Episode I - Relics of the Past
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….
Star Wars Legacies
Episode I
Relics of the Past
Over a century after the defeat of Palpatine’s Evil Galactic Empire, a new Empire has arisen from its ashes, bringing the Galactic Alliance to its knees.
The Taina Sector, ruled by Queen Rayna of the Tarheena Dynasty, has pledged its loyalty to the Empire. To cement this relationship, her son, Prince Kathon, is to be married to Duchess Jain of the Imperial family.
To present his bride with a suitable wedding gift, Prince Kathon has dispatched a team to retrieve an artifact from the demon moon of Dxun…
Cast – Caleb, HK-69, Maya Fleet, Muppet, Q2-6L
Prelude 1 – Several weeks after Order 66
As part of their efforts to rescue Adigo, Maya Fleet and her companions had managed to infiltrate the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. After recovering Adigo from Kamino, they had an opportunity to go over the data. Among it was information regarding lost Jedi treasures. Wanting to keep them out of the hands of the Emperor, they headed to the planet Ossus, the location of the Jedi Temple until the Sith wars some four thousand years ago which rendered the planet near-uninhabitable.
After an initial flyover they split up to cover different ruins. Maya found her way to an underground map room near the main library. She was no expert on Jedi or Sith lore, having only been introduced to the Jedi arts a few weeks previously, but it sure looked like it was designed to point the way to a Sith tomb on the moon Dxun. She lowered herself into the map room – its floors were carved to represent the surface of Dxun – or at least a portion of it. She pulled out her datapad to note the locations but before she could make any progress the entire room trembled – an earthquake. An enormous stone statue landed atop the entrance above her. She instinctively reached for her blaster, then holstered it. A portal on the far side of the room glowed with a green energy. She approached it. She saw strange flashes from within – space stations capable of destroying planets, alien invaders from another galaxy, worlds exploding. The ground shook again, as pieces of the ceiling began falling down. With little choice she ran into the portal and knew no more for 151 years…
Prelude 2 – The Present Day, 151 years later
Caleb joined the Jedi Order to probe the deeper mysteries of the Force. He was a disappointment to his wealthy family on Naboo and they were more than happy to be rid of him. He excelled in his lessons, but his teachers always reminded him that a Jedi’s knowledge was not a secret, but rather designed to be used. Caleb always assumed that some day he would desire that – but that day came sooner than he would have liked.
The war against the Empire had not been going well. Once it had been reduced to a few backwater sectors – a shadow of what it had once been, probably unable to sustain a war against the Hutts or the Corporate Sector Authority, much less the mighty New Republic. That all changed twenty years after the death of Palpatine. The Yuuzhan Vong invaded from outside the galaxy. Seemingly invisible to the Force and wielding a never before seen form of biotechnology, they terrorized the galaxy for several years, destroying entire worlds and going so far as to take Coruscant from the New Republic. The Republic itself was disbanded, replaced by the Alliance. The Alliance, allied with the Empire, eventually defeated the invaders. But the war caused many to question whether Palpatine’s Empire would have had such a difficult time fighting back the invasion. Over the next several decades, many worlds began going over to the security of theEmpire, as ruled by the Fel Dynasty. While far from a democracy, the Fel-ruled Empire was also far from Palpatine’s despotic regime, aided by Emperor Fel I’s “Victory Without War” initiative.
War finally came during the rule of Emperor Roan Fel. Allied with the reformed Sith Order, the Empire waged a three-year campaign against the Alliance. Coruscant itself had just recently fallen. Emperor Fel ordered the Jedi on Coruscant to surrender and pledge their loyalty to the Imperial Knights. Some did – the remainder fell back to their Temple on Ossus.
On Ossus, plans were made to withdraw, with a priority to get the younglings and padawans offworld. Caleb was part of a team to finish gathering information from various archeological digs and then get away. Unfortunately, the Jedi were betrayed and the Imperial invasion fleet, let by the sinister Darth Krayt and his Sith followers, arrived earlier. Caleb found himself trapped in the very same map room Maya had been in 151 years earlier…
Meanwhile, on Taina, Prince Kathon learned of the map room through the Tarheena royal family’s intelligence assets. He hired the Defel acquisitions expert Muppet along with his two droids, Q2-6L and HK-69, to find the map room and use it to retrieve the Sith artifacts. He claimed it was to provide his bride for a suitable wedding gift, but the prince was notorious for his eccentric and often dangerous whims. However, the Tarheena family was also rich and able to pay. And the fact that the Sith might not allow this mission to proceed make it all the more dangerous…
Part I – Played July 13, 2006
The Sith indeed did not welcome tourists on Ossus. Muppet performed the Han Solo maneuver and hid his small vessel on a larger authorized transport and made landing near the Great Library on Ossus. A fleet of Star Destroyers and squadrons of fighters testified how difficult leaving was going to be.
Meanwhile, in the map room Caleb found what had been an empty archway glowing an eerie green light. A woman in her twenties emerged from it, armed with a blaster pistol and lightsaber. After several minutes of circling one another, they determined they were not hostile to one another – and that the woman, Maya Fleet, had somehow found her way 151 years into her future. While they were discussing their situation, the rubble above them shifted as Muppet and his team opened the map room. They were a little nervous the two beings down below were potential Sith, though they seemed to be persuaded by the green lightsabers the two had. However, not knowing these two from Darth Vader, Q2 asked if there might not be an extra one that could suffice as payment…
As the discussions went on, a small squad of stormtroopers arrived and opened fire. Q2 dropped a rope down to help Maya and Caleb up while HK and Muppet held off the stormtroopers. After a little trouble securing the rope, Maya and Caleb managed to escape and the whole team ran to Muppet’s ship.
Running the blockade was not the easiest thing in the world. Maya took the controls – though more comfortable in the cockpit of a fighter, she had found in dozens of engagements in the Clone Wars and managed to weave through the blockade in time for Muppet to make the calculations for the jump into hyperspace to the Onderron System, home of the Demon Moon of Dxun…
HoloNet News
Jedi Stronghold of Ossus Taken; Imperial Victory Complete
Ossus, Auril Sector; 165:05:12
A spokesperson for Moff Rulf Yage confirmed that Imperial troops have occupied the planet Ossus and taken the Jedi temple. “Just two days after the capture of Coruscant the valiant Imperial navy easily broke through the defensive lines around Ossus and landed troops. After a brief battle the temple was taken.”
Unclear at this time is the fate of the Jedi order, two days after their refusal to submit to Imperial authority and merge with the Imperial Knights. With the surrender of the Galactic Alliance and the defeat of the Jedi Knights, Emperor Fel is expected to announce a cessation of hostilities shortly.
Part II – Played July 27, 2006
Prelude –
The Eagle-5 leapt into hyperspace, shaking loose the pursuit of the Imperial fighters pursuing her. Aboard the Star Destroyer Tremayne Captain Tyr barks orders for navigation officers to chart every possible destination based on Eagle’s last known trajectory. “Never mind Captain,” a prematurely aged voice crackles at him. It comes from a dark-cloaked woman of indeterminate age – indeed the color of her skin looks as if she is already a corpse. Her bone-white head is draped by rope-like tangles of hair.
“Lady Phage?” He was fairly certain he heard her correctly but was nervous that she would take her anger out on him in typical Sith fashion.
“I already know their destination. Subtlety is required now captain. Leave them to me…”
Dxun orbited its parent Onderon dangerously close. Technically a moon, Dxun was more like a sibling than a child of Onderon. Occasionally their atmospheres would intermingle, allowing some of the horrid winged beasts of Dxun to visit its gentler neighbor. Though out of the way, great events of galactic history had taken place in the system – the Sith had risen from the ashes twice in this system, both times when they had been thought destroyed.
Maya tried her best for a gentle landing on Dxun, but the winds and approaching snow storm made it difficult and required a few bounces before their ship stabilized... They landed on a plateau near the mountaintop Sith tomb. They had a bit of a journey ahead of them – across a narrow bridge and a long climb up the mountain. The bridge proved tricky – two droids who weren’t really meant for narrow balancing acts.
They tried reaching the tomb before a snow storm arrived, but to no avail. They sought shelter in a cave inhabited by primitives who greeted them by shooting an arrow at Maya’s face. Caleb thought diplomacy might be in order but the rest of the group disagreed, favoring aggressive negotiations instead. They found a nonfunctioning medical droid – 9-1B. Q2-6L managed to patch it together. 9-1B explained that he had arrived on Dxun over 150 years ago with a Republic expedition that failed – indeed some of the primitives were descendents of the explorers. The primitives had just been wounded in their manhood ritual against one of Dxun’s many predators and they were working to reactive him – the primitives could briefly revive him with solar energy cells. After the storm subsided 9-1B showed them an easier path to the mountaintop.
On their way up our heroes drove away a flying beast. The tomb itself was protected by sealed doors and a combination lock accessible only by use of the Force. Caleb had to manipulate the lock with the assistance of Q2. Once in the tomb they managed to avoid a Sith-sword trap and reached a circular antechamber with many pillars and a central pool of acid. And of course zombies – lots of Sith zombies, which our heroes managed to dispatch, albeit with great diffuiculty.
All that remained was the main chamber of the tomb…
HoloNet News
Coup Declared on Coruscant
Imperial City; Coruscant 165:05:14
Darth Krayt, Lord of the Sith, indicated through a spokesman that he has assumed the position of Emperor with the support of Moff Council. Upon taking the throne, Emperor Krayt was reported to say “The galaxy writhes in chaos and disorder. It requires a man of vision. I am that man of vision. I am the new emperor."
Part III – Played August 10, 2006
Getting the sarcophagi open was no easy feat, but once done they saw it had the trinkets desired – a ring and an amulet. Both strong in the Dark Side of the Force. Also in the chamber was a Sith Holocron – a polyhedral artifact containing the memories and personality of a Dark Lord of the Sith.
In short order however Muppet also had the memories and personality of a Sith Lord – apparently one of the artifacts had the spirit of a Sith Lord. Pulling a lightsaber to him with the force, he ignited its red blade and swung at Caleb, who absorbed a powerful blow – just short of limb-severing power fortunately. Our heroes didn’t want to hurt Muppet, but several stun blasts were ineffective. Finally Caleb, lacking knowledge of Sith rituals, tried using a Jedi mind trick to convince the Sith Lord to leave. Amazingly it worked. Fortunately too, as it cost Caleb the last of his reserves – he fell to the floor of the tomb unconscious. Maya roused him to consciousness with a medpac. Then our heroes began their long and dangerous climb down the mountain back to their ship, taking the Sith artifacts with them. As they neared the bottom the picked up the repaired 9-1B.
About a kilometer away from their ship they saw another ship had landed – a Firespray-39 design. A Kerestian Sith warrior was blocking the bridge. Uncertain how to proceed, they were amazed to see a goat charging at him – a Sith-spirit-possessed goat which transferred its spirit to the Kerestian – a rough day for a long-slumbering Sith spirit – a brief visit to Muppet, followed by a Dxun goat. It did seem happier in a humanoid body that had no Jedi friends to drive it out. Unfortunately, this happy spirit took its new body to the first ship it came across – which was not its host’s Firespray but a slightly closer Freighter – Muppet’s Eagle 4… Our heroes were rather sad as they watched it fly off…
Fortunately, the Firespray wasn’t too hard to break into – HK-69 offered to blast it open but Q2-6L managed to open the doors. A jet-black R2-unit greeted them – which our heroes responded to with a restraining bolt. The droid apparently had a message for the departed Sith warrior. A hologram of Darth Phage –
“Emperor Fel has been dealt with. After you complete your mission on Dxun you will proceed to Taina where you will arrest Princess Jain, a distant relative of the Emperor. You will deliver her to Darth Maladi on Coruscant. Her freedom can disrupt Lord Krayt’s plans.”
Not that our heroes were particularly loyal to the Empire under Fel – indeed some of them were from the Alliance. But this whole operation could cause problems since Jain was supposed to marry the Prince Kathon Tarheena… And Kathon was supposed to be paying them. And maybe he would pay some more for the assistance. Especially since Caleb was rather insistent about not delivering Sith artifacts to some Imperial royalty…
Most tour guides described Taina with words like “beautiful”, “idyllic”, “reminiscent of old Alderaan”. Villages and cities nestled in mountain ranges, mountaintop palaces, gondola rides, repulsortrains connecting the cities. Of course those guides usually ignored some of the damage to Taina from numerous civil wars – the Taina sector had many factions and often had trouble electing its governor and senator – which every once in a while would lead to civil war – the nastiest about 150 years ago during the Clone Wars when half of the sector were loyalists and the other half were separatists. With the capital being evenly divided as well.
Our heroes managed to avoid questioning from X-wing militia fighters by transmitting an Imperial security code that encoded within their ship. Their plans for stealth met with a slight hiccup when an agent of the prince met them shortly after landing at Venellia City – he wanted to meet with them at the High Tower Casino.
Prince Kathon was waiting for them in a private room in the casino. He was a cloaked figure whose speech mannerisms were reminiscent of Emperor Palpatine. They also learned he was completely blind, his eyes having been destroyed in assassination attempt some years previous. Rather than use cybernetics, he turned to the Force – for your eyes can deceive you – don’t trust them. Prince Kathon indicated that he had foreseen the fall of the Jedi Temple on Ossus – whether he hired Muppet or not, the Sith would have found their way to the tomb on Dxun. By hiring Muppet he was able to stop the artifacts from getting into the hands of the Sith – Prince Kathon considered himself loyal to the Empire, but to the Empire under Fel, not the Sith. His bride-to-be had been imprisoned by his mother, Queen Rayna. She was always one to sense which way the political wind was blowing and if Princess Jain was to be sacrificed, then Queen Rayna would have no problem with that at all. However, the Princess was part of the Fel family – albeit a distant member. If our heroes could rescue her, she would be able to provide assistance in the struggle against Darth Krayt’s Empire…
Prince Kathon was able to get them into the royal palace and into an audience with the queen. Maya had helped Caleb disguise himself as a Sith – hopefully Queen Rayna would not know who to expect. The disguise seemed to work well and they were able to deflect the Queen’s request for identification with a Jedi mind trick. The Queen took them down to the dungeons, where Princess Jain, a fully trained Imperial Knight, was imprisoned in an energy field above a bottomless pit. As they took the elevator back up the entire complex shook and the elevator lost power. Q2-6L restored emergency power and chatted with the palace central computer – apparently the Star Destroyer Tremayne had arrived and was most unhappy to hear of the “Sith” who was retrieving the princess. Their disguise rapidly fading in usefulness, HK-69 was finally able to show his knowledge of assassination protocols and eliminate the Queen. As TIE Phantoms assisted in the bombardment, Maya took an X-Wing and the rest, along with Kathon and Jain, escaped in the Firespray. Weaving their way past the Imperial blockade the jumped to hyperspace and safetly…
HoloNet News
Orbital Bombardment Destroys All Cities on Taina
Taina Obital City, Taina Sector 165:05:16
In retribution for sheltering members of the Fel family, the Star Destroyers Tremayne, Piett, Veers, and Tarkin launched a massive orbital bombardment, effectively leveling all major cities on Taina. A blockade has been instituted around the planet. The Imperial Information Office indicated that “it is regrettable that the elites of Taina had chosen to subject their people to such suffering to protect known terrorists. The planet has been blockaded for the protection of the remaining rural populace who will be taken care of by the military forces orbiting the planet.”
