Author's Notes: This is based off of a Star Wars tabletop RPG that I ran with a few friends of mine. Once we finished it, I decided to put the shenanigans of one of the most epic campaigns I have had the pleasure of running into a fanfic. Rates and reviews are ALWAYS welcome. and of course I don't own Star Wars... though I would like to have all the money I could get from owning it.
Chapter 1
We pick up our tale over one thousand years after the battle of Endor and the end of the Empire. The Galaxy had just been through the turmoil of a Galactic Civil War that ended ten years ago and most of the Galaxy is still rebuilding. The Galactic Civil War brought all planets to the brink of extinction and ushered in a new area for a reborn Republic. Jedi and Sith have set aside the old doctrines and work towards a hesitant peace after almost having all traces of both civilizations wiped out. The war was brought to an end with unearthing old starships and tech left over from the Empire, Rebellion, and other long dead factions. In commemoration for the end of the war, two super ships were being constructed by the Republic with assistance from all races and planets. The first is based on an old Imperial Star Destroyer lay out, but will be three times as large as the largest of those fearsome ships and will be named the Redemption. While the other is a similarly massive Mon Calamari ship dubbed the Deliverance.
In the wake of the Civil war, there has been a massive surge in pirating and slavery across the galaxy. The republic is allocating all available resources to this endeavor including the training of soldiers and construction and repurposing of ships to fit the task. In the spirit of continued progress, shortly after the Civil War ended, the Republic sponsored a program to explore and colonize a section of space through the unknown sector called the Charybdis corridor.
We begin our tale with a group of newly recruited and trained soldiers on the planet of Belnar, recently repurposed as the main military training and command center for the region. Sergeant Gardener is overseeing the final training battle scenario with the two teams with the highest results during training. On one side is a number of humans led by a sly looking Rodian. While the other team was a hodgepodge of people from different races, there was the bird like Mrlssi named Krssl who was a Jedi, along with fellow human Jedi Seleya. They also had a Draethos tech specialist by the name of Thola Durr. And finishing off their group is sniper Borsk, a Bothan marksman. Sergeant Gardner watched on in anticipation waiting to see who would come out on top.
The battle began with an opening salvo from the humans while the Rodian stayed back only using a pistol and keeping his hand towards one of his belt pouches. Seleya charged forward, lightsaber drawn. Borsk took aim and managed to take out one of the humans with his first shot. Krssl moved forward with his lightsaber out but he used the force to throw one of the humans into another one of the humans. Thola stepped forward and fired a glancing shot to one of the enemies. At this time, the Rodian stepped forward, took a shot at Seleya, which she deflected with her lightsaber. While she was distracted by deflecting the blaster shot, the Rodian pulled a grenade out of the belt pouch that he had been resting his hand on and threw it between Seleya and Krssl. The explosion knocked Krssl back but catapulted Seleya forward, who managed to roll and spring back to her feet, robes singed and smoke rolling off her back. The Rodian was terrified at the sight of the Jedi woman in front of him. He tried to fire another shot from his blaster but Seleya pulled the blaster from his grip ad held her lightsaber at his throat "Do you yield?" The Rodian still terrified managed to squeak out a small "Yes" before passing out. Gardner watched on as Seleya turned around to see all the rest of the Rodians squad were on the ground 'dead'. This was a training simulation, there was a field negating the lethal effects of the weapons, including the grenade. They weren't gonna have their new recruits killing each other, they weren't the Hutts.
Gardner slowly clapped in recognition of the party's victory before he addressed them "Congratulations on completing your training, excellent teamwork skills and combat prowess. I look forward to overseeing your first official mission as part of the Republic." With that he turned and disappeared from sight of the party. Everyone that was in the battle got the rest of the day off to recover and the next day the victorious team gathered at the command center to await their first mission as a team. The team were chatting when Sergeant Gardner walked up and coughed, waiting for their undivided attention before addressing them "Your first mission will be to the planet Tykis, on the far edge of the Charybdis Corridor. It is a newly established colony that just went dark, this should be a routine mission since the humidity of the planet screws with the electronics, so we will be taking replacement parts just in case that is the problem. I will be accompanying you on this mission to evaluate your performance." Gardner gestured behind him "And this will be our ride." The ship in question is a battered freighter that has been repurposed by the Republic for use in the various operations that are needed. This freighter did not have a name painted on the side, just faded words saying "Catch me if you can." Which apparently didn't help the previous owner all that well, if the carbon scoring from blaster fire was any indication.
As Sergeant Gardener and his team boarded the ship, they could tell the interior compartments have undergone extensive renovations. As the rest of the party claimed their bunks, Gardner went to the cockpit and initiated takeoff procedures. Even revamped by the Republic, it took 4 days to get to Tykis. The ride there was uneventful, the Jedi spent their time mainly in meditation. Thola worked on the ship, maintaining and optimizing the systems the ship had. Borsk checked all his weapons, including his beloved sniper rifle.
When the ship dropped out of hyperspace, the party was all crammed into the cockpit of the modified freighter. By this point, the two Jedi were piloting, Thola was on Communications and Navigation and Borsk was on what little weapons they had. Gardner first turned to Thola "Getting anything on comms?"
Thola shook her head "No, I'm getting absolutely nothing." She visibly shook from the thoughts of what possibly would make them not transmit anything. Krssl and Seleya took the ship down and landed on the platform set up as a landing pad. As the party cautiously walked down the ramp, they saw no sign of movement anywhere. Sergeant Gardner addressed the party, "Okay, heres how we are going to do this, Seleya, stay with the ship make sure she is ready in case we need to leave in a hurry. Everyone else with me, and stick together, no one goes alone here." The party nodded at the orders that were given.
As the party made their way through the silent town, they passed by a couple dwellings that they decided to check out. The first one they inspected was empty, some moldy food on the table indicated that the residents left mid meal. The second dwelling they got to told a different story. The front door looked like it was ripped off of its hinges and thrown clear across the dwelling. There were deep gouges cut into the walls, floor and ceiling. The most unsettling thing though was the blood that marred most of the furniture and walls of the common area. There were other sporadic dwellings that were torn apart but the majority of the dwellings were empty. The party proceeded to the center of the town which held the largest building in the settlement. The front doors of the building were shredded and left in pieces of the foyer. The party split up at this point. Thola, Krssl, and Gardner went upstairs to clear out the second floor and access the computer room while Borsk trailed off and investigated the only room that connected to the foyer on the first floor. Borsk stalked up to the double doors, his rifle at the ready. One of the doors was bent in on itself so he pushed on the other one. It took some force, but he was finally able to get it open.
Borsk found himself in the middle of what looked like a courtroom and meeting room. There were personal belonging scattered everywhere and what looked like benches and other heavy objects were braced up against the doors. Borsk stepped further in and saw that on the walls to his right and left were large holes that were torn from the outside along with a multitude of gouge marks all around the opening. A small object caught Borsk's eyes, it was a small rag doll that was covered in blood. Borsk frowned as he studied the doll, a mixture of sadness and rage came over Borsk in waves followed by immense confusion. What the hell happened here. As Borsk turned to leave he saw something written on the wall in red. Borsk stepped closer as was able to read out one word "Goresh." Borsk had never heard of that term before anywhere before. Upon closer inspection he found that it wasn't written in paint, but in blood.
Meanwhile upstairs, the rest of the party found the server room and was able to get in. This room appears to have been untouched by whatever has been tearing this town apart. Thola found an open terminal and was able to access it. She found out that the communications tower had indeed been malfunctioning, moisture from the humidity has been screwing with the circuitry. The last few entries notate that some kind of creatures were attacking and people were going to hold up in the town hall and in the mines. Thola was also able to find a map that detailed the layout of the town, along with directions on how to reach the farm and the mine. The party reconvened in the main foyer, where Thola shared with Borsk the info that she gathered from the computers, Borsk in turn told them about the holes in the walls and the word 'Goresh'. Everyone shook their head as no one had ever heard of that word before.
The party then proceeded out and managed to find a hover work truck that had been left unmolested. Sergeant Gardner started it up and everyone piled on, first heading to the farm to check out the communications array. They saw that one of the panels on the tower had been removed and is sitting next to a box full of tools. After Borsk, Krssl, and Gardner made sure the area was clear, Thola moved in to inspect the communications tower. There was definite deterioration on some of the circuits, but it looked like someone had replaced the circuits enough to get it to work, but didn't get to turn on the array to use it, or close up the panel. While Thola was busying herself on the array, Krssl was taking the time to explore the area trying to find out what the hell happened here. Krssl came across some drag marks and blood streaks that appeared to be headed towards the mine. When Thola announced that she had the communications tower up and running, Krssl went back and said "Hey, there are drag marks and blood streaks heading towards the mine. We should keep on the alert, who or what ever did this might still be here." Gardner nodded in agreement "Good eyes there, Krssl. Everyone, keep an eye out we might not be alone. Mount up." Everyone piled up onto the hover truck and headed to the mine.
When they arrived at the mine, they turned the truck around, pointing it towards the town just in case they needed a quick getaway. The party inspected the mine entrance and saw the ground had been torn up but a lot of traffic, but none of it seemed to be newer than a few days old. The party noticed the same gouges they saw in town all around the entrance of the mine. The party carefully stalked into the mine with Gardner and Krssl leading the way, Thola following close behind them and Borsk taking up the rear, all of them with weapons at the ready. The main shaft led a decent ways into the mountain before coming to a junction that featured a large set of double steel doors that had gouges in them and was bent in on itself, but not broken. Gardner tapped on the door lightly and called out "Is anyone in there, we are soldiers from the Republic and we are here to help." They heard shuffling on the other side of the door and then heard a low hoarse voice call out back "Be quiet or they will hear you."
Krssl stepped forward and spoke in a low voice "I am a Jedi, you can trust us and we are here to help you." The man on the other side said back "I can't budge the door open."
Gardner looked at Krssl "Can you move this?"
Krssl studied the doors for a moment then looked at Gardner "Yeah I think so, but he needs to move to a corner, this will probably fly."
The man spoke at this point "There are four of us total here, two are children."
Gardner swore at this point "Shit, only four? There were over a hundred people at this colony. Get all of you back to a corner and be ready to run, this is going to get a lot of attention. Borsk, get back to the truck and get it running, we are going to need a quick escape."
The party heard more shuffling coming from the other side of the door before they heard the man say "We're ready."
Krssl held out his hands and closed his eyes in concentration. A few moments later they heard groaning and then the door flew off and collided with the opposite wall. Before the dust even settled, a scraggly looking man and woman came out holding 2 young girls, the oldest not any more than 6. Right as the colonists stepped out of the room, everyone heard a loud shriek that rebounded all around the cavern.
"RUN!" Gardner shouted, letting everyone go first and him bringing up the end. Krssl started slowing down, since his people are incredibly short (on an average of about 1.5 to almost 3 feet tall.) Krssl was picked up by Gardner himself. Krssl was able to see what was chasing them. They were creatures that had reverse jointed legs with three claws on the feet and a long chitnious body that ended with a curved plate covering the head that had a jaw with serrated teeth that was also complemented by a set of mandibles on either side of its mouth. The creature also sported a long tail that ended in a vicious looking spike at the tip. The creature also had three vicious looking claws on each hand. And there was a flood of the creatures pouring after them. Krssl looked up to see support beams bracing the ceiling. Krssl reached out with his force powers and started pulling support beams down. Krssl managed to collapse a part of the tunnel and give them a respite though the party could already hear the creatures digging rapidly.
The party reached the hover truck and loaded up the colonists, Thola hopped up next and helped Krssl up and last but not least Sergeant Gardner joined Borsk up in the cab. As the hover truck bolted off, Gardner got on the comms and radioed Seleya "Seleya, get the ship ready to leave, we are being pursued by multiple unknown hostile creatures." Gardner heard Seleya respond "Roger that, the ship is ready to go, though there are a few of them already popping out of the ground here. Nothing I can't handle."
Borsk saw multiple creatures pop out of the ground and swerved to miss them. He didn't know how much punishment the truck could take, but he didn't want to chance it with having civvies with them. While the hover truck rocked and bounced, the male colonist lost grip on the little girl that he was carrying and she tumbled away. Without even thinking, Thola reached out to grab the child and managed to hold on while Krssl held on to Thola, making sure they didn't lose them both.
The hover truck barreled up to the platform, where Seleya just cleaved one of those creatures in two with her lightsaber and used the force to throw another one off of the platform. Borsk, Krssl, Gardner, and Seleya moved forward to protect Thola and the colonists while they got on board. Once they were on board, Borsk and Gardner moved on to the boarding ramp and layed down covering fire so the Jedi could get on. Krssl and Seleya bounded onto the ramp as the ship started to take off. As the ship started climbing, they could see hundreds of the creatures swarming all over the landing pad.
Author's Notes: I hope you guys liked the chapter. To help keep in mind, the characters run by the players at this point are Krssl, Thola, and Borsk. If anyone has any questions or comments/concerns please feel free to ask.