The Story So Far
Funded by a grant from Cix Trouvee and Planet Dreams, the heroes began searching for new worlds. On board the Kurtotic Platypus, a Lantillian Ship-Wrights GX1 Short Hauler, they scoured the space north of the Oseon system. After weeks of fruitless exploration, they discovered Iza Val, a harsh, jungle world with a thick ammonia-rich atmosphere.
There, they met Unu Don and her fellow Arcona colonists, many of whom, like Unu, suffered from salt addiction. Unu, the matriarch of Nest Don, told the heroes about Prince Rama Khan, an off-world robber baron. Khan held the Arcona in servitude by trading salt to them in exchange for ammonia, which they mined from the Rain Caves of Iza Val. The colonists offered the party an exclusive, six-month contract to buy their ammonia if the heroes could emancipate the Arcona from Khan’s oppression.
Between Episodes
The heroes researched the details of the salt-for-ammonia exchange, learning that:
- Khan’s agents travel to Iza Val via a CEC/Gallofree Gozanti-Class attack freighter;
- The Gozanti carries a Reconnaissance Troop Transporter (RTT) and two All Terrain
- Personal Transports (AT-PTs);
- The RTT ferries ammonia, salt, and troopers to and from the Gozanti; and
- The AT-PTs provide escort for the RTT.
Based on these findings, the party formulated a plan. They would begin by sabotaging the attack freighter. Then, using their speeder bikes, they would ambush and highjack the RTT, bringing the speeder and its cargo to the Platypus. Because they would need to remain hidden before the ambush, Zooploo rigged speeder bike scanners to allow for travel through the Rain Caves.
Tales of the Adventure
As the episode began, Khan’s agents arrived in the Iza Val system on board their Gozanti-class attack freighter. The captain updated Khan via a holo-transmission, and then ordered her crew to reconnoiter the Arcona colony before beginning landing procedures. The Gozanti flew over the Grand Nest and then banked around the Ozal Mountains before approaching the landing site. At the landing site, the crew deployed the RTT, which carried a squad of troopers, as well as the two AT-PT walkers. The AT-PTs escorted the RTT to a pre-arranged tribute collection area, where Khan’s agents exchanged salt for the ammonia that the Arcona had mined from the Rain Caves.
Concurrently, Irys and Zooploo began their covert operation to sabotage the Gozanti. They infiltrated the attack freighter and rigged the defense shields to overload if hit by an energy weapon attack. Then, they happened upon the ship’s armory, which they looted before successfully absconding. However, en route to rendezvous with their comrades on board the Platypus, Irys and Zooploo were delayed by Iza Val’s broken surface and dense jungles.
Back on board the GX1, Shee’Vona had been monitoring the exchange site and detected that Khan’s agents were completing the collection of ammonia and preparing the RTT and AT-PTs to head back toward the Gozanti freighter. This signaled that the heroes needed to leave immediately in order to intercept the RTT. Because Irys and Zooploo had not yet returned, Bacco and Martia were on their own when they launched from the Platypus on speeder bikes.
Zooploo’s modifications enabled them to drive through the darkness of the Rain Caves, where even the slightest illumination might trigger a catastrophic explosion. Nonetheless, the route was still hazardous. Martia failed to make one difficult turn, colliding with a massive stalagmite. The collision rendered her bike inoperable, and Bacco and Martia had to continue on a single speeder.
In the jungles of Iza Val, Irys and Zooploo were continuing their arduous journey when they heard to sound of the speeder and walkers approaching. The two heroes hid among the trees and vines as the vehicles drew nearer. Then, as the RTT started to pass them, they boarded it, secretly hiding on the back as it made its way toward the Gozanti.
Soon, Bacco and Martia caught up with the RTT and AT-PTs. Martia took the speeder bike’s controls, driving it toward an AT-PT. When they reach the walker, Bacco leapt onto it.
From inside the RTT, an officer notified the Gozanti captain of the attack, whereupon the captain ordered an emergency takeoff to rescue her ground crew.
Meanwhile, the RTT’s turret gun blasted Martia’s speeder bike, sending it spinning out of control. Martia barely managed to jump off safely before the bike hit a rocky outcropping and was destroyed.
Now on top of a walker, Bacco attacked the AT-PT pilot, who eventually fled the walker, which Bacco then commandeered.
In the distance, Martia began a sniper attack on the RTT, picking off troopers. Concurrently, Irys bypassed the RTT’s security system, allowing both the Bothan and Zooploo to enter the speeder and attack its crew.
In the commandeered AT-PT, Bacco fired on the second walker, critically disabling the target’s weapons, and causing its pilot to abandon the disabled vehicle.
After a difficult combat inside the RTT, Zooploo and Irys eventually took control of the speeder. Outside, the officers rallied the remaining troopers, who were still pinned down by Martia’s sniper attack.
The situation changed, however, with the arrival of the Gozanti. Now under fire from the Gozanti gunners, Martia ran to Bacco’s AT-PT.
Once Martia had boarded the AT-PT, the party fled from the attack freighter, which had stopped briefly to retrieve her ground forces.
As the heroes raced back toward the Platypus, Irys notified Shee’Vona and Caspian that they needed the ship to meet them. Shee’Vona used the ship’s sensors locate her comrades, and Caspian piloted the craft to rescue them.
Even though the RTT and AT-PT careened wildly through rocky gorges and jungle thickets, the attack freighter was soon closing fast. As the heroes crested the steep peaks of Naco Ridge, the Gozanti’s laser cannons began to shower them with barrages of deadly blast bolts. One of the bolts landed heavily on the RTT, bringing down its shields. The speeder would not be able to withstand another direct hit.
Suddenly, the cavalry appeared. Ahead, the heroes saw the Platypus rising up out of Shiln Canyon with her cargo bay doors open. In a daring, high-speed maneuver, Irys and Zooploo narrowly landed the RTT aboard the short hauler.
When Bacco attempted a similar feat, a shot from the Gozanti destroyed his walker’s main servo. The crippled AT-PT stumbled toward the edge of the canyon, about to plunge headlong into a nearly bottomless chasm. Bacco and Martia were forced to make a desperate leap from the plummeting walker. Although Martia only managed to catch the end of the boarding ramp, Bacco landed safely and heroically pulled Martia on board.
Nonetheless, the heroes were still in danger. The attack freighter’s gunners adjusted their aim, and, a moment later, a volley of blast bolts began to rock the Platypus, straining her shields.
Martia raced to the gun turret, and Bacco headed to the cockpit. As Caspian moved to co-pilot, Bacco punched the main thrusters to full power. The short hauler hurtled through Iza Val’s thick atmosphere toward the cold vacuum of space. Taking advantage of the tactical differences between the two starships, Bacco used the planet’s gravity to slow the Gozanti, which allowed the Platypus to move out of attack range momentarily.
The brief reprieve ended, however, as soon as the attack freighter cleared Iza Val’s gravity well. Once again, the Gozanti was in hot pursuit and closing fast. Her captain ordered the gunners to hold their fire until they were close enough for a target lock, confident that a mere short-range hauler would be no match for the well-armed attack ship.
At maximum speed, the Gozanti soon was close enough to engage the Platypus. Flashing targeting displays alerted the gunners that the laser cannons were ready to fire. At that moment, however, Bacco executed a gut-wrenching speed-brake reversal, coming up behind the Gozanti. Martia fired on the Gozanti, scoring a direct hit. The ship’s sabotaged shields flickered momentarily and then lost all power. Before the Gozanti gunners could reverse their orientation and return fire, Martia attacked again. This time, her shots ruptured both the oxygen and ammonia tanks, causing a massive explosion that destroyed the Gozanti instantly.
Episode Outcomes
New equipment (and the receiving team member):
- Armored clothing (Martia)
- Energy slingshot (Zooploo)
- Force pike (Bacco)
- Forensics kit (Irys)
- General-purpose scanner (Shee’Vona)
Next steps:
- Help prepare the Arcona to defend themselves
- Return to the Oseon
- Meet with Cix Trouvee
- Find buyer for the cargo
