FAE Star Wars Actual Play: The Hunt for Admiral Bayran



A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....
Star Wars: Tales of Rebellion
Episode I:The Hunt for Admiral Bayran

It is a dark time for the galaxy. The evil Emperor Palpatine has destroyed the OLD REPUBLIC  and the Jedi Knights, guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. In the Republic's place is the EVIL GALACTIC EMPIRE.

In this darkness, Senator Bail Organa secretly works against the Emperor, supporting the REBEL ALLIANCE. He has dispatched a team of Rebel Agents to Shesharile 5 in the Minor Cluster to meet with a rebel spy to see what help the Rebellion can give to that impoverished world.

Unknown to these agents, word has spread that the Admiral Bayran, a war criminal of the Clone Wars, has been hiding on the nearby forest world of Yelsain. The admiral's hidden shipyard was never found after the Clone Wars. If he could be persuaded to work with the Alliance, that shipyard could be used in the service of the Alliance....


Cast of Characters:

  • R2-C4 - Rogue Imperial assassin droid
  • Gaven Stark - Idealistic former Imperial army officer
  • Marcus Doha - Veteran Clone Trooper who has lived an active life since the Clone Wars

Scene 1: Rendezvous on Shesharile 5
A dark and stormy night. The moon Shesharile 5 is in open rebellion. Not so much against the Empire but against everything. It is filled with rage. Its economy in tatters, gangs rule the streets.

At Griff's Bar, to the sounds of angry industrial music, the rebel agents meet with Lt. Jun Chon of the Imperial Star Destroyer Magistratus. He tells them that there is likely little to be done for Shesharile 5 - Captain Zodin of the Magistratus will likely begin a full bombardment any day and the survivors will be used for slave labor. But... One bit of intelligence might have some hope. One of the gang leaders, a middle-aged Twilek woman named Akuna, was recently captured by Imperial security. In return fo her life she revealed she had shuttled the notorious Admiral Bayran to the settlement of Tavik's Landing on Yelsain. If his legendary hidden shipyard is true, perhaps it could be leveraged against the Magistratus and used in service of the Rebellion.

The agents left in a hurry as explosions rocked the streets and Imperial Stormtroopers and AT-DPs marched the street. Poor Chon was crushed by a collapsing wall. It looked grim but C4 was able to use its knowledge of Imperial procedure to bluff its way past the stormtroopers...

Interlude
Unfortunately, security was not good at the police station where Akuna was arrested. While the valuable prisoner was brought to the Magistratus, word leaked of his initial questioning. Even now bounty hunters were on their way to Yelsain to capture Bayran before Imperial Security could...

Scene 2: Skirmish at Tavik's Landing
While much of Yelsain sided with the Republic during the Clone Wars, the planet, with its rugged individualism was far from united - lacking even a capital or central government, the people of Tavik's Landing were very pro-Separatist during the Clone Wars. 

With Yelsain's lack of security (people are responsible for their own security), C4 stayed behind at their ship while the others went to the Moot, the tavern at Tavik's Landing. It was a much nicer place than Griff's. Like the rest of the Moot, it was built around one of Yelsain's gargantuan trees, high off the ground. After some talking they found themselves talking with "the Governor", the unofficial leader of the Landing. She was a middle-aged going on elderly woman who had fought against the Republic during the Clone Wars.  She was hesitant to give up anything she knew about Bayran and also figured out quickly Gaven and Marcus were once military. Their tense negotiations were interrupted by the door being kicked in by the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jodo Kast and his ally, the assassin droid IG-79 in search of Bayran. A firefight broke out. The droid tried to take the Governor hostage, thinking that would cause the Rebels to surrender and get them it and Kast the information they needed. After much fighting (including Marcus blocking a flamethrower with a table), Gaven took Kast out, his jetpack going out of control and sending him careening down to the ground far below. IG-79 calculated its odds as having diminished and departed.

The Governor began rethinking the value in keeping Bayran's secrets. And it became moot as they saw a Imperial landing craft heading towards the location of Bayran's homestead...


To be continued...


GM Notes
  • We were planning on continuing tonight (February 13) but real world (tm) has blocked that. So tune in in two weeks... (Plus time required for writeup)
  • C4-HK is inspired by both K-2SO from Rogue One and looks like one of the HK droids from Knights of the Old Republic. We'll assume the blueprints were found.
  • After playing the adventure I realized I got the name Tavik's Landing from a location in the city of Sharn from the Eberron setting for D&D. Oh well. Sounds like a good name for a settlement.
  • We've not quite specified the exact year the game takes place in, but it is pretty close to A New Hope. At some point they'll likely go visit Alderaan and see it is not there.
  • I'm making use of some stuff from my previous game set in the Minos Cluster, though I anticipate the characters will visit other locations as well. 
  • The combat using Fate was nicely dramatic and didn't feel repetitive, something I'd worried a bit about.


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