Vagrant Hearts (Season 1: Complete), The Smuggler's War (Writing: Episode VII)

[masshysteria]

Tam is getting anxious. The longer this takes, the greater his chance of getting caught. He straighten his uniform and glances down to the three beings below him. Kaldo has been doing his best to fill in Tam over the din of the prison.

"Rowintha, you're going to need to convince this Salvok you're worth adding to his retinue." Tam says, "Make contact with Nali and make sure she's ready to move. I'll start working on a distraction."



For Toth distraction is really a synonym for explosion. He races back to the Vagrant Heart after being speaking to Tam over his com link.

"Is everything OK?" Asks Xule, when she sees the Bothan enter the ship.

"We've found Hull and Nali. Go grab a bag from the hold and some primers. Then meet me back in my quarters." Toth replies.

A puzzled look crosses Xule's face, but she's been with the crew long enough to not question the wisdom of odd requests.

Xule arrives back at the Bothan's quarters to see him preparing a series of det charges. Toth finishes up, takes the bag and shovels in the explosives. Xule cringes as they clatter together.

"I'm going to need you for this next part." The Bothan hands a pass card to an even more nervous princess, "Set!"

The Jawa runs into sight swinging his ion gun back and forth and lets loose a string of Jawa. The Threepio voice translates, "My master says he is ready for action."

"Good." Toth replies. "Set, the ships is yours. Just don't tear anything apart, we're going to need to get outta here in a hurry."

Jawa and more disembodied Threepio, "My master assures you the ship will be in perfect operating condition."

"Oh, and do something with those stunned Imps while I'm gone, would you?"



Tam stares back at the stromtrooper's helmet, the black areas where the eyes would be. The trooper has been watching Tam since his return from his "inspection" with the bag. The starring contest is broken by the signal that the next mining shift is to begin. The stormtrooper turns to watch the gate rise and the prisoners file out.

Tam removes a det charge from the bag and hides it under the computer console. He then walks out onto the catwalk and heads to the next guard tower.



Kaldo, Rowintha, Hull, and the rest of the prisoners trek deeper into the mines until the group arrive at their designated work area. Hull and Rowintha reach for the same tool. Hull pushes the Wookie and the Wookie pushes back. Hull pushes harder and Rowintha pushes him into another prisoner. On queue, Kaldo yells, "Fight!"

The other prisoners form a circle around around the human and Wookie. They start jeering and cheering as Hull launches into an attack. Rowintha lets a few of the blows graze her before fighting back. The Wookie roars and and start throwing punch after punch. Hull lets them hit him and staggers and falls to the ground. Rowintha roars triumphantly as Hull drags himself away.

Kaldo pulls Hull back to his feet as the prisoners go back to work.

"Even when she pulls punches, it still hurts." Hull complains as he rubs a shoulder.

"Look," Kaldo says and nods as one of Salvok's pit fighters approaches Rowintha.



Tam has finished his rounds and is standing out above the pen with the bag resting at his feet when the prisoners return from the mines. Kaldo stops under him and Tam give the bag a nudge. It falls from the catwalk into the Duros' outstretch arms.

"Tonight, when the gates open for the night shift." Kaldo says just loud enough for Tam to hear.

 

[masshysteria]

GM Commentary

My memory is really fuzzy as to the actual sequence of events leading up to the prison break. And unfortunately my notes are completely blank in this section. I was pulling from the Kessel mini adventure in the Scum & Villainy book.

As a result, I probably got a number of details wrong. But the players definitely took on the roll of the heroes and did their best despite walking into the most infamous prison in Star Wars.

 

[masshysteria]

A massive Wookie fist slams on the door to Salvok's quarters. A Gotal opens the door and leers at Rowintha.

"That's the one I was talking about." Says a thug from deeper in. "The Wookie beat up that human that caused us trouble."

It's enough to get Rowintha in. The Gotal steps aside.

"This way," The thug says, "Salvok will want to see you."

The thug gestures Rowitha to follow and she can't help but notice the Gotal trailing behind. The distance isn't far, living quarters in Kessel are small even for overseers.

Rowintha immediately knows who Salvok is. Who else would sit on a raised wooden chair as if it were a throne and hold a piece of pipe like a scepter?

"You beat up that human, Hull." Salvok begins.

Rowintha notices from the corner of her eye, other pit fighters filtering into the room.

"For that, I like you."

The fighters seem to be forming a loose semi-circle around her.

"But do you really think you can fight for me?"

Rowintha answers with a growl and sees the fighters cracking knuckles and loosing up shoulders.

"Then let the initiation begin!" Salvok proclaims.

The first fighter, a Devorian launches himself at Rowintha, but she saw it coming. Side stepping, she gives the Devorian a push and sends him into the Gotal attacking from behind. She doesn't look for confirmation, but instead hears the crash as she sends a third pit fighter spinning to the ground with a sweeping right hook. The thug takes a knee to the stomach and then both hands drill into his back sending him flying to the floor. A human rushes Rowintha, grabbing her around the waist. The Wookie reaches down and lifts the man off his feet. His grip breaks and Rowintha holds him over her head. He gives a whimper and is sent sailing across the room into the far wall.

Rowintha turns and gives Salvok a hard stare. Salvok presses his back against the chair, a grimace on his face. Around him pit fighters groan and writhe on the floor.

"Um, new strategy, let the Wookie win." Salvok manages.

Rowintha howls, snatches the pipe from Salvok's had and clocks him over the head.



Kaldo follows Rowintha back into Salvok's place. He takes one look around and whistles to himself.

"Remind me not to make you mad." Kaldo says and then reaches into the bag. He pulls out the last two det charges and tosses them to Rowintha. "You know how to use these right?"

Rowintha gives a condescending growl.

"Just checking." Kaldo says a little too quickly. "Um, I'll get those two and head to the gate."

Kaldo gathers up Hull and Nali and ushers them out and toward the gate.

Rowintha holds the det charges and gives one of the semi-conscious pit fighters a kick. He looks up and she shoves a det charge near his face and gestures to the doors. The fighter understands and begins gather up his comrades. Rowintha finishes planting the charges and heads toward the gate.



From the shadows near the security door Tam watches the gate grind open. At its peak, he presses the detonator. The cell block turns into chaos. Explosions ring out from all the guard towers. Prisoners turn on one another, while others try to escape.

"This way!" Tam shouts to the four figures fleeing from the scene.

 

[masshysteria]

Tam ushers the four through the door then jumps in behind. The muffled sound of a klaxon reaches Tam's ears.

"Go!" Tam shouts. "The lock down's started."

The group races through the service corridor and into the rough stone walls of the shaft. Toth, slows as he sees two figures slumped near a recess in the wall. He draws his blaster, bringing it to bear. Toth chuckles at the scene of two stripped and bound Imperials, a little drool coming from the mouth of one of them.



Kaldo is first on the ship, he dashes to the cockpit and vaults over the back of the pilot's chair. With hurried precision he begin the take off procedure. The light freighter's repusorlifts, win the battle against gravity and Kaldo guides the ship upwards. Tam slumps into the co-pilot's chair and begins scanning the scopes.

"That didn't take long." Tam announces, "TIE's incoming!"

"I'm on it." Toth shouts over his shoulder as he runs to the turbo lasers. He stops, turns on his heel, and heads to the galley.



Outside the viewscreen, a maze of black holes create a massive gravity field keeping any ship from making the jump to hyperspace. A perfect net for Star Destroyers and TIE fighters to trap smugglers. Kaldo hands glide over the controls.

"Give me vectors on the Imps, Captain." He calls out, then almost to himself, "I've always wanted to make the Kessel Run."

 

[masshysteria]

Toth bursts in to the galley and looks down on a startled Nali and Hull. "Can you shoot?"

"Me?" Manages Hull.

"Anyone!" Shouts Toth.

"Yeah, yeah, I can." Hull replies.

"Good, because we aren't out of this one yet!"

With Hull in tow, Toth scrambles back to the turbo lasers. The Bothan finishes powering up the weapons as green laser fire bounces off the YT-2000's shields. Before Tam can say anything Toth whines into the comm link, "I know, I know."



"Star Destroyers are launching TIE's at oh-two-four, oh-two-nine, and oh-four-eight." Tam calls out.

"Got it!" Kaldo calls back. He kicks in the engines and puts the Vagrant Heart on a trajectory straight at the nearest wave of TIE's.



The TIE fighters rush into the smuggler ship's turbo laser fire.

"I got one, I got one!" Yells Hull.

"Don't get cocky, kid." Toth growls as he finishes off another fighter. He slams his left shoulder into the gunner's chair, swinging around to track an interceptor hot on their heels. Lining up the shot he exhales and fingers the trigger. The shot is interrupted as Toth feels his stomach rise in his chest and watches as the star field spins wildly around him.



"We're in the Star Destroyer's range!" Tam shouts. "Get those shields back up!"

Rowintha howls and races to the engine room to reroute power.

"Kaldo, do something." Tam implores.

Kaldo dodges more laser fire and then throws the light freighter into a steep bank.

"Hah, follow that!" Kaldo challenges.

"I don't think they will," Tam answers, "we're headed for a black hole!"

 

[masshysteria]

The hum of turbo laser fire pulses through the Vagrant Heart. Toth and Hull work to keep the Imperials at bay.

"They're not breaking off!" Toth shouts through the comm link.

"Hang on!" Comes the answer back from Kaldo.

The Duros points the light freighter directly at the black hole. He revs up the engines and holds course. Just as the gravity field begins pulling the YT-2000, he slams the controls and uses the momentum to slingshot out. The TIE fighters are too weak to follow the move. One by one, they are sucked into the singularity, imploding due to the extreme gravity.

"Now to get out of here." Kaldo says.

The smuggler ship is faster than the Star Destroyers. It doubles back, drawing the Star Destroyers deeper into the net they cast. Then Kaldo makes a break for it. Flirting with disaster, over and over again, he skims the gravity fields of the Maw. The large ships can't keep up.

"One last Star Destroyer to get past." Kaldo says between gritted teeth. "Start the astrogation calculation."

Tam swings around to the navi computer and begins running the numbers. The viewscreen lights up red. Turbo laser salvos from a white wedge, the last barrier to freedom. Kaldo slips the ship starboard, following up with a spinning dive. He pulls out just meters above the Star Destroyers plating, dodging defensive towers and sensor emplacements.

"Rowintha, sheilds now!" Kaldo yells.

The Wookie gives a howl and reroutes power. The Vagrant Heart races past the Star Destroyer, getting caught in the larger ship's engine wash. The shields fight off the immense energy and the ship rockets free.

"Hyperspace, now!" Tam orders as he finishes the calculation.

The stars stretch to lines and the lines give way to the mottled skies of hyperspace. A great cheer echos through the corridors of the Vagrant Heart and Tam slumps in his chair and breathes a sigh of relief.



Once again safe, the crew of the Vagrant Heart and their passengers gather in the common area of the ship.

"Captain," Hull begins, "We can't thank you enough."

"But," continue Nali, "We do have one last request."

Tam's face contorts to a puzzled look.

"You are the captain, correct?" Nali asks.

"Yes." Tam says slowly.

"And we're in a ship at space, right?"

"Yes." Even more slowly.

"Then that means you can marry us."

"Oh. Oh!" Tam says.



Nali holds a boutique of flower's picked from Rowintha's garden, Xule at her side. Hull smiles longingly at her as Tam in his dress blues finishes the simple ceremony.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Toth and Kaldo have been waiting for this moment. Toth, pops the cork on the last remaining bottle of Chateau '77. He takes a long draw and then passes it to his friend. Kaldo repeats the process and grins back at the Bothan.

"The old Moff was right," Kaldo says, "it is good at weddings."

End Episode V: The Kessel Run

 

[masshysteria]

GM Commentary

And so ends season 1 of Star Wars: Vagrant Hearts. It was probably one of the best campaigns I've ever run.

I'm not quite as happy with my writing toward the end of the story hour as I was at the beginning. It is a good reminder of why writing soon after playing is better than waiting a year. When the scenes are still fresh in my head it is easier to describe the sights and sounds, rather than just telling what happened.

And since it hasn't been posted yet, here is the opening crawl for the final episode.

Episode IV
KESSEL RUN

With no more favors owed or debts to cover, the crew of the Vagrant Heart embarks on a personal mission. Friends and freedom fighters, Hull and Nali, were captured by the Imperials and sent to the spice mines of KESSEL.

Now a small group of allies gather on an uninhabited moon in the Yavin System. Here they plot, plan, and argue the best course of action to rescue Hull and Nali. However, breaking into an Imperial prison planet and escaping is no small task.

But, if smugglers are good for one thing, its getting into and out of the impossible. Once again, the crew puts their lives in risk...

And because the best story hours leave you wanting more... season 2 is just around the corner!

Look for...

New characters... The Force is strong in this one.
New ships... She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts.
New allies and old enemies... old allies and new enemies.

in Star Wars: Vagrant Hearts - The Smuggler's War!

 

[masshysteria]

                            Episode VI
                      BRAVER THAN I THOUGHT

             It  is a  dark time  for the  galaxy. 
            The reach of the Empire knows no bounds.
           Those  who  defy  the  Emperor's  will are 
          crushed.  As a crackdown  on smuggling begins,
         rumors  spread   of  a  new   Imperial   weapon.

      But even the threat of Imperial justice does little to 
    deter the crew of the VAGRANT HEART. After living off the 
   fortunes  of a  daring  Kessel  Run,  they  return to their 
                           smuggler ways.

 A new job  moving material  for Jurasco's  freedom fighters  has 
landed in their lap. They head to the refining moon of Raxus VI to
                         meet the REBEL AGENTS....

The meeting place on the dust ball of a moon, Raxus VI, is Raylee's Den.

Raylee’s Den is like a thousand different cantinas in a thousand different systems. The food is greasy, the drinks are cheap, and its packed with a variety of beings. It’s here that the scoundrels of the galaxy drink, gamble, and boast of how many systems they have the death sentence on.

It was a bar probably not much unlike this one that Tam and Toth and bottle of whiskey decided the best thing in the galaxy to do would be to borrow a bunch of money from a loan shark and buy a state of the art light freighter, making their own way in the galaxy. It wasn’t too long before they brought on Kaldo and Rowintha. The Duros was a hot shot pilot and already knew the ins and outs of the criminal underworld. And the Wookie? Well, who doesn’t want a Wookie on their side of the table during negotiations?

But all that seems like a lifetime ago. The once new YT-2000, Vagrant Heart, has been to one side of the galaxy and back, out running Star Destroyers and bounty hunters. The crew, all veterans, have outwitted Hutts on Ellium, stared down Imperials on Alderaan, fought slavers on Roon, faced off against bounty hunters on Cloud City, and made a daring prison break from the spice mines of Kessel.

But reputations don't pay the bills and new credit need to be earned. An old contact, Jurasco, the leader of a resistance cell funded by Bail Organa, has come through with a new job. His operation has been forced to move to Vendaxa and badly needs supplies. He has sent Rebel Agents to rendezvous with the smuggling crew.

 

[masshysteria]

The Zabrak lingers at the bar, his long black cloak conceals his form and, more importantly, his weapons. The hood masks his face as he scans the tables and tries to discern the motivations of the patrons. A human enters the bar followed by a Duros, Wookie, and Bothan. But the Zabrak is quick to correct himself, not human, near-human. The miss-matched eyes give it away. They belly up to the bar and begin joking with the bartender, a Trandoshan in a yellow jump-suit with a scar cleaving the left side of his face.

"Any news?" Tam asks as he's being poured a drink.

"You've done some work for Ming the Hutt, right?" The bartender replies.

"Yeah. What about Ming?"

"Apparently, he's on the up and up. Made a nice score on some Kessel Spice not too long ago and got promoted. Moved his operation out to Ord Dorlass or somethin'."

"Any idea on who did the run."

"No, but if the reports are to be believed, there was quite a shoot out there at about the same time. Can't blame 'em for laying low."

Tam returns to his drink and Kaldo gets his attention, "So, you know who the contact is?"

"No idea. Jurasco just said it would be someone we knew."

"Someone we know?" Toth jumps in.

The three smugglers settle their eyes on a figure pulling apart a condenser coil in the corner.



Tam leads the way. Kaldo, Toth, and Rowitha follow. A beat later, the Zabrak turns and shadows the group. Tam slaps the Jawa on the back, the coil springs from his hands spilling parts all over the table, "Set! How've you been?"

The Jawa looks up at Tam and around to Kaldo, Toth, and Rowintha. An angry string of Jawa flows forth, followed by a more moderately paced string. An exasperated threepio voice comes to life from the vox box attached to Set's satchel, "For all our sakes, I will spare you the initial greeting. My master, wishes to inform you Jurasco says hello. But, my master, finds this very strange as Jurasco isn't here. These human customs confuse him. However, this is the person you are to meet."

"Well, say hello to Jurasco for me." Tam replies.

Set waves him off and returns to picking up the parts of the condenser coil, leaving the conversation to his disembodied droid and the table's other occupant, a young human woman with dark skin and black frizzy hair. Tam takes a seat and watches the rest of his crew follow suit. A moment later, a hooded Zabrak joins the table. Out of the corner of his eye, Tam catches Toth raise an eyebrow and shift his blaster carbine into a better position.

"Tam Voren, captain of the Vagrant Heart. This is Toth," Tam says pointing to the Bothan, "That's Kaldo and the Wookie's Rowintha."

The woman's eye narrow and she looks at the crew, "I'm Jayne, the Zabrak here is a friend."

"Great." Tam says eager to get on with business, "So, you have a ship?"

"One's been located for us." The Zabrak says pulling back his hood. "We still need to pick it up."

"So, you haven't seen the ship?" Kaldo interjects.

"No."

"Do you even know if it works?"

The Zabrak smiles sheepishly, "No."

"Great." Kaldo says sarcastically.

"Where is it?" Toth asks.

"Docking bay 19." Jayne answers.

"Not far from us, at least that's good."

"Well, let's go." Tam says.

"I'm not going with you." Jayne says, a scowl crossing her face.

"Rowintha." Tam says.

The Wookie stretches her arms out, linking her fingers, cracking her knuckles in the woman's face.

"Ah, new strategy." The Zabrak says.

"Fine." The woman says, getting up, "But this doesn't mean I trust you."

Toth gets up and turns to see a drunken Quarren standing on a table, blaster in one hand bottle of rum in the other. He looks to his companions who are also staring at the spectacle.

"Attenshun, patrons of this fine essshtabishment!" the Quarren standing on the table begins, slurring his words, "Thissh cantina is now under the control of the Red Star Pirate Gang and closed."

"My bantha it is!" Shouts the bartender. He pulls a double-barrel blaster out from under the bar and lets lose with both barrels into the chest of the pirate on the table. The last thing Toth catches before chaos erupts is enough to get him involved, "Free drinks to whoever gets rid of these mynocks!"

 

[masshysteria]

Tam is fastest on the draw. He flicks the setting on his DL-44 to stun. Blue rings shoot past the pirate and harmlessly hit the wall. Toth is a better aim and doesn't both with stun settings, the blaster blot takes the Quarren off the table. By now Kaldo and Rowintha have joined the fray. Kaldo tags another pirate as he dives behind a table while Rowintha smashes her fist into another.

Jayne looks around and sees Set still fiddling with the condenser coil standing behind Tam, using the human as cover. Her partner has already draw his blaster and joined the fight. Jayne shrugs, draws, and puts a bolt between another pirate's shoulders.

Toth watches as the drunken and outclassed pirates flee. For good measure he puts down one more and then turns to the bar, "About those drinks."


There's little in the galaxy that can seal a friendship like free drinks and gun fight. With one last round for the road, the outlaw crew heads to docking bay 19.

Kaldo takes one look and says, "That's our ship?"

Toth concurs, "It looks terrible."

It looks like littler more than a pile of scrap metal headed toward one of Raxus VI's smelters. The planet is little more than a durasteel factory, supplying the Empire with the raw materials to fuels it military machine. But this is the ship. Barely visible through the dust and carbon scoring Kaldo can make out the name 'Agorian Vulture.'

A dock hand looks up from his work and sees you looking at the ship.

"She's as old as the clone wars... and looks like she's been through 'em too." The dock hand laughs at his own joke.

"Great." Kaldo mumbles.

"She's been here for long as I can remember. A Gallofree Yards Maka-Eekai L4000. The previous owner musta been killed or abandonded 'er." The dock hand explains, "The boss's been taking about auctioning the ship off for cycles now, I guess he's gone and done it."

The dock hand tosses his hydrospanner onto the workbench and begins walking up the Vulture's ramp to the sealed door.

"There's a trick to getting his open." He mumbles. The tech punches in the command code, then slams his fist against the door frame. The door pops open with a hiss. "So you folks want the tour?"