Strikeforce Enteague

Episode 06 Betrayal

After their little bounty hunting side job, the team returned to Enteague Minor to discover that Commander Drew Greyhelm had added a new member to their ranks, the human star pilot Viveede Briylle Colore.

Commander Greyhelm assigned Shanna Toarinar and Phoenix Avalon a new mission. Viveede would pilot them to the Belderone system to extract a person named Derin Heightson, who happened to be Phoenix’s best friend from when they were both seven until they went their separate ways at fifteen. Phoenix lost track on Derin. It appeared when Phoenix began his career as a space pirate, Derin had built a life for himself on Belderone.

In hyperspace, they wondered what the semi-disassembled assassin droid with a riot gun doing in a heap beside the doorway in the Nexus Point‘s common room. Viveede told them Drew ordered the dangerous machine to be scrapped. For some reason, if it heard the words, “Sic ’em!” the inert droid would still fire its riot gun at whatever it was pointing at.

They decided that they would dispose of it after the upcoming mission.

The Plight of a Childhood Friend

They flew through Belderone customs and security easily with the Nexus Point, landing at the city of Thirse.

Disguised as civilians, the trio travelled through Thirse. They found the residence of Derin Heightson to be a small single-story house with a medium-sized yard surrounded by a three-metre tall wall. Breaking in, the team found overturned furniture and blaster scoring on the walls in the house. Searching the bedroom, Phoenix found a well-hidden keycard that activated Heightson’s personal computer terminal. The last file recorded was a voice log clearly made during a blaster fight.

Heightson’s voice told them that if he was captured, the Imperials would hold him at to the Thirse security detention centre.

The sound of a stun blast cut off his voice, ending the file.

Outside, a speeder truck pulled over and a stormtrooper heavy weapons squad filed out of it. Shanna spotted them from the living room, alerted the other and laid covering fire. Phoenix pried open the back door and the trio ran out to the back yard, climb a ladder to the kitchen roof which connected with the south yard wall, and climbed down the arien vines to the alleyway.

They sprinted out the alley right into the sights of the trooper manning the heavy repeating blaster on the back of the speeder truck. The trio evaded the first volley and Phoenix threw a grenade that destroyed the truck.

They fled into the night.

A Jailbreak Occurs

They wake up next morning sleeping at the back of a deserted alleyway. Then, the team spent the day staking out the detention centre, a small building nearby manned by Imperial troops with only eight cell bays. There were two modified XP-38 patrol speeders parked in the parking bays near the detention centre entrance stoop.

They began devising a plan to rescue Derin Heightson.

Two stormtroopers on patrol randomly walked into the alley looking for three fugitives from the previous night. Stun blasts struck them from behind the large garbage bins where the rebels hid. A moment or two later, two stormtrooper-armoured rebels walked out of the alley with their blasters pointing at their prisoner Videede, who was too tall to fit into one.

They entered the detention centre to incarcerate the lone rebel they found. However, Shanna was unfamiliar with detention protocols, so the Imperial Army officer in command assigned an Army trooper to escort her down the corridor that led to the cell bays.

Shanna freaked out, and pushed Viveede along with the Army trooper into the open empty cell AA-6 to successfully knock out the Imperial.

All hell broke loose.

Phoenix blasted the Army officer at his command post and ran down the cell bay corridor, inviting several stormtroopers who were outside the building to rush in. Phoenix held them from the corridor entrance. Shanna lunged across the corridor and opened the door to cell AA-2. Derin Heightson was within, distressed no doubt by all the blaster bolts flying and sparks showering from where they hit.

She introduced herself and told him that her close associate and his childhood friend Phoenix Avalon was in town to break him out of jail.

Meanwhile, Phoenix lobs a grenade into the command room, wrecking the centre console and propelling one stormtrooper right out into the street, at the feet of a passing Trandoshan mother and her child. She scurried along faster, telling her child not to look.

The other trooper was only slightly stunned, but still on his feet. He staggered forward to shoot at the rebels, but Phoenix emerged out of the flames, embers and smoke, and took down the Imperial with a single shot of his DL-44 heavy pistol.

The team and Derin rushed into the XP-38 speeders. Viveede drove with Shanna riding shotgun in one. Phoenix took on Derin as his passenger in the other speeder. As both vehicles raced for the spaceport, another patrol speeder sideswiped them from an adjoining street much to Viveede and Phoenix’s annoyance. Shanna, however, grabbed the light laser turret controls and sent a couple of energy bolts that destroyed the pursuing vehicle.

They arrived at the landing bay, sprinted up the Nexus Point‘s open entry ramp, and found themselves surrounded by a squad of stormtrooper in the ship. And at Heightson’s command, the squad opened fire, criss-crossing the passageway with blue stun bolts.

Phoenix realised, as he slid into unconsciousness, that his trusted childhood friend had betrayed him.

Another Jailbreak Occurs

Viveede, Shanna and Phoenix came to in a cell bay, larger that then single cell that held Derin Heightson in the Thirse detention centre.

Derin Heightson was addressing them through the forcefield-held cell door. He informed them that they were aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Hunter orbiting Belderone. After they had parted ways, Heightson told Phoenix that he joined the Imperial Navy and rose through the ranks as an officer. He had heard from Imperial Intelligence of Phoenix’s recent involvement with the Rebellion and had devised a plan to capture him and his team-mates. With them captured, he would be able to discover their base and destroy it. He was deep enough within Intelligence that the Rebel Alliance would only be aware of his civilian identity. Heightson then turned and left.

The brig door closed, cutting off the forcefield and sealing them within.

Some time later, Phoenix and Viveede attempted to con a guard into opening the door by feigning a stomach upset, but were embarrassingly unsuccessful. Then Shanna remembered the Jedi Trace Traverse telling them that they had vestigial Force powers. She called out to a guard, mentally inducing him to open the door and enter.

They jumped him.

Escape from the Hunter

Recovering their gear and weapons from the brig storage locker, the trio found maintenance access corridors to sneak through the enemy capital ship. Near the landing bay, there were three stormtroopers playing the computer game Mutant Mynocks on a wall terminal. They were easily stunned in the back.

At the Star Destroyer hangar bay, they spotted the Nexus Point berthed on a landing pad. They tried to sneak into the ship, but a guard spotted them. Troopers opened fire, clipping Phoenix in the thigh. But they all managed to run aboard.

There was a single stormtrooper in the common room who had the drop on them and told them to drop their weapons. They all froze, but then Shanna exclaimed, “Sic ’em!” The semi-disassembled assassin droid beside them discharged a single stun bolt from its riot gun and knocked out the stormtrooper!

They were out of the hangar bay before a tractor beam could be activated. Viveede piloted, Shanna worked the navicomputer and the injured Phoenix dropped into the weapon station. As they sped away, a single TIE fighter roared out of its bay in pursuit. Derin’s voice come over the comlink, taunting them, saying that he was going to destroy their freighter now.

The TIE fighter fired its cannons. Viveede evaded while Phoenix returned fire. A single dogfight erupted off the bow of the Hunter while moving further away from her. Meanwhile, a full squadron of TIEs was launch with orders to pursue and destroy the Nexus Point.

Fueled by rage over the betrayal by his best friend, Phoenix let loose a barrage that disintegrated the lone TIE fighter attacking them.

Without any cheers of victory, Shanna grimly pulled the hyperdrive levers. In a flash, the Nexus Point jumped into hyperspace.

Epilogue

The Nexus Point arrived safely at the Enteague Outpost, but Phoenix was disheartened and saddened by the fact that he had to kill his friend. Viveede disposed of the assassin droid husk although they were all glad it was on their ship when they had needed it. Commander Greyhelm allowed Phoenix some time to recover, but for Shanna and Viveede however…

To be continued.

Notes:

• This was the first adventure that I believe sold the players on actual role-playing, because for once it was not merely “undergoing the mission” and it had a character-based (albeit rudimentary) twist.
• Like the previous adventure, I had detailed plans for Heightson’s house and the small detention centre.
• I first read of Belderone in Marvel’s Star Wars #92.