USH'S STAR WARS GAME- DARK SIDE INTERLUDE- 'Day of Choice'

It's an interlude!

Last seen with The Warlord of Droben, these self-contained minisodes help bridge gaps, pass time when time is needed and allow players to practise rules and tactics.

Interludes don't have a predictive element, so don't worry about those powers. But be warned. Although interludes end with a full health restore, you only restore ONE force point at the end of an Interlude, so be careful what you spend! (Acolytes and those with Flow of the Force restore more as per normal)..

All the Dark Siders are in on this one, so here is a chance to get the group dynamic together before the main event. Have fun!

Epireus Base

It has been over a year and a half since you returned from the Desert of Stones, with as many questions as answers. You have spent your intervening time expending what resources you have to find out more.

Since making contact with the Flotsam and Jetsam and its infamous droid captain, your efforts over the last few months have been rather more immediately practical. You've been refitting your base, getting your clean transponders working correctly and ensuring a constant maintenance schedule on the shield generator, because you don't want any of THAT nonsense again. It's been long, hard work and the pressure is getting to you all.

Galder has been different lately... in ways that are entirely trivial. No longer moody and unbalanced, he is instead driven and impatient, and this has pretty much led to the exact same results as before. Some of the rest of you are different too. Gallador and Rand have spent days in brooding, thoughtful silence and study, and they have been of little use to anyone in those periods. The rest of you are stable... as Dark Siders go...

But today is the day for you guys to forget all of that. Today is a day of fun and relieving pressure. Today is the Day of Choice.

Every six months the Epireans in the jungles and plains beneath your mountain stronghold pay their 'tribute' to you. Having little of any possible value that you might need, their tribute is very personal and is paid in people. This is part of a deal negotiated last year to maintain the loyalty of the Epirean tribes without just slaughtering your own workforce. The deal was that... you would stop slaughtering your own workforce. If that sounds a bit weird, this is the mindset that happens when you have Pariahs and especially Corsairs stuck on a planet for extended periods of time. Killing the locals becomes a habit, whether it is an efficient activity or not.

Well, no longer is there random and senseless killing on Epireus! You have brought an end to such barbarism. Instead, the killing is not at all random and done with very specific purpose. The Epirean tribal leaders chuck your way all the condemned prisoners of their society- and for condemned prisoners, read 'people that have annoyed the chieftains'. An interesting side effect of the deal is the extended control the chieftains have acquired by being able to threaten to send people 'to the mountain...'.

What you do with them once you have them is your business. It's generally considered that they are going to die, but not before you have had some fun with them. And as some of these Epireans are genuinely dangerous criminal killers- from a bronze age race known more for their hardness of skull and strength of muscle than for their intellectual sophistication- it is possible that some may be of use to you amongst your bodyguards. You also have some internal wagers over who is going to survive your fun little games. You guys have just about enough common sense and survival instinct- caused by long periods of surviving under pressure- not to kill each other over a bet, but it is not surprising if some of you have no intention of playing fair.

Each of the eight tribes will provide you with ten such prisoners. That's a fixed quota, btw, so if they haven't got enough prisoners, they have to invent more crimes. So, that's eighty prospective Epireans in the pot. By the end of the day, tradition says (and there's nothing that says you have to stick to tradition, though these things have value) that each Dark Sider will choose one survivor to join their bodyguard.

Of course, you'll need to thin the herd first, and see how these people perform under pressure. That's how you see the real measure of a person; something you have all learned first hand. Thus we have this year's events!

EVENT ONE: Dodge the Dark Sider

In this event the prisoners are gathered in a medium-sized crater caused by some ancient meteorite strike on the outskirts of the forest near the mountain. Any number of Dark Siders can enter the crater as they wish. At the end of the exercise, only forty prisoners should be left alive. Dark Siders are not obliged to enter the crater; this is a matter of taste. The point is meant to be that there is a whirling flurry of death going around the crater slaughtering the Epireans left right and centre. That said... eighty Epireans is not something to be laughed at, so this is a good chance for anyone to practise their combat skills.

There are no rules here; Dark Siders can kill or spare at their whim, depending on what they are after.. It is considered that it is AFTER this game that the bets are made (with the exception of the 'who can kill the most?' game) as some of the more promising potential candidates emerge.

The survivors bury the bodies of the rest as they await...

EVENT TWO: Fun Run

It's a simple run! Up the mountain to the security perimeter of your base, and then back down to the crater. A couple of problems, of course. The Epireans find the thinner air on the mountain hard to breathe (much as you find the dense atmosphere off of the mountain very heavy going) so this is an intense test of their stamina. It is not unknown for Dark Siders to lay in ambush, cause rock slides or, in one incident, lay proximity mines on the course to make it more interesting. Of course, the most interesting bit of all is that the last 20 home are all brutally executed, so no slacking please.

EVENT THREE: Face Off

By this point you are feeling aggrieved that you are having to do all the killing when you have a slave force to do it for you, so those that get back to the crater are told that only ten of them are going to be allowed out again, and they'll have to settle who it is themselves. They normally work it out one way or another.. those that emerge victorious face the final test...

EVENT FOUR: The Choice

And so there you are, with ten (in theory) remaining candidates who are either capable or extremely lucky, both of which qualities suit you. How many you leave alive and pick for yourselves is entirely up to you. Who gets whom is also up to you, and subject to some arguments sometimes. When you are done, those picked are taken to the security perimeter and instructed on how to patrol it... and they become yours.

Today is the day, folks! In a few minutes you will leave the base and walk down the mountain to the crater to accept your adulation and tribute from the tribal representatives. Should be a fun day.

Oh, btw, those bets. They are going to be represented by certain objectives during the game. Whoever can fulfil those objectives will get a bonus xp point for each one done...

Yay 😄

Though Galder feels that his time is much more valuable now, when there are secrets to uncover, things to discover, and people to recover, he cannot resist contributing in the games with a much more focused mind. The last time the games were played, Galder had interfered in the whole process by randomly murdering at will and killing his own candidates for short-lived amusement. He also found Rand's laying of mines entirely distasteful because of how indirect it was, the coward's way of handling such things.

This time, he intends to make full use of his talents to determine who gets to work for him as his minion. Kuylen had his minions, back in the day... Galder thinks he should too, if he is going to reach his potential for lethality. He doesn't necessarily NEED henchmen, of course; he is a killing machine all by himself. But he won't deny the usefulness.

Making sure his arm-blaster is at full charge, that his knife-hand is sharpened, and that his lightsabers are ready, Galder will set out to participate in the games, likely in the company of the Psycho Brigade- Rianna, Dak, and Xavier.

"So," Galder says. "I wonder how things will turn out this year."

Xavier walks by Galder, "Hopefully good. We could use with some good specimens."

Xavier himself was a very grand specimen.

Besides it will be fun Xavier to kill some

"Either way I'm us here will find suitable stress relief."

"No doubt," Galder says. "All this hunting for information has been frustrating. I want to cut loose and enjoy myself for once. Haven't been able to in a very long time..."

Con doesn't really enjoy random killing as much as some of the others, although he could need a good bodyguard, and he has to admit the process does usually get them the toughest fighters. And watching and participating in the group dynamics are always great fun. He approaches the other two and says "Good morning. It's a fine day for our games, is it not? I presume I will get to see you two practicing your skills in the crater?"

...holy crap. Proximity mines. That is ****ing hilarious.

"I don't care at all about guards or anything like that," Rianna states to Galder. "It's simply been far too long since I've been able to cause suitable havoc...you worry about who we want as minions. I just want to destroy something. Preferably many somethings."

"Yeah, well, you won't get any minions that way," Galder says. "Still, I'm thinking I'll hold my record for most kills during the First Round, don't you?"

Galder smiles deprecatingly at Rianna.

"Well, that's fine, as I don't care about nor want any 'minions'. What use have I for them?" Rianna replies, with a glare. "And somehow I highly doubt that. You only have your record because you cheated."

"You still think I tripped you as you were entering the crater?" Galder asks. "As if I would stoop to such levels. It's not my fault you didn't land on your feet instead of your face, anyway."

"Well, let's think about this, Galder; there was absolutely nothing to trip over and you happened to have been standing right next to me just before it happened," Rianna responds. "And of course you'd stoop to such levels. Usually you go even lower."

"I wonder what else you will happen this time that will cause ceaseless bickering from the peanut gallery," Rand comments, dark and moody as ever. The wires protruding from the back of his head crackle quietly as he turns his head, looking amongst the Darkies.

His time spent secretly with Gallador, doing secretive things, has made him grumpy and tired as they have had no real successes other than the taunting lines of lore that Gallador managed to procure about the Syphar n Kalar. Additionally, his inability to really take much hold on Gonderkorro without a means of getting there undetected by anyone (even his own group) has aggravated him.

"Much, I am sure. Ah well. I intend to make much of this event."

"You ran into me, that's not my problem," Galder snorts at Rianna's very accurate accusation. When Rand appears, Galder glares at the decrepit squid with hostility. "Going to test yourself in the crater this time, Rand? I want to see how someone in your state will fair against the bone-crushing natives."

"I most certainly did not..." Rianna grumbles, but her attention is quickly distracted by taunting Rand.

"Yes, Rand, or are you too afraid to try?" she says to him, thinking about how easy it would be to cause a fatal 'accident'...

Dak snirks at Galder's retort to Rianna, having had a hand in the event himself. "Yes, Rand, better watch those wires. Wouldn't want some monkey-thing accidentally pulling those out..."

"It's been far too long since any of us has handed out a good, hard death... can't wait. Galder, you're bringing snacks, right?"

He thinks to himself, though... it would be nice to have a bodyguard, especially while the leadership of the group possibly shifts...

"I assure you that I intend to participate and that nothing terrible will befall me," Rand says, sensing the intentions of the others quite keenly, though he need not sense it for he knows exactly how they feel toward him. "Monkey-things or otherwise. I must keep up with my swordsmanship, after all."

Rand takes a swig from one of his wine bottles, having procured more using the bounty money from their excursion on Gonderkorro.

"Yes indeed."

Dak cleanly flicks one of his razor-sharp knives into Rand's bottle mid-swig, shattering it just to see how he reacts.

"You have no swordsmanship, old one. Even Con here could take you."

Rand is irked by the shattering of his wine bottle, watching as the precious liquid splashes onto his robes, his nerves slow to react. But he does not exhibit any outward anger, knowing that it would only serve for amusement.

"I beg to differ," Rand says, meeting Dak's gaze solidly.

"Sadly, Rand, you can disagree all you want, but in practice...you disagreeing doesn't make a slightest bit of difference," Rianna says with a smirk at Dak's destruction of Rand's wine.