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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Insight" data-source="post: 1360242" data-attributes="member: 11437">Stranded on Dathomir, Part OneDays are numbered for the REBEL ALLIANCE.  Sitting imprisoned aboard the DEATH STAR, the Empire's mighty battle station, PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA awaits her fate.  Imperial agents are working to locate and destroy rebel elements throughout the galaxy.  Even now, the uncertain hope that was starting to grow within the galaxy is beginning to fade... Somewhere on the outskirts of the known galaxy, perhaps a glimmer of hope remains.  Rebel operatives have stolen technical readouts for a new planetary defense system for CORUSCANT, the Imperial throne world.  A trio of agents must return these plans to the Alliance's secret base on the moon of Yavin IV, perhaps turning the tide once more in the Alliance's favor...********************Sitting aboard the Paradiit Vision, a borrowed transport ship, our protagonists Vortimax Weer, Beedo, and Orega Vala await the end of their journey through hyperspace and return to the Rebel Alliance's new base on Yavin IV.  The ship is on loan from Drekzz, a Trandoshan smuggler known to be a Rebel sympathizer.  Though it had not been properly serviced in some time, the Vision seems to be in good condition.  It is supposed to be a seven-hour trip in hyperspace, and they have all taken to various activities to pass the time.  Orega has been poring through the technical readouts of the proposed changes to Coruscant's new planetary defenses, hoping he might have some insight that will help Alliance Intelligence to discern a proper manner of exposing the system's vulnerabilities.  Beedo has kept himself busy in the cockpit, checking on ship systems and seeking out the sources of several minor problems he found.  Vortimax, neither a highly technical or strategic mind, has been taking apart his weapons and putting them back together again, making sure they are ready to go in any eventuality.Suddenly, the Paradiit Vision begins to shake violently, throwing the occupants around like rag dolls.  Alarms blare and Beedo, the only one in the cockpit, sees the trouble and immediately shouts for the others.  The hyperdrive has failed, and the agents are well short of their intended destination.  As the starlines of hyperspace become fixed stars in the distance, a proximity alarm alerts Beedo to quickly take control of the helm, and the Rodian barely manages to avoid a few small asteroids that loom large in the foreground. His fellow Rebel agents join Beedo in the cockpit, and they are shocked to see an Imperial cruiser in the distance, orbiting a large, reddish planet.  Though the cruiser is not much larger than the Paradiit Vision, it was likely far better equipped for a firefight.  Beedo needed to quickly assess repair time on the hyperdrive, and some diplomacy was in order to keep the situation from turning ugly.The Imperial cruiser Fearless hails, and demands to know why a known smuggler ship was traveling in this sector, which was highly restricted.  Shocked that their cover had been blown so easily, the agents scramble to come up with a response.  Vala, a former Imperial officer, steps forward to explain.  His response is that the Vision is not a smuggling ship, and that only a few light repair would need to be made and they could be on their way.  This does not satisfy the Fearless, and the Imperials command the Paradiit Vision to power down weapons and shields and prepare to be boarded.A quick check of the navicomputer revealed that the Vision was in the Qualiis system, a backwater part of the galaxy not known for anything in particular.  For some reason, this system was one of a handful of places in which the Empire restricted travel.  The red planet in the distance is not readily identifiable, and the Rebel agents do not have much time to research the possibilities.  Beedo returns with some bad news - it would require several hours' work to repair the overheated hyperdrive, though the parts needed were available on board.  Time does not seem to be something in abundance, however.  Unless they fought the Fearless, the Vision would be boarded and searched, and the secret plans stolen from Gedron 7 might return to Imperial hands.Thinking quickly, Orega Vala hides the data disk within a stack of similar-looking disks in the entertainment pod.  Even if thoroughly searched, the Imperials would likely never find anything of importance in there.  Confident that this solution was best, the Paradiit Vision powers down its weapons and shields and agrees to the Imperial ship's demands.  After a tractor beam closes the distance between the two ships, a docking collar connects them, and eight Imperial Stormtroopers board the Paradiit Vision, along with an Imperial officer who does not care to identify himself.  The troopers search the ship with scanners, seeking contraband and illegal weapons.  Meanwhile, Weer, Beedo, and Vala are kept captive in the ship's galley.  At one point, they are unbelievably left alone with no guard, so they disperse and watch to see what the stormtroopers are up to.  Beedo attempts to return to the cockpit, but a stormtrooper blocks the way.  Weer walks back to the engine room, but another stormtrooper is there, fiddling with the hyperdrive, ostensibly in an attempt to assess whether it was really damaged.  Seeing that the Imperials have already searched the entertainment pod, Orega Vala ducks in there to retrieve the stolen data disk the agents are supposed to deliver to Yavin IV.While watching the stormtrooper in the engine room, Vortimax Weer notices that the trooper isn't just inspecting the hyperdrive, he is making some kind of modification.  Looking closer, Weer spots a familiar device being attached to the engine core - a thermal detonator.  His danger sense alerted, Weer casually but quickly finds the others and quietly alerts them to the news.  They would need to do something about the thermal detonator or escape the Paradiit Vision before it is blown to stardust.  As they are discussing what recourse to take, the Imperial officer advises that the search is concluded and he and the stormtroopers file out of the ship.  The docking collar is quickly withdrawn and the tractor beam that had been holding the Paradiit Vision in place reverses polarity to push the smuggler ship away.Vort again checks the hyperdrive, and spots that the thermal detonator's timer has been set to 15 seconds and is now clocking down.  They had little time to discuss options.  The agents gathered what gear they could and ducked into the nearest available escape pod.  The back half of the Paradiit Vision blew apart, catapulting the ship into the red planet's upper atmosphere and a likely crash onto the planet below.  When they were certain the Fearless could no longer detect them, Beedo fires the escape pod and the Rebel agents are sent into a wild spiral through the red planet's atmosphere...</blockquote>

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