Abandoned Asteroid facility, Malastare sector
Mid-Rim, Imperial Space
The identification process had taken the figures, all clad in clumsy environment suits, 15 minutes, as coded signals passed between their comms units and the unit of the man inside.
“Finally…” commented one of them, as the airlock door swung open. The suits crowded inside, and waited as the pressure equalised, and air flooded in. They removed their suits gratefully.
“Hell’s teeth, it’s freezing in here,” one of them said. A series of clicking noises came from his bug-like companion, who was in an impressively constructed suit. “Yeah. I hear that…” said the man back in reply. The inner door swung open to reveal their Contact- a surprisingly young man.
“I am afraid the solar heaters are on the fritz,” he said. “This place hasn’t been used in decades.” He extended a hand. “Senator Klinge-Faust?” The distinguished Senator took the hand in his oversized suit glove and tried his best to look dignified as he shook it.
“Nice to meet you,” said the ageing Senator. “And your name?”
“Ah, I’m just your Contact. It’s safer that way. Please, do all come in.” Ice was frosting on the walls as they came through.
“Who exactly did used to use this place?” asked an elegantly dressed woman as she came inside.
“Originally it was a navigation marker, before this field was on everyone’s navigation charts. Did you ever hear of an ancient type of building called a lighthouse?” The Contact saw a nod from the Senator. “Same principle. It wasn’t designed to be always manned, just accessible for maintenance. Of course, everyone’s charts were updated eventually and it wasn’t needed any more; that was over a hundred years ago.”
“I thought you said it had only been decades?”
“It’s been a century since its official use. But since then it has been used by the occasional criminal organisation as a place to hide. We have some contacts who told us about it; it suits our purposes fine. If any of you are too cold, there is a piece of animal skin fashioned into a coat large enough to dress a Hutt in one of the storage lockers. Should keep you warm.” There was another burst of clicking noises.
”Who the hell would need a coat like that?” translated his companion.
“Scary, isn’t it? Old business now, though. Other than a few broken tools which I think were for cybernetic maintenance, this place is pretty clean. That’s figurative as well as literal; the Empire have no idea about its existence, for sure.”
“Yeah, yeah,” said another female, a rough-dressed one in stark contrast with the richly dressed one who spoke before. “That’s sweet, but my space legs don’t rate this place. I want out of here ASAP, so get on with it, will you?”
“Very well…”
-
Some minutes later, the group were assembled in what passed for a common room. A primitive screen display was used to highlights points for the briefing.
“I am sure you have all heard the basics as to why we have pulled this team together. I’ll fill you in on the details, and that will be your last point of contact with the Alliance before you proceed with the mission.”
A planet flicked up on the screen.
“The planet Lanzar. Home of the Osokans; a very vicious race indeed, most famous for four things- their incredible strength, their regenerative constitution, their talent for hunting, and their deadly neurowhip weapons they use for close quarters fighting. The planet itself is famous for one other things- its incredibly dangerous wildlife, which survives intact from times before most recorded history. It’s not a nice place and if the Empire wasn’t involved there we would have nothing to do with it- as it is, there are worse things than Osokans. Now, if you want to know any more about Osokans themselves, people like the Senator have the details.
(i.e. ask the veteran players who know about Osokans in my game.)
Now, Lanzar has spent much of its recent history- I am talking about recent centuries here- under an edict forbidding its Hunting Guilds and the production of the neurowhip, after the Osokans became too dangerous to be tolerated. That changed in the years leading up to the Clone Wars, where in some dodgy deal brokered with the Republican administration- under, surprise surprise, Chancellor Palpatine- the Guilds and the whip were allowed to flourish again. We have a few ideas why, though it’s not greatly important because what actually happened around the time the Clone Wars started is that the whole planet was plunged into a vicious civil war- when Osokan fights Osokan, trust me, its REALLY vicious.
“Now, once Palpatine became Emperor and had secured his position, he seemed to become keen to re-establish his links with Lanzar. This led to tacit support for one of the Hunting Lodges in the civil war, under the control of a Lodge Master named Matadan. Matadan eventually became leader of Lanzar- the Guildmaster of all the Hunting Lodges. The Empire made it widely known that peace had come to Lanzar and that Matadan was the being responsible, a true and elected leader of his people. These are Imperial lies. Matadan came to power by force, aided by the Empire, and the ballot that elected him was rigged.
“The joke was on the Empire, though, because Matadan hasn’t lasted. This year, the civil war broke out again and in a rather vicious coup, Matadan has been deposed and replaced by a new Guildmaster named Drakkon. Unrest remains on Lanzar to this day.
“What the hell has this got to do with us? Well, first of all, we are in principle opposed to Imperial involvement in sovereign worlds- especially when it is simply a cynical attempt to extend their own power. But more importantly, this one is personal to the Empire. Lanzar has been major news, so the Senate has become involved. A very senior Senatorial mission, under the control of Coran Andran, a powerful Senator indeed, has gone to Lanzar in an attempt to broker a peace deal. DESPITE this, our intelligence says that the Emperor is sending forces to settle the Osokan issue by pure military force.
“Even more importantly, the force being sent to Lanzar consists of elite personnel- it is one of the new Imperial taskforces being formed that you people were originally put together to specifically oppose. We never thought this is where we would send you into action first, but the Emperor, for whatever reason, has chosen this first battlefield, and so Alliance command has decided you should go in.
“The stakes are higher than you might think. The idea that the Empire would get militarily involved on Lanzar is one that is politically delicate. To do it whilst the Senatorial mission is still there… would be outright disastrous. Even the Emperor would only do that under dire circumstances- he would be seen to be directly striking against the Senate, which he cannot do; he needs the Senate’s co-operation to rule an Empire this big. Yet he has sent this taskforce in. Half the Galaxy is going to be watching Lanzar to see what happens. This is a direct opportunity for us to thwart the will of the Emperor- and EVERYONE will see it.
“Your orders are simple. Get to Lanzar and mess up what the Emperor wants in any way possible. Your priority is to establish good relations with the Osokans- this will not be easy, as they are not nice people, but they are under threat and may be looking for allies. Drakkon is clearly no friend of the Emperor and it has been already suggested to him that he may be receiving visitors. I can’t comment on details of other Alliance activities, of course, but be assured that the Alliance supported his rebellion from the start.
“The best thing you can do is to protect the Senatorial mission. The Empire will want it shut down; it must persist. This is not a war of blasters, incidentally. That is a war of words. Even better, if the Senators could SUCCESSULLY broker a peace deal, then the entire reason for the Imperial presence would be destroyed; that would be a huge setback for the Empire.
“Time is essential. If the Emperor is determined, the Imperial forces will hit home. You will need time to do what you can to help the Osokans. Those of you of a more… active… disposition, your orders are to sabotage the Imperial war effort and delay them as long as possible. They will be in hostile territory, which will be of help to you. But… there is something very important I must give you as an order. Do not try and harm senior Imperial personnel. If Rebel terrorists start taking potshots at important Imperials on Lanzar then we can kiss Drakkon’s administration goodbye. Do not give the Empire a legitimate reason for military action under ANY circumstances. This is difficult, I know. Your sabotage must be careful and subtle. Oh… and try not to get caught.
“Of course, if the invasion is in full swing, it matters less. But we have not pulled together people like the Senator and the Duchess- pardoning your Grace- to this mission just to have their efforts undermined by some foolish blaster shot. I hope that’s clear.
“Those are the basics. Please feel free to ask any questions.”
And indeed those are the basics! And do feel free to ask away.
Meanwhile, I want you to consider your entry plan. What ships are going to Lanzar, under what pretences, and how will you act when you arrive?