Session 7 - The Secret Mine

35:2:6 - 08:22 - Let's call this a non-school day for Dash

The team receives an emergency code over the comms to report to the back entrance of The Reactor Core. When most of the team assembles, Marv quickly distributes the briefing to those with datapads.

“Where's Swift?” someone asks. Swift has actually been captured by a Human League terrorist cell - see his journal - because he is seen as an alien sympathizer (due in no small part to recent INN articles.

“Good question,” Marv replies. “I can't get him on the comms, but this is a time-sensitive mission straight hot off the press from Compatriot. The longer we wait, the harder this becomes. Dash - I assume you brought your speeder with the fancy 'new' sidecar? We'll also need our requisitioned police speeder and a volunteer pilot - Vinny's away. You all need to get to Sobrik ASAP. Take a quick look through the mission - any questions?”

---

Fox has also not answered his comms, and only gets the message after the following exchange; he catches up with the group later.

Fox is in the area of his Den when he is approached by 5 large thugs; two Gamorreans, two brawny humans, and a twi'lek missing one lekku. The Twi'lek speaks. “Sabik has discovered some interesting news regarding your people. Thought you might be interested in a trade. We need equipment - industrial stuff; mining, manufacturing, or weaponry. Mining's a priority - we have some plans for our base and…”

One of the humans kicks him in the knee. “Shaddup, B'ink. Da boss don't like singin'.” He turns to Fox. “If youse gets us enough top-notch stuff, youse gets da info and we call our marker clean.”

B'ink adds, “That means we're even - no worries about that little misunderstanding with the explosives and killing.” His eyes have a peculiar glint.

---

Sprend, Dash, Tor, and Damaria head out immediately, deciding not to wait for the missing group members. In Sobrik, Sprend manages to sneak past the guards at the entrance as Dash reconnects with an old acquaintance who was recently transferred from his parents' factory.

In Sobrik, they meet up with “the best guide in Sobrik”, Sam, at the Gearshift Vortex, and hire him to guide them through the Gorinth Canyon. While Damaria is negotiating with him, Dash talks to a scout trooper who is a custom bike fanatic. It turns out this scout trooper is on his way to reinforce the defence of a recently departed convoy since the terrorist threat level was raised to “orange” - precisely the convoy the team was looking for. Tor manages to take a picture of the trooper's bike's nav computer, which provides a rendezvous point - Spectacle Rock.

They arrive at a decent campsite just before dark, and decide to go hunting instead of pushing forward and catching the convoy before morning. Tor stays behind. Sam and Sprend have a friendly hunting competition, and end up killing two “mythical” huge centipede-like monsters Sam calls “The Bitiminsch” - as Damaria tries shooting, she misses, but in doing so realizes these are sentient creatures, and mentions it to Sprend.

On their way back to the campsite, they hear horribly creepy howls, and begin running when they hear a frantic Tor shouting into his comm. Their site is under attack by strange predatorial hyena-like creatures. Tor manages to kill one of the vicous beasts, but falls as a pack starts chewing his leg. Damaria and Dash defend him and kill off the rest of the pack inside their cave, while Sprend and Sam quickly take down the huge alpha-male outside.

During the night, Fox arrives with the van, with no explanation of why he was late, but the party was happy to see him. They all leave late in the morning, recovering from the attack, and arrive at Spectacle Rock at around 10 am.

The convoy is there… burning. After much scouting and successful sneaking, the party finds out that the group had been raided early this morning, and their mining equipment stolen. Many of the slaves had been killed, but the troopers managed to drive off the raiders.

As the group began questioning the troopers and helping the wounded, Sprend walked inside the crawler transport housing most of the healthy slaves. Suddenly he found himself under attack - the Twin Tails were under cover, and recognized him!

Things went poorly when the party tried several plans at once - Fox pretended to be an ISB agent (which the Tails thought he was anyway) and shot Sprend in the back. Damaria managed to get some of the slaves on their side, and they subdued some of the Imperial troopers, but when Sam obeyed the Imperial orders to stop the group, the fight soon ended with most of the party unconscious, Dash barely escaping in a scout trooper speeder, and Fox feeling horrible but past suspicion and free.

He had cuffed Damaria, but left them loose enough for her to get free once locked inside the transport along with the other slaves who had revolted. She discovered a surprising ally - another undercover operative, this time an INN investigative reporter, Renee Wazertiz, whom she had met at the Imperial banquet days before. It turns out she was investigating the missing Twi'leks, and had managed to infiltrate the convoy with a long-range comm. Damaria immediately contacted Dash, and came up with a plan to jam all comms, knowing the party had left another long-range comm in a speeder. Damaria also contacted Marv, who said he would try to send help as quickly as possible, but the distance was great; probably midnight if a team was assembled quickly and traveled straight through.

Dash complied, and then set out to watch the convoy. He was severely wounded, but Fox managed to smuggle out the medkit and some water to him without notice. After a run-in with one of the raiders, Dash discovered the convoy had been attacked by an anti-alien group, the Human League. The raider rode off on a Bantha, back to the Southwest. Meanwhile Sam took Dash's speeder, heading back to Sobrik, likely going for help since all comms were jammed.

Fox, Damaria, and Dash decided to wait until nightfall to attempt a rescue/escape. Fox stimmed up Tor and Sprend, who had still been unconscious, and with most of the Imperials sleeping after a rough day, Fox easily overpowered them with his shock gloves and freed Damaria and the slaves. Unfortunately, as they crept off towards their bikes, the raiders returned with screams and blaster fire.

With the sounds of dying Twi'leks, Duros, and other slaves in their ears, they managed to rescue as many as they could in the van, and left a parting gift for the Human League - the 3 crates of explosives lit of the night sky, banthas flying through the air, as they were ignited.

A dark night…

10 XP for discovering the convoy

3 XP for fending off the hyenas before they destroyed their transportation (vicious fellows)

2 XP for discovering the Twin Tails

5 XP for getting the coordinates to the mine (on the Imperial Speeder)

4 XP for discovering the raiders were the Human League and setting up the explosive trap during the second raid

=24 total XP

*Remember, with Sam gone, payment isn't necessary… except you already paid part up front, and Sprend let Sam keep the pearls from the sentient centipedes - although those may still be at the campsite, if you have the stomach for keeping them).

To be rewarded after next session