USH'S STAR WARS GAME- CAMPAIGN II POST EPISODE V RENEGADE INTERLUDE- Payday

It's Interlude time! Whilst the Jedi are dealing with the worsening political situation in the Republic- the last damn thing you want to get involved with, as the Jedi are being used to prop up much of the corruption you despise- you guys need to keep your operation in business!

This interlude will run whilst the Jedi do their between-game bit and the Dark Siders get their revenge plan into operation. You do score xp for this interlude but it;s an extension of the xp for Episode V, so the final reward will look at your achievement for the whole period from the start of V on Agalania onwards.

You guys chose to do a story set on the outskirts where the law is too weak to protect the people, and the overstretched Jedi are too busy to help, or maybe never even hear about the issues. There are a lot of oppressed people out there that need help... and you need employment, for expenses if nothing else.

Whether you are still with the Jedi when you get this message or whether you have popped back to your offices on the third moon of Uridium is up to you.

You are being contacted by a man named Kessler. He's looking to hire some bodyguards for what amounts to a humanitarian cause, and he's heard you guys are pretty good!

Blah, updated finalized bio this weekend Ush, before I jump into this. Been busy and it keeps slipping my mind.

Xeth will accept the call aboard his ship, still on Telania after the capture of Katai, having been waiting around to make sure she didn't try to escape and seeing her onto the ship sent to take her back to Coruscant.

"Mr. Kessler, you've heard right," Xeth responds to the message. "You said you're in need of bodyguards? Maybe you could tell me more of what the problem is."

Kessler is a 'troubleshooter'. Originally training as a lawyer, he spent a lot of time gallivanting out and about the fringes of the galaxy in his youth where he picked up a broad portfoilio of skills, including how to handle himself.

His adventuring days are clearly behind him as now he's getting on a bit- balding and distinctly podgy. He's not done badly for himself. These days, he uses his various skills and connections to sort things out for people- for a fee, obviously.

He explains he is basically handling a banditry problem out near the Satrol sector. Well, that is one part of several problems he is handling out there, but it's the one he can't do himself.

"I don't really think the sight of me wobbling into a fight with a sidearm is going to scare them off," he says, "but I reckoned a bunch of ex-Jedi might make them think twice..."

"I have a feeling you may be right about that," Xeth says. "Lightsabers have a certain intimidation factor to them. Can you tell me more about the bandits?"

What does Xeth know about the Satrol sector?

Satorl... hmm. That whole area of space is what you would basically call 'primitive', though that is a troublesome term. Basically, it is one of several galactic areas where there are many systems that, although in the Republic, they are not actually capable of their own interstellar travel. Often these are various alien species (who never advanced for many reasons- too young, unfavourable planets, cultural issues etc.), though in an anthropological mystery there are human worlds like this also.

The only reason they are in the Republic is that other worlds have found them and they've ended up being part of the interstellar community by proxy, often trading their way to getting the tech to, for example, send a Senator to Coruscant.

But they can never produce the needed tech themselves so they are always dependant on other worlds... which in turn leads to exploitation. Some work things out ok and thrive... others do not.

"Tan Ke Pirates," says Kessler. "Nothing fancy about them; like all pirates they steal where they can and do not care about the consequences. Of course, there's rarely much worth stealing on worlds out there..."

He could hire out regular mercenaries to do this as well. We need to sell ourselves to him better. He's clearly pretty well off financially. Xeth, make sure he's paying well for our services. We'll be underpaid if we go charging off every time someone asks for help.

Ush, any way we can run an "affiliation" check on this guy? It doesn't seem like a trap to me, but it also doesn't seem like whacking space pirates is the only motive.

That's pretty much what you did to get the info I gave you above.

If Tillula voiced those last few lines out loud Wentar would give her a slight look of annoyance. 😛

Assuming Wentar can also be in on this call he'll cut to the chase.

"If there isn't much worth stealing out there then why are the Pirates bothering at all? Is it due to the less sophisticated security the planets have to defend themselves with or something else entirely?"

I voice those last few lines out loud to Xeth...away from Kessler's earshot, of course. I'll take that look, thanks.

😊

"Indeed, what is it that the Tan Ke are after here?" Xeth asks.

"Ah well now, there's the thing..." says Kessler. "It's gold."

-

As with the Jedi, everyone has healed all damage and you each gain Force point equal to half your maximum, up to the limit of your maximum.

"No kidding?" Xeth laughs. "What are the local authorities doing to protect their gold so far? Obviously not enough, or there'd be no need to call us."

"Well now, that is a complicated tale of greed and exploitation and corporate legal wrangling..." says Kessler. "It's funny though, isn't it? Thousands of years of civilisation, stock markets and electronic currencies and yet still gold is something people value. People still like how it looks, you can barter it all over and several areas of the galaxy still accept it as currency. Republic credits are no good out in Satorl and the surrounding areas, but gold... that's something solid and of guaranteed value.

"All of which means that those planets that still have viable gold mines can make themselves a pretty profit. I am being paid to represent the planet Kovanis. And before you ask- no. They don't have a gold mine. But the people they are dealing with, the Servalo Corporation, own Zerok, which is possibly the largest gold producing world out there. They have more gold than they can use."

"And I bet the pirates feel they can help them out with that problem," Xeth says. "They're attacking Zerok, then, right?"

"Oh my no! It's nowhere near that simple. Servalo have fortified Zerok like crazy; you'd be insane to try and steal the gold from there."

"Makes sense. So what the pirates hitting, then?"

"Well, pirates always have an eye for a weak point. But to understand this, you have to understand the nature of the deal here.

"Kovanis is a pre-space world with a struggling population. They do have one resource of galactic value- great underground sources of Hoffman's Gas, a rather lethal chemical that is immensely useful in certain highly technical industrial uses. The problem is, it's only useful to people in specific industrial businesses, so you cannot just sell it to a passing merchant; storage of it is very hazardous. So is mining it. It's poisonous to most lifeforms and the rocks that it forms around emit a radiation that interferes with robotics. It is possible to create shielded auto-miners but extremely expensive.

"The Kovanians themselves, though, can mine it in something approaching safety. It's not as poisonous to them and they are experienced at handling it. Of course, there's very little they can actually do with it..."

"So they make a profit by selling it," Xeth says.