_.------------------[ Tales From the RPG of ]-------------------._ / .---------------------------------------------------------------. \ | | ______ ____________ ___ ________ | | | | / _____|____ ____| / \ | ____ \ | | | | ( (___ | | / \ | |____) ) | | | | \____ \ | | / ^ \ | __ / | | | |_______________) ) | | / /~~~\ \ | | \ \ ___________| | | _________________/ |__|__/__/ __\__\|__| \______________ | | __________ \ / / \ | ____ \ / _____________ | | | \ \ __ / / \ | |____) ) ( (___ | | | | \ \ / \ / / ^ \ | __ / \____ \ | | | | \ ` /\ ' / /~~~\ \ | | \ \ _______) ) | | | | \__/ \__/__/ \__\|__| \____________/ | | | | | | \ `---------------------------------------------------------------' / `----------------------[ The Beginning.. ]----------------------'A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
It is a dark time for the worlds once graced by the glory of the Old Republic. The Galactic Empire does not so much rule its domain as suppress it beneath a white armoured boot. With ruthless and tyrranical control, countless systems are forced to bow to the authority of Emporer Palpatine and the forces led by his champion, the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.
Yet the Empire is not invulnerable. Fresh from their great victory at the battle of Yavin, the Rebel Alliance mounts a small but growing resistance, hopelessly outnumbered, outgunned, fighting on little more than determination and hope for the restoration of the galaxy that once was. It is a guerrila war on an epic scale, in which countless heroes are made, friendships are forged, brave sentients die, and countless bands of adventurers have their own story to tell.
This is one such story.
The highsun period was hot but not dry, dry being almost a foreign term on the grassworld of Agost. Not much grass was visible from where Straun Solarwind was standing, in a wide, dusty thoroughfare just off the main street of Mol Danta. The city was one of the two capitals on the planet, and was huge by Agostine standards (it even had a starport!), but it was hard to find even one building that was taller than one story high. Urban sprawl was not a concept the locals could relate to, because it was so much a way of life here. Straun fit into the mold exactly, he had few memories of Alderaan. The wind was warm in his face, but his long, braided black hair scarcely moved, and instead hung limp down the back of the earthen brown bodysuit he wore. He hefted the six-foot, bladed Eguale prod he carried, stroked the scar on his cheek thoughtfully, and strode toward the entrance of the Retro cantina.
Inside was crowded, and filled with sentients of all descriptions and their accompanying smells and noises. Off to the left the band, a group of Squags, were hooting in placid tones designed to be as least offensive to as many races as possible. Straun was still hesitant in such situations, an Eguale farmer's life was a solitary one. Through the haze on the right he saw a burly man seated at a table, chatting in a quiet manner with a Sullustan. The human fit the description of Bokorr.
The name given him by the contact agent.
The man who could get him to the Alliance.
Straun approached warily, his manner imposing to some of the smaller life forms present. The man glanced at him indifferently.
"Bokorr?" Straun ventured.
"Could be" was the reply.
"I'm after a ticket offplanet" Straun blurted.
Bokorr slouched down and glanced around nervously, cursing under his breath the naivity of young farmboys. The only spaceports on the planet were at the capital cities (Mol Danta and Stoessel), and these were under strict Imperial control. Since Agost had been siezed for Imperial food production some five years ago few were able to get offplanet, and even fewer did so alive.
"You got the wrong person, mister. I'm a travel agent" Bokorr said, turning and muttering a few words to the Sullustan. Straun took a seat and waited.
There was a commotion at the entrance to the Retro. Through the doorway appeared the looming figure of a Wookiee, causing several beings to shuffle nervously away. Menarggrah cast his gaze around the room, settled on Bokorr, and strode to the table in three huge strides.
"Yraagghh" he said, with feeling.
"That's me" said Bokorr. "Have a seat. Didn't know a Wook was gonna be along this time". The Wookiee complied. After some time a human entered the cantina dressed in simple overalls, a strange snub-nosed blaster at his side. He pushed his way through the crowd and said loudly:
"Are you Bokorr?"
Bokorr frowned and said in a quiet voice "Yes. Sit down". Surge did, and proceeded to ignore everybody. Bokorr then glanced to the door, where a strange pair had just entered.
The first was a human, though he could have easily been mistaken for a larger being. Dar was massively muscled, had long hair and a large sword strapped across his back. A loincloth of some unfortunate creature's pelt was all he wore, contrasting to his black skin. Many of the beings in the Retro knew of his kind, but few, if any, had ever seen a Wilder out of the grass, let alone in a city.
Behind him was another human, with no less an imposing presence. The man wore an old slugthrower, an eight-gun such as was common further west in days long gone. A poncho with leather tassels rippled when he moved, and his features were partially obscured by the large hat he wore. When the two approached Bokorr's table, onlookers could hear the jingle of the electrospurs that adorned his boots. Few men looked like this in Agost, even in the galaxy, but then few men were Karlos Trialeki. Karlos ordered a drink from the bar as they passed, and they approached the table.
Bokorr nodded, and motioned them to be seated.
"Okay" Bokorr began "Here's the way it works. I'm Bokorr, this here is Biel" -he gestured to the Sullustan- "and we don't know who you are. You ain't told us, and we don't wanna know. We don't want names and we don't want trouble, or you'll have the troopers down on us".
The attention of everybody at the table was drawn to Surge by a loud crooning sound coming from the floor next to him. Surge looked down and saw that a small, pudgy alien was stroking his blaster, crooning all the while. With a solid "WHACK!" Surge gave the thing a hard backhand, sending it bowling along the floor under another table. From across the bar, a loud angry snort was heard.
A massive form arose, as big as a Gammorean, with a flat head and bigger tusks. It approached the whitening human through quickly vacated floor space and demanded of Surge:
"Okrucg buk bulr ackiiga!"
"What did he say?" Surge asked Bokorr timidly.
"I believe" Bokorr replied "it translates to something like 'why did you hit my wife'?"
The gaping Surge suddenly showed an inspired knowledge of alien languages, uttering "b-b-b-blgggghh". Seated behind where the large sentient now stood, Straun Solarwind moved the strange bladed polearm he carried, depressing a small button on the shaft as he did so.
There was a sudden "Another one who can't hold his Bikla" Bokorr defused loudly, then
dropped his voice as he regarded the five.
"Right, meet me tomorrow, same time, docking bay 47, the 'Centura Celerity'.
You late, we gone. If you need a safe house overnight..." he whispered
an address that nobody paid any attention to.
Over the course of the next hour, the group dispersed.
--\\--
"It can't be right" said Karlos
"Ayeegghh" agreed Menarggrah, presumably.
The group stood, reassembled, at docking bay 47. In front of
them was not quite what they'd expected. Okay, so maybe they hadn't
expected a luxury liner..
But they HAD expected a ship.
In front of them was a massive repulsorskiff, some forty meters
long. Although the forward cabin was enclosed, the massive deck was open
to the sky, surrounded by a one meter wall. At the rear was a large engine
raised above deck level, and two light blaster cannons flanked its supports.
On the side, written in peeling paint, was CENTURA CELERITY.
Sitting on the deck, apart from a few crates of lifters, were four
Eguale. The horse-sized mantis beasts had many uses on the flat grassworld,
ranging from mounts to beasts-of-burden to food. They had six appendages:
four for running, one sickle-arm for slicing the grass they ate, and another
to scoop it to the waiting mandibles. Straun and Karlos immediately noticed
that they sported Eguale clamps, neck-pinchers that simulated the
immobilising grip of the mother. The insectoids would sit there quite
contently for a number of hours, unless frightened or extremely hungry.
"What a beauty, eh boys?" came the sudden voice of Bokorr from
behind them "She's sleek, she's fast, she'll get us there no trouble at
all". He patted the hull of the skiff affectionately, and flakes of rust
fell away. Bokorr began hand-cranking down the loading ramp.
"What is this?" demanded Dar, the black warrior. "We want to go
OFFPLANET, not to the bladesea!"
Bokorr shot him a patient look. "Keep yer skins on, grassboy. I'm
the only one that knows the changing coordinates of a Rebel shuttle that
comes down now and then for people like you. Think I'd try to take you up
from Mol Danta? sheesh". The ramp clanged to the dirt, and he motioned
his passengers up the ramp.
Biel was already aboard, and as the group came up the ramp he
diappeared into the cabin with a Sullustan comment that sounded like
"aabubbdab". The large engine at the back coughed and fired. Bokorr
went in after the Sullustan, and easily slid the skiff out of docking
bay 47. The engine roared, and the CELERITY slid smoothly out of Mol
Danta and across the empty grassplains.
After some hours of travelling, Bokorr came out on deck,
surveying the people before him and appraising them through force of
habit. Some had a lot to learn, he thought, but the Rebs take what they
can get. It was obvious to him that a few of the group had never left
Agost in their lives- Straun was obviously an Eguale farmer, The muscled
black Wilder was probably getting vertigo from the height of the skiff,
and possibly that gunman, though he appeared to have some street-sense,
had never left the grassworld either.
"Wish we could get ridda that" he said, indicating the swathe of
flattened grass the CELERITY was leaving behind them. "Grass is back up
in an hour or so, but if a buncha Slivers cruises past they know they're
hot". His reference to the pirates was tentative, Bokorr had crossed them
before, and had lost his best axe to them (and nearly his life).
Straun said nothing, but instead studied the Eguale. He wished
Bokorr had not chosen the insectoids for his latest cargo, he was
starting to feel homesick already (though they weren't as good as some of
his mother's this season). Still, no matter what Samanti might say, he knew
he was making the right decision. He WOULD leave his home. He WOULD join the
Alliance.
He would know his father's fate.
Bokorr then sat on a crate and shifted his hat over his eyes. Surge said
nothing, his thoughts lost in both the heights of his ambition and a
twinge of shame from his past.
Dar was filled with a sense of nervous anticipation, both at
seeing new worlds and technologies and completing the task the elders had
set for him.
Menaaggrah, the Wookie, was just glad he was getting off this
dingy backwater dump at last. He set the staff he carried against the wall
surrounding the deck, and sniffed the air curiously.
Karlos Trialeki idly drew his eight-gun and spun it on his finger
without effort. He looked up at the blue sky above, and imagined the stars
beyond.
Running. He hated running.
Minds wandered..
The thoughts of all were interrupted by an unintelligible babble
in Sullustan from inside the CELERITY's cockpit. Bokorr, whom Surge had
thought was asleep by now, was through the door in moments. The others
followed, through a mixture of curiosity and interest.
In the cockpit Biel was fiddling with the controls of what was
barely discrenable as some sort of sensor apparatus. A dusty screen
surrounded by loose wiring showed several alternating images, such as
a blank screen, a few blips, static, and an irrelevant page of text.
"Damn!" Bokorr shouted. "Will this thing never work?" he gave it
a solid kick, and it fell silent with a crackling hiss and burble of melted
plasynth. "Here" he said, pulling a pair of macros from his tunic and
thrusting them at Dar. "Get up on the roof and see if he was right".
The burly native quietly complied, clambering up on the railed
platform on top of the cockpit. With the rushing wind of the speeding
skiff full in his face and the gentle rocking of the vehicle beneath him,
he scanned the macros around the horizon, stopping when he saw the three
distant shapes behind the CELERITY, closing fast.
"Pirates!"
From his vantage point atop the cabin of the CENTURA CELERITY, Dar could
just make out the three shapes far behind the craft, even with the
macrobinoculars. It was apparent that one was larger than the other two,
but no details could be discerned. What was immediately apparent to his
hunter's eye, however, was that they were gaining fast.
As he relayed this information to the group on the deck below,
Biel ran for one of the light blaster cannons at the stern. When the
Sullustan reached the cannon and found it out of his reach, he ran over
and begain vainly pulling at one of the crates until Surge manned the
cannon. Karlos, realising that the pirates were out of range of his
eight-gun, took the other. The two trained the weapons on the approaching
dots and waited.
The distance closed, and Dar started to make out some details.
There were three skiffs; two packed with people and the third was not so
much a skiff as a large archaic gun on repulsors. The figures on all the
craft seemed human or at least near-human, and armed with all manner of
weapons. Swords, needlebeamers, slugthrowers and many types of Gadderiffi
waved uselessly out of their respecive ranges, waiting for the gap to
close. Both of the smaller skiffs were also armed with light blaster
cannons, at the ready.
Menaaggrah, whom Bokorr had assumed to be very warlike, saw that
he could do no good on the deck, and went back into the cockpit of
the CELERITY. Finding a tool box on the floor, he opened it and set
to work on the sensor display.
Bokorr knew that their biggest problem was the gunskiff; a
direct hit on the CELERITY and they would all be landscape. He scanned
the horizon hopefully, spotted a large colony of tower grubs, and
headed for it.
About a meter long and half as wide, tower grubs burrow into the
ground over the course of their considerable lifespan, secreting behind
them a mucous substance that becomes hard and woody over time. Secretion
towers have been known to exceed five meters in height, though the ones
that the CELERITY was speeding for averaged about three. Still, Bokorr
thought, it might serve their purposes.
Then they were among them, and Bokorr had no time for idle
thought. He utilised all his experience in the handling of the
repulsorlift vehicle, weaving the CELERITY through spaces it seemed
it would not fit. From above, the calm voice of Dar informed him that
the three skiffs had followed them in.
The CELERITY was within range of the gunskiff now, but the
craft held its fire. The archaic cannon could not turn independantly to
the craft, and the pilot was more concerned with dodging the towers
than shooting at their prey- at the moment. The two other skiffs, being
smaller, seemed to have little trouble negotiating the strange forest.
Then the CELERITY was clear, nothing ahead but the smooth, even
plains. Surge and Karlos opened up with the cannons, now that they had
even footing, but their targets were obscured by the towers. Between the
secreted structures they could see the gunskiff clip a tower, crash into
several, and plough to a halt, one of the crewmembers flung free. The
other two skiffs zoomed free of the colony and began hammering bolts
of energy at the CELERITY.
As the gap closed rapidly, the gunners on either side exchanged
fire with enthusiasm. Surge scored a hit first, a blast that took one of
the pirates full in the chest aboard the crowded skiff on their left. The
Sliver toppled into the grass at high speed, and in moments was left far
behind.
The rest of the group crouched behind the meter-high wall that
ringed the deck of the CELERITY, and when the bolt crackled over Straun's
head he felt almost tangible relief, at least until it hit the lifter
crate behind him in a shower of sparks and sent the four large Eguale
into a terrified frenzy. Scythe-arms flailing, they milled around the
deck in panic.
As the second skiff began a sweeping approach, blaster cannon
firing, Karlos squeezed off a volley that, by luck or design, hit and
damaged its engine. As it dropped slowly astern, the pirates cursing
and waving their weapons, He left the blaster cannon and drew his
eight-gun, noticing for the first time the chittering of screaming
Eguale behind him.
Straun, ignoring the fire, stood up and attempted to take
control of the Eguale. Panicked as they were, they still recognised
his prod and kept away from him. He began to herd them to a corner as
Dar sprang down from the roof of the cockpit and landed lightly on
the deck.
Surge blazed at the first skiff again, but missed with the
unfamiliar weapon. As he steadied the blaster cannon for another shot
he noticed that one of the pirates had drawn a large tube-shaped object
and was pointing it in his direction. Behind him, he heard the There was a puff of smoke from the tube, and a small projectile
soared toward the CELERITY. It detonated some four meters above the deck
into a large grey sphere that appeared to have the consistancy of bubblegum
and was immediately swept back into the engine intake, as was its purpose.
There was a terrible
Its main engine now gummed, the CENTURA CELERITY was quickly losing its
momentum, though the repulsors that held the ship aloft were rigged
seperately and hence were undamaged. Once sufficient speed was lost, the
four Eguale leaped over the wall into the grass and proceeded to run in
random directions, chittering as they went. Over the side wall, Surge could
see the skiff that had fired the gumgun sliding away from them, its
main blaster cannon firing ineffectually. He briefly wondered why the
pirates would bother to get some distance between the two craft. Bokorr
didn't.
"Their blaster cannon has more range" He said gruffly. "Once
they get out a bit we won't be able to hit 'em and they'll pick us
off like mynocks". He instructed those manning the guns to tilt them
upward, told everone to get away from the walls, and vanished inside
the cockpit, muttering about his loss of cargo. He passed Menarggrah coming
out, rubbing his head irritably.
With a sharp "CLANG!" another two meters of blast shielding
shot up from inside the wall surrounding the CELERITY, forming an
effective three meters of solid defense.
"Better." said Bokorr, coming back to the deck with blaster
drawn. "Now they'll be forced to board. Get ready".
There was a tense few minutes of silence as the group spread
out behind the wall in the direction the skiff was last seen. There
was no need for anyone to climb to the roof of the cockpit and check its
current direction, as the more perceptive of them could hear the whine
of repulsorlift engines drawing closer from behind the wall. This was
followed quickly by the sound of magnograpplers hitting it, and grunts of
anticipation.
Then everything seemed to happen at once. Five figures appeared
at the top of the wall, all dressed in scraggly mismatched clothing with
an assortment of weapons. A spindly human with a gaderiffi swung it straight
down onto Straun's head, and the young Eguale farmer dropped to the deck
bleeding profusely from the head . A curious small creature with an
evil grin hefted a sawnoff shotgun longer than he was high. He swung it
around with a menacing "Kaladaa rowuukida!"; blasted some shot harmlessly
into the deck, and sailed out of sight with the force of the recoil,
squealing.
Karlos Trialeki was fast, but before he could react one of the
Slivers squinted his near-human eye along the top of his needlebeamer,
and squeezed off a well-aimed shot that took Karlos full in the chest.
With a grassblade's width between him and death, he crumpled to the
deck with a sucking chest wound.
Surge fired, his stubby blaster throwing out blue concentric rings
of stun energy. One of the Sliver Pirates lurched it washed over him, but
gritted his teeth and fired his slugthrower at Dar. The shot passed over
the nimble warrior's head, and (pting)ed off the wall on the other side.
Menarggrah threw his staff upward at one of the figures on the wall, and
Surge noted with interest that it was a staff no more. The weapon now
sported a shiny point that vanished into the stomach of the Sliver and pushed
him backwards off the CELERITY, accompanying another that Bokorr had just
blasted.
As Surge moved to Straun, pulling out a medpac as he did so,
another figure appeared at the top of the blast wall. The pirate was large
by human standards, and wielded a huge axe. Bokorr gasped in recognition.
Menarggrah swung at the burly human as he dropped from the wall, but
connected only lightly. The pirate leader swung his axe in a mighty sweep
that smashed into the Wookiee's chest and drove him back with a roar. Before
the leader could follow up his attack, however, his torso was transfixed
by the sword of the Wilder, Dar, and the pirate leader died without a sound.
Contrasting this was the last remaining bandit on the wall, who collapsed
with a scream as another blaster bolt from Bokorr hit him in the head.
There was a momentary silence, as the group realised that the
entire crew of the skiff had been eradicated. Dar then cleaned his sword
on a prone body and scooped a discarded needlebeamer off the deck. By this
time Biel was busy attending to the near-dead Karlos, and Surge had done what
he could for Straun. He straightened up, told Bokorr "He'll be awake in a
few minutes", then went to the back of the CELERITY and began climbing the
small ladder there toward the gummed engine. Bokorr remained silent, happy
that he had his axe back and the swine who had stolen it had paid in full.
A cough at his feet gained his attention. Straun had weakly
regained consciousness and was trying to say something. Bokorr bent over
him.
"What was that again, son?"
Straun coughed again, and wheezed.
"Listen" he said.
Bokorr did, and heard it.
The whine of repulsorlift engines.
Dar straightened as Surge shouted from aloft "The other skiff!". The
big warrior sprang to the other side wall, sword in a reverse-hand grip.
Now all of them could hear the sound of the other skiff's damaged engine
drawing toward them, revving unevenly. Menarggrah, seemingly only irritated
by his wound, stomped over to Dar. The two looked to Bokorr for ideas.
"Get ready to go for it" he said, and walked through the cockpit
door.
The skiff drew alongside warily, and the five pirates on board
were preparing to board when the CELERITY's wall dropped and their prey
boarded them first. Dar and Menarggrah landed among them, both uttering
noises in their respective languages that sounded alike.
It was a short, furious battle. Dar fought with century-old
techniques that his people had learned from watching the Eguale: his
enemies fell as the grass. Menarggrah had no weapon and needed none,
taking the Slivers down through sheer strength. With the advantage of
surprise the fight was over in seconds. Menarggrah waved victoriously
to Surge (who had almost finished cleaning the engine), and heard a
distant (poomph).
With an enourmous explosion the first skiff was hit directly
amidships and went up like a bomb, raining metal shards, grass and turf
onto the deck of the CELERITY. Dar glanced back the way they had come,
saw the gunskiff barely three hundred meters away, and closing fast.
The deck beneath him lurched suddenly, and for an insane moment
he thought they had been hit, but once he gained his footing he spun
and saw that Menarggrah had taken the controls. The Wookiee pointed to
the skiff's gun, and though Dar knew not a yowl of Wookiee, the meaning
was clear.
Surge, halfway down the ladder, threw caution to the wind and
dropped the rest of the way. A shout from Straun had already informed
Bokorr of the engine's restored status, and with a slur it came to life.
The CELERITY sprang forward and began gaining speed, leaving the scene
of their earlier battle behind them. The gunskiff, however, had much
greater speed and was closing the gap rapidly.
"Har, Har, Har!" laughed Gik. There were few things he loved
more than to have victims on the run from his skiff-mounted cannon. This
chase was particularly interesting, he thought, and the reward would be
sweeter, as the pilot of the huge rustbucket they were after had managed to
force him into a grub tower.
The other two, working the loader and skiff controls, gave him the
thumbs-up again, and he fired the huge gun once more. This shot went to the
left of the CELERITY, fountaining grass where the second small skiff had
been seconds before. Gik corrected to the right, not wanting to risk hitting
his comrades, and noted that the second skiff was coming back toward them.
He begain to think of possible reasons when the puzzle was solved as Dar
opened up with the blaster cannon. The gunskiff pilot swerved, ducking as
he did so, and Gik's next shot went wide. The loader slammed another shot
in the breech and reached for his blaster carbine.
Though armoured, the gunskiff was sluggish. It was usually used in
battle protected by the other two skiffs, and now those were gone (worse yet,
one of them was attacking!). Dar ignored the retaliatory shots and kept firing.
Though he had never used such weapons before, his persistance paid off and
he was rewarded with a few minor hits on the gun itself before another
of his shots hit one of the repulsors. The gun began to tilt on an angle,
still at full throttle. As the pilot fought with the controls at high
speed, Gik realised he would have one more shot at the fleeing CELERITY.
Brow wrinkling in concentration, he depressed the firing stud.
From Dar's perspective, the gunskiff leaped into the ground.
The massive recoil of the gun was too much for the tilting skiff
to carry, and as the cannon roared the repulsorless corner of the vehicle
clipped the grassy surface. At its top speed, the gunskiff cartwheeled to
destruction.
Slightly over an hour later, Bokorr throttled back, the skiff
alongside matching his movements. He pointed up through the transparisteel,
to where Straun could faintly make out two dots dropping from the blue. They
swelled rapidly in size and became two ships; a sleek Lambda-class shuttle
that folded its wings placidly and came to rest lightly on the flat ground
in front of the CELERITY, and the magnificent sight of a Rebel Alliance X-Wing
that broke off and circled a wide perimeter.
Bokorr lowered the giant cargo skiff's main ramp, and the group filed
down it (Dar and Menarggrah jumping from the other skiff). Karlos, carried
by Surge and Straun, had regained consciousness, but was in no shape to do
any more than exist. The ramp on the shuttle hissed downward, and two Rebel
troopers appeared cautiously. Then another figure, dressed in pilot's fatgues,
strode casually down the ramp and addressed Bokorr warmly.
"Top job, Ace. Any trouble?" he added the query with concern, noting
the dressings on Karlos, Straun and Menarggrah.
"Nothing we couldn't handle" Bokorr said offhandedly. He then
shook each of his passengers' hands in turn, wishing them good luck and
thanking Menarrgrah for fixing his sensor screen. He looked at the other
skiff and mentally priced it compared to his lost cargo.
"Welcome aboard, boys!" said the pilot. "My name's Greer, and you've
made the right decision. Verm, slap some cred on the man with the sled.."
Minutes later Agost dropped beneath them, a fascinating sight for
Straun, Karlos and Dar. Soon, however, all eyes were cast upward.