cannot be helped, they ignore. What is the mood of your people over the continuing presence of Pelloran’s pirates in your sector?”
“Uneasy,” conceded Bendaea.
“Yet the Republic cares nothing for your Confederacy. 13 worlds ignored just because you are not in the inner core. Is this what you came to power to accept?” Before Bendaea could reply, an elderly man from Lagoas spoke.
“It is easy for worlds such as Zanxia and Damagran to debate the merits of direct action,” he said. “You have your own support networks and military that make such things possible. What of the rest of us? Those who depend on the Republic for survival, regardless of how careless that aid has become? What of those of us who cannot defend ourselves? That goes for most of the delegates at this table. Such talk is futile until we have certain assurances. And so talking of assurances, where is the Chairman?”
“I agree,” says Bendaea. “No decision of policy can be taken without him. Where is the Count?”
-
The delegates were being watched by a hidden security camera.
“It did not take them long to argue,” said an aide- actually a Senatorial assistant, pretending to be on a factfinding mission.
“That is only to be expected,” said Dooku, watching from a soft-backed chair. “It is good- argument is the best way for me to gauge their positions and commitment.”
“Some of them are going to have to be more committed than they think.”
“That can be handled in time.”
“Things are already difficult. Your assassin was rather… noisy. And identifying him may not be difficult.”
“That is always an issue with these people,” said Dooku. “Their skill and their pride goes hand in hand. All those at that level I employ are like that- even Jango is the same. But such quirks can be useful sometimes.”
“And if the Jedi do identify our agent?”
“That is very likely. Master Gundark will recognise the cause of death.”
“You know her?”
“She was a good friend of my old Padawan. I can rely upon what she will do. Do not worry yourself- a resolution is already prepared. Come now- time I made a personal appearance.”
-
Dooku listened patiently to everyone’s points.
“My friends,” he said. “Do not think for one moment that I do not understand the urgency of your concerns. I must at this point ask for everyone’s patience. It is not easy to bring sense and order to such an ancient establishment as the Republic. We cannot expect all the rights we are due in too short a time. Given time, and I can deal with all these problems. An organisation, and support network, that will supply security for everyone- and the opportunity to act in all of our interests.”
“Security?” asked the Nulaian delegate. “You can guarantee our safety?”
“Given time, indeed I can. But now, we have a different matter to discuss- one that may ultimately aid in all of our concerns, and explain many things to us. I think now, our attention must turn… to Coruscant…”
---
Well folks, welcome to the new Star Wars campaign! Beginning now is Episode I of that campaign for the Light Siders. For now, you guys can stop worrying about Kuylen and his old cronies- they have been gone for years and there is no indication they are ever returning. And they have their own problems to worry about.
So, now we can branch out and see what ELSE is happening in the Galaxy… and the answer is, rather a lot! Let us see what you can discover.
As the game opens, all of you are together at the Temple on Coruscant, whilst between missions. Newcomers to the game have met one or all of the old players in the two years that have elapsed since the last one, probably whilst doing a mission together. Even Xeth has dropped by to say hello to his old comrades, and he has brought a friend of his as well. Xeth and Densk, you are kinda between ‘engagements’ as well- Xeth has been particularly out of the loop since the investigation into Shareth the Hutt’s acquisition of the battle droids shut down, despite his gathering of evidence. Bringing a Hutt to justice is near impossible, but annoyingly you couldn’t pin any of her Republican contacts either, for various legal reasons.
But for the Knights, life is busy. Demand on the Jedi is increasing and you are all expecting fresh missions very soon.
I shall be trying to ease you guys into the Jedi way of life here; on assignments to various places, on varying missions. The important thing to remember is that your role changes according to the job. Whilst acting as a policeman, you must stay within the law. But if sent out of the Republic to apprehend a criminal, you are acting as a Republican agent and are permitted to do whatever is necessary in the place you are sent to. Hence, a lot of your work in this game will be about adapting to your jobs and making sure you represent the Jedi appropriately. However, I warn you in advance, if you are successful in this game, the finale that awaits you is VERY dangerous indeed. So watch out. By that point I hope all the basics are sorted.
Unlike before, there is no reason at all not to look at what the Dark Siders are doing. Whilst there are links between your plots, right now they are exceedingly small and tenuous, and it can even be fun to try and spot them. Still, if you want to be literal about not knowing, don’t look at it- but it might be quite a while before you see anything of them again
At this point, I need to ask everyone what, if any, predictive power they wish to use before the game starts. I’ll need to know it pretty quickly because once the plot gets underway you are forbidden from using them. As a reminder, the predictive powers you may have taken are:
Dreams. Using this gives you a small chance that the Force will have given you insight into what is to come in the upcoming story, giving you a chance to better react and deal with these events.
Foresight. This is better than Dreams- it represents you actually spending time to navigate the future to deliberately try and get warning of upcoming events. It can give far more clear and comprehensive visions than Dreams.
Instincts. The power of the Living Force gives you no warning about the future at all, but makes you more likely to do things right once you get there. A successful use of Instincts will give you a certain amount of re-rolls to use during the story, which you van use whenever a die roll goes badly to get a better result.
So, if you have Foresight, don’t use Dreams, Foresight is simply better. So if you have a choice, chose between either Cosmic Force prediction in advance, or Living Force sense at the time.
If you wish, you may reduce your force rating by one for the story to get +1 on your prediction roll. The Force power Augury also gives a bonus to these rolls, as does the Acolyte talent ‘Highly Symbiotic’. If the upcoming storyline is drastically relevant to you, you get +4 to the roll, but I will not tell you that in advance.
Choose one; I shall make the roll and tell you the result. Bear in mind that the rolls are not easy and if you get a result you have been lucky.
Good luck folks; the next post I make will be the starting situation.