USH'S STAR WARS GAME- Christmas Thread 2007

Tradtionally each year I do a Christmas thread containing... stuff.

For the first time in a long time this thread is created whilst no Star Wars game of my own creation actuallty runs- but the game, and its characters, have a life of their own now, and thanks to the great efforts of my players, especially that esteemed vet Captain Rex, the KMC Star Wars RP universe continues, as charactees explore their own storylines as they wait for the next time of destiny for them.

As for Christmas this year- not enough new material yet for quizzes, no point repeating last year... but in the week between now and New Years, I plan to give you all a set of presents.

So here is one to kick you off...

No music

A simple set of notes sounds played on a trumpet-like instrument- nine notes at three pitches, rising, three sets of three

A flock of Trade Federation Battleships descends upon a pleasant-looking planet from space; massive amounts of fighters flank them.

Sienar (voiceover): “Power, Gallagher. Everything is about power.”

The screen blanks.

The trumpet-like noises are heard again

The Dark Siders, in a strange backdrop of gloomy plains punctuated continuously by jagged rocks, look at something (unseen) ahead of them and each other, and draw their sabres as one.

Sienar (voiceover): “But Power is a matter of two issues. How to get it… and what to do with it.”

The screen blanks.

The trumpet-like noises are heard again

In a similar scene, the Jedi are in a dark room facing towards something on the far end; they all draw their sabres as one as well.

Sienar (voiceover): “The Sith confused the two, taking Power as the end, and so they could never succeed. The Jedi…”

The screen blanks.

The trumpet-like noises are heard again

Sienar stands at a podium, a vast crowd of exotic life forms in front of him, holding his arms out wide.

Sienar (voiceover): “… they deliberately refuse power to avoid the issue. That sometimes serves them well. But now and until their demise, it will serve them very badly indeed.”

The screen blanks.

The trumpet-like noises are heard again. But this time, a loud noise like the firing of a weapon occurs at the final note

Galder snaps awake in his quarters on Epireus, breathing heavily, and sweating, as if awoken by the weapon noise. He looks around him, as if confused.

Sienar (voiceover): “What will you do with your power, Gallagher?”

In a rage, Galder slashes again and again and again at one of the strange rocks seen in the background of the earlier scene.

Gallagher (voiceover): “I will use it to stop you.”

Galder, on that same world still, picks up a man lying on the ground by the scruff of the neck and prepares to run him through. But at the last moment, he suddenly stops, looking momentarily startled.

Sienar (voiceover): “Oh Gallagher. You do not understand.”

Galder looks down at his side, shocked.

“But you will.”

The Dark Side theme begins to play

The Lady is in the living room on Epireus, addressing the Dark Siders as at the end of the last story.

“I have need of warriors such as you. Knights, even. Those as skilled as you are hard to come by.”

The Dark Sider ships fly past towards a red planet.

Gallagher (voiceover): “NO-ONE has the power to use the Force to make someone kill themselves.”

Andro is in a bathroom, staring in some confusion at a dead body within.

Sienar (voiceover): “But you know that is not true, Gallagher. And that you know is the clue to your power. Your true power.”

We return to the shot of Galder, confused, surprised, and looking more and more so.

Unknown weak voice (voiceover): “Can send… whole worlds insane…”

Galder reaches towards something…

Gallagher (voiceover): “She… can? Who is she?”

The Lady and her followers, wearing black shawls, stand at the Epireus base, in consultation.

Sienar (voiceover): “Some secrets are so dark and remote that those who dwell in the bright light of civilisation can never know their nature.”

There is a skittering sound as something small rolls over the ground; the Lady looks around to one of her associates

Gallagher (voiceover): “And the Sith?”

A black-robed warrior stands in a circular doorway inside a dark eoom, wielding a red lightsabre.

Sienar (voiceover): “Ahh now… they always dwelt in the darkness…”

The scene returns to the Lady and associates

“Well?” asks the Lady.

“Galder will find more than you have sent him for in the Desert,” says one of those in the black shawls.

Galder, looking down, suddenly gains a look of amazement, as if given the answer to an enormous riddle.

“He will find Purpose.”

Music- the action music from the Episode III trailer; scenes from now on are loud and have explosions and so on

Cirus addresses the renegade Jedi, who are in transparent tubes.

“You are seeing the future!”

Scene switch: A vast space battle takes place above the planet; the camera trails a flaming ship that is falling out of control down to the surface, where a huge land battle is taking place also, between a droid/cultist army and one that seems to be composed of many different types of troops; a lightsabre can be seen among the latter army.

Scene switch: A large group of thugs appears to be attacking the Dark Siders, who fight back. The scene quickly switches to an office, where ‘Dallas’ is.

“Plenty go into the Desert of Stones. No-one ever comes out.”

An explosion sends Rand and Gallador flying against a viciously sharp rock.

‘Dallas’ (voiceover): “Did you folks ever fight Trade Federation Battle Droids?”

Both Galder and Rianna make loud and obvious noises of contempt.

Scene switch: Roan and Andro are fighting off fast and repeated laser blasts in a very large room, more like a warehouse, with walkways along the top; Kathya blasts down towards them.

Scene switch: The Jedi all stand behind Sienar in a darkened room; he looks up, facing away from them, and smiles widely.

Sienar (voiceover): “You want to kill me, Jedi?”

Scene switch: A speeder races across an icy landscape, under fire from a ship above.

Scene switch: The BV-50 is inside a large building with power arcing all around; it is firing continuously with all its weapons, the gating blasters throwing out laser fire, the disruptor field going off all around, and the laser beam firing into the background; the weapons are aimed at Jedi which surround it.

Unknown (voiceover): “The Galaxy is turning into a tyranny. We will draw the line here.”

Scene switch: An extended clip as the Dark Siders are running in unison towards a vehicle; all around them there is a vast volley of laser fire, missiles, and explosions tearing into the ground.

Galder (voiceover): “This is my destiny!”

Rand (voiceover): “You don’t understand the meaning of destiny!”

Galder (voiceover): “It is who I am now. I will succeed or I will die.”

Gallador (voiceover): “Then you are a fool.”

Scene switch: Sienar has his hand held out, and seems to be repelling a lightsabre that is trying to bite into it.

Scene switch: Gallagher stands atop a tall building with an orange sky, in the pouring rain. He is drenched. His sabre is lit and he is screaming.

“No… noooo!”

Scene switch: The Jedi race along the streets of a city, with a vast citadel-like structure visible nearby. They look desperate.

Sienar (voiceover): “You think you can stop my plan, Jedi?”

Scene switch: Andro is face to face with Sienar inside a ship. His hand is on his lightsabre, ready to draw; there is a look of anguish on his face, which may be frustration or may be anger.

Sienar (voiceover): “You want to know the TRUTH? The truth of my power? The reason for it all?”

Roan looks extremely put upon as he tries to make his way through a crowd. There is a quick switch to him talking to a dark-haired man.

Andran: “You have no idea how evil this day is. And you cannot stop it.”

Scene switch: The city on Mandragos, in the rain, a long shot that zooms away slowly

Sienar (voiceover): “What do you possibly know of power? You cannot comprehend… power enough to destroy the Prophecy. The unbalanced Force- eternal. And at the centre, Gallagher… is you.”

Music ends

Three final quick scene shots- Gallagher with Sienar in a room, Xeth starting up his ship, looking towards a large battle in the distance, and Galder unfurling his hand to look at something, the scene cutting away just before we see what it is.

Sienar (voiceover): “In the end, everyone finds their Destiny.”

-----

The fourth episodes of the Second Prequel Trilogy Era campaign
Battlefield, Destiny, and Purity

In the end, everyone finds their Destiny

Coming 2008

...can we play? Now?

Pretty please?

Wow! That was such a visual description. It was like watching a trailer. (I know, that's the point, but) It looks like this is where it all comes together, all the characters, all the stories. Even Andran. Very, very cool. Merry Christmas all!

Damn, thats freaking awesome...
Lets play!

Merry Christmas and good night, Galder has a purpose! Or will have one.

And you're right, I think it's the first time since 2001 that you've not have a game running or starting soon, Ush. I'm just glad I've proved to have improved since my last efforts.

Merry Christmas!

Wow, I really like it!

But the Darkside episode has changed title from The Lady to Destiny....

Eeeeeeeeeeee really impatient to be able to play this! I've been wondering about that Desert of Stones for three years now!

😄

Also there was something else I wanted to say but I've forgotten what.

Merry Christmas!

You wanted to say we really SHOULD have Dark Side Kitty now! 😱

Merry Christmas all!

Wow that was awesome. I can not wait to play.

Hoping to have a big gift coming for New Years. Cannot guarantee it but that is the plan.

Although I have been constantly reminding people, it's been a long time and we are technically in mid-story so let's see what it is all about

Battlefield

The Trade Federation, ostensibly a group with a charter from the Senate to manage trade in the Galaxy, was probably exceeding its power just a tiny bit when it launched a massive invasdion of Naboo just to make its point about taxation.

After the invasion was repelled by the aid of the Jedi, in an ideal Galaxy the Neimodians who had the Trade Franchise should have lost the lot, war criminals should have been brought to book etc.

Such is the state of the Galaxy, and the terminal inability of the Senate and the Courts to get justice into action, that years on no great change has occurred. Were Naboo's Senator not now Chancellor, it may have been entirely forgotten.

Earlier episodes saw the Light Side players delve into the murky world of the great corporate Conspiracy that is gripping the Galaxy. The Trade Federation is one part of an alliance of many other corporate concerns. The one that has come most under the notice of the Light Siders was the Techno Union, who have been employing very shady methods indeed, from kidnap to murder, to ensure the success of their recent spate of weapons programmes. But who are the weapons for?

Cirus Cannes (pronounced like 'Khan'😉, manager of the Union's special projects division, enlisted the help of the Jedi to track down a stolen droid army shipment- part of a pattern of such shipments that had gone 'missing' ever since the Federation were ordered to de-commission their armies after the Naboo invasion. The Jedi Xeth Tam, who long ago parted company from the leadership of the Council, found his interests intersecting with the Jedi and went with them to that vast battle on Arminium where the Jedi had to fight through an entire army to get to the control switch in a fortified citadel, where the apparent gulity thief lay dead by suicide, all evidence remaining pointing at him.

Though they suspected deceit, the Jedi had no evidence to investigate further. An aggravated Xeth, dedicated to principles of justice more than he was to the strict rules of legality took his leave of the Jedi once more.

Instead, in co-operation with private sponsors who wish to see the Conspiracy broken, Xeth and some like-midned Jedi Renegades go into business on their own, righting wrongs from a private point of view, and always looking for another break to blow the conspiracy open.

When looking into a familiar pattern- a sudden 'disappearance' of Techno Union parts- Xeth bumped into a parallel Jedi investigation into a missing Jedi in the same area. Soon he found evidence of a vast amount of technology being supplied to a vicious cult of Cyborg plunderers from the fringes of space- Xeth suspected that the Union, and other parts of the Conspiracy like the Federation, were moving their control and industrial output outside the Republic, to avoid the law.

Whilst the Jedi moved to deal with the Cult, Xeth investigated the only logical location of the forward base the Cult would have needed to launch their recent pirating raids. But it was on one of those raids that the missing Jedi had disappeared, and in fact she had been killed by a terrible new robotic weaponry system devised by the Union. Known to the Cultists as the 'Dark Thrael', an agent of the computer God they worshipped its name is in fact the 'Battle Variant 50' - BV-50. This weapon was developed to kill Jedi, and from Arminium onwards, Cirus Cannes had been analysing the fighting patterns of Jedi to create a weapon that could fight them.

Surprised by the BV-50 in the icy world they had found, Xeth and his Renegades are badly beaten by it. All have been taken into captivity by Cannes, some more hurt than others. There seems little hope for their future- let alone as to the purpose of the vast army that Cannes has built in secret...

------

'Battlefield' is in many ways an ending. Xeth's been trying to get this droid issue sorted since the moment he came into the game, years ago. Every time he thinks he gets somewhere, he hits a brick wall.

But the Union is playing a dangerous game. Outside the Republic they are not bound by Republican law... but nor does it protect them. Here he has a chance to truly strike a blow against Cannes, a final one that will resonate forever.

If he can destroy that army.

...

and the BV-50

...

and if he can get out of his present mess...

-----

Game-wise, 'Battlefield' is an action game that will see fights of almost every type you can get in Star Wars- minus sabre duels. I can promise the Sith aren't turning up here. But we have individual fights, squad fights, company fights, a war and also space fights. If fighting is what you are after, you kinda get it here.

Player-wise this is the only game for Renegades, but it can also accomodate normal Jedi who are part of the investigation into the Cult; the game ended with the Jedi having taken care ofthe Cult on their homeworld, only to find that they weren't really the source of it. Could the Jedi rescue Xeth? Well I don't know, depends who plays. Regardless, all will end up on the same path.

But whilst it is the end of a plotline, it is the start of a lot more. 'Battlefield' is the story whose plot is most connected with that of the films, although it is exploring a purely theoretical idea of what was happening in the TPM-AOTC gap. It also has a connection with the OT plot. So in many ways, this story is part of the larfest arc of all.

More coming soon...

Do we even have Renegade players? Besides Xeth?

Um...there were a few...wasn't Vera a Renegade?

Yes, Vera was a Renegade Master, Solitaire.

Destiny

The Force can be used for good or ill. The sad thing is, it is more natural to use it for ill. Lacking other context, the Human instinct is to act selfishly. But perhaps more important than that, it comes much more naturaly to power the Force using your emotions. it takes great study and dedication to learn to use the Force with a clear and peaceful mind, as the Jedi do. Few, without guidance, would even know such ways were possible. The quick and easy way of mentions soon mens those emotions grow to rule you. The Dark Side.

Luckily those very few people gifted with the Force will almost certainly never be any sort of threat because without training, even the Dark Side is of very little issue. it is the job of the Jedi to find those who can be strong in the Force, and train as Jedi those suitable. The rest can be left safely; perhaps they display sharp instincts, or seem to be able to second-guess others. That is all.

But at the fringes of the Galaxy, even the Jedi cannot reach. These people are never found, and whilst they are rare, the Galaxy is large enough to ensure that they are enough. Again, untrained, they are never any great issue. But a few... a very few... are trained.

Once upon a time the Sith threatened the Galaxy entire, training in the Dark Side as the Jedi did in the Light, refining the base and instinctive use of Emotions into an entire way of life. But such was the natrue of the Dark Side that the Sith became almost as abig a threat to themselves as the jedi, and in the end they were defeated- and very few know that they still exist, never daring to be more than tweo at a time, one oin chargem the other serving; the only way to prevent inner conflict.

But even with their days gone, their remains a tiny legacy of the Dark Side. Very rarely, a Jedi falls, a tragic story. Sometimes, a person who began to be trained as a Jedi but dropped out later completed his training on his own- in the ways of the Dark Side. And these people are dangerous, not just because of what thry represent as Dark Siders, but because they may train others, from this tiny pool of potential recruits out on the Galactic Rim. Such people are so scattered amongst the masses that it would seem impossible to find them. But The Force tends to provide for these people, and fraw them to what they want.

And so it is that, occasionally, Dark Siders exist, trying to start new legacies of personal power, or perhaps just living on their own. Their lives were very difficult indeed- personally powerful, of course, they nonetheless found themselves unwated, or hunted by the Jedi. The bright lights of civilisation were dnied to them; they had to keep to the edges. It took a brave individual or group indeed to try anything of genuine significance.

One such man was Kuylen, a fallen master Swordsman of imperfect patience but great cunning and learning, who by fear, disicipline and a sense for organisation had built himself a small group of notable Dark Side followers, and made arrangements with others to provide himself a power base inside the Galaxy. For a short amount of time, Kuylen was in the spotlight as he sought to plunder the secrets of the extinct Sith- inadvertantly bringing the attention of the genuine Sith when he did so.

Kuylen achieved great things, humilating the Jedi sent to stop him at Malastare, causing carnage on the streets, and gaining possession of a significant portion of the Archive of Avalar, an abortive Sith attempt during the last wars to create a repository of all Sith secrets. This Archive gave Kuylen access to many secrets indeed.

When it became clear that Kuylen's goal was the fabled Mausoleum of Demnos, an ancient legend that spoke of a place where those worthy could learn of the Sith ways, the Jedi Council strangle lost interest- knowingm, as they did, that Kuylen's mission was doomed to failure and that to chase him was to invite further unneccessary death and destruction. But the Sith, now embodied in Chancellor Palpatine, did not appreciate a potential rival and with pretended altruism sent the same Jedi group that confronted him on Malastare to a fools' chase to as far out of the galaxy as ships can reasonably go, to make sure of Kuylen.

On the legendary world of Zeiton came the final confrontation. As his associates fell victim or were delayed by the Jedi as the whole world crumbled around him, Kuylen found his goal, only to find the Council had dealt with the mystery of Demnos nearly a thousand years before- his path had ended in nothing, and the Jedi realised why the Council had not wanted the mission, for the very presence of Jedi and Sith on Zeiton was deadly to the locals.

Kuylen was not seen again, though details of his death later emerged. Some of his followers made their painful way back to the galaxy, resuming their lives of crime and scavenging. There they met with a new group led by the ex-Jedi Rand. emembering Kuylen's principles of how Dark Siders must work as a team for survival, they tried to form such a group of their own, but lacking the dominance of a Kuylen-style figure in their group there was no clear leadership and the group fell to infighting- but somehow, instead of destroying themselves, they balanced their various hatreds of each other with a recognition of the need to survive. The group held, giving them an advantage that perhaps no other Dark Siders had.

For now times were changing. With Palpatine Chancellor, he was beginning his programme of eradication of all possible rivals. In response to concerns about crime and corruption in the galaxy, and especially the mess caused on Malastare, Palpatine formed the Bureau of Immigration and Undesirables, ostensibly an organisation that would tracre and deal with intergalactic criminals. But secretly, the Bureau was a death squad, using a deadly alien race- the Osokans- as a means to eradicate opposition, in the quiet places where such things would not be noticed. The word from Palpatine- Darth Sidious- went out. all these Dark Siders in the fringes were to be destroyed.

The Bureau is equipped with near infininte resources and highly advanced tracking technology. Once they found their targets they did not let go. The Osokans, wielding their deadly neurowhips and with their rengerative constituion, were not afraid to take on Dark Siders up close. They took on their targers eight to one to make sure. Powerful Dark Siders might fight through a group of eight, and maybe another group, but there would always be more. And Osokans could survive lightsabre wounds, and rarely would a Dark Siders have time to stop and ensure they were dead. They would keep on coming, whilst the sinister Agents of the Bureau would track the Dark Sider's movements, using a network of satellites set up throughout the Galaxy to follow their shoips whereveer they went. And every single place a Dark Sider went, the Bureau would follow. And so they all died.

Except Rand's group. When the Bureau came for them, they did better than the others for, much as the Osokans did, they fought as a team. Even this would have dine little for them, except they had the strange twist of fortune to get caught up in a great game of deceit and criminal politics of the criminal organisation The Golden Serpent. Posing as a friend of Kuylen's, the legend that was Melkus Doon saved the Dark Siders from the Bureau, providing a means to change the signatures of their ships, and then planned to use them to help kill his rivals and become leader of the organisation, and then betray them to the Bureau to keep things clean. He nearly got away with it too, but sometimes the Force favours the Dark Side and the group got the break they needed to see through the deception at the last moment. In a great conflict they escaped the Bureau and killed Doon- and doing so inherited his base at the edge of the Galaxy, hidden by a stellar anomaly, and hence granting safety from the Bureau.

But whilst safety was survival, it was not power. They were exiled and helpless. As time went by, only one remained from the glory days of Kuylen, the increasingly edgy swordsman and apprentice of Kuylen, Galder Starkiller. Like many of them, he was growing bored, and resentful of the lack of glory this hidden life afforded him. But unknown to them all, they were about to find their Way Back into the affairs of the Galaxy.

It began with disaster- found by chance by a maraudering group of pirates, killing them provoked a war with the clan as a whole, and the need to return quickly to the Galaxy to steal a new shield generator before the Bureau found them. Except the Bureau- now aided by an Agent with an uncommon instinct for when Dark Siders were around- found them very quickly, and their escape was hurried.

Yet their emnity with the pirates finally revealed their location to someone who had been searching for them- and causing mysterious trouble to the Jedi- for sometime, a being of remarkable Force power and mysterious ability known as The Lady. On the Dark Sider's return, they found her and her strange associates waiting for them.

The Dark Siders- and Galder in particular- are about to find their true Destiny.

---

Soon, the Dark Siders find themselves in the middle of nowhere, in a a place no-one knows about working for someone no-one knows about looking for someone they have never heard of who has something... but they are not sure what.

Life pretty much as normal then!

They also find extreme danger and violence, though if there is anyone in the Galaxy suited for that it is them- indeed, it is why they are there. But also on Gondekorro there is opportunity- if they have the wit to realise that it has been given to them.

And in the Desert of Stones lay the greatest secrets of all- two great clues about what it all means. Something very, very big is coming, and soon it will be too late for anyone else to do something about it.

And so what are the Dark Siders going to do? Help destroy the Galaxy... or save it?

-----

'Destiny' is the long awaited point in the sotryline where the Dark Siders finally stop pissing around and begin to matter again. Though don't think for a moment this means they have a good time. If you wanted thst you joined the wrong game- the Dark Side is harsh and evil and there will never be another moment as great as beating Doon again.

On the other had, there are things to kill, stuff to destroy, people to frighten, and despite the harsh evil of it all, a lot of fun to be had. Oh yeah, and also those clues you've been looking for for bloody AGES.

Suitable for all Dark Side players, this is part of the largest original plotline taking place in the game. Last time it was the Jedi, now it is the Dark Siders' turn.

Be very afraid.

Okay, so, really...can we play this now?

Seriously, I want to know what's up with that damn Desert of Stones...okay, yeah, I want to destroy stuff and kill things and find out about the Lady, but...three years of wondering about it!

(and have the Darkies ever had a good time? I think we might die of shock if something was simple and easy and didn't have us nearly failing and/or dying at any given moment...)

Woohoo I'm in.

Getting to play Xavier separately and then reading this makes me want to get back as soon as possible. 😱

I have a feeling that this will be the most diabolical episode yet...