Episode 4: Seeds of Dissent

[tomcat]

STAR WARS: BLACK SUN

Episode 4: Seeds of Dissent
Dark times - the Empire stretches its grasp to bend
the will of more and more systems. Darth Vader now
looms before the Imperial forces as a dark and sinister
tyrant, only second to that of the seemingly all powerful
Emperor.

But unknown to them both, the spirit of freedom has
weathered the storm. Small, unorganized groups maintain a
resolve to stave off the power of the new Empire. To maintain
the freedoms once known and loved by the Galactic Republic. To
the Emperorer, it seems only a matter of time before all resistence
is quelled, but to his acolyte, Vader sees the cracks in even this
mighty Empire. The Lord of the Sith resolves to find the traitors within
the New Order, and remove them. But, for these small factions, the seeds
of dissent have been sown and all wonder at what they shall become.

Caden Whitesun, and the rest of his companions aboard the Aegis plan to
their first stab for freedom's sake – the raid on a small penal moon to free the
starship engineer, Antar Danjapa – lead developer of a new experimental fighter... the X-wing.

[tomcat]

The Aegis was again moving at lightspeed. The ship was now making the long jump up the Hydian Way towards the distance star known as Tantis, and the penal moon Tantau II that orbited the gas giant Tantau.

The voyage to Taris had been quite uneventful, and for the first time in a while, even the planetside stay had been quiet. Not that the crew found the place too hospitable. Taris had once been a thriving ecumenopolis - its landmasses all completely covered with shining city towers. Like Coruscant and Nar Shadaa, the city planet thrived within the safety of the Old Republic but war, corruption, and decay slowly brought the planet down. It was during the times of the Old Republic and the Sith Wars that Taris took its first blow. Darth Revan had committed a campaign of orbital bombardment that left most of the planet in ruins. Although much of the city would be rebuilt in the following centuries, many ruins remained. The planet's ocean and the kelp farming it supplied was also devastated by pollution from industry.

During the Cold War that followed the Great Galactic War, the Republic took up the difficult task of recolonizing Taris, establishing a spaceport, a military base, and settlements. The Republic believed that rebuilding Taris would be a substantial symbolic victory against the Old Sith Empire. Many centuries after the planet's devastation, Taris was finally resettled by Human colonists. These settlers were famous for their ship-building skills. These settlers rebuilt some of the planet's former cities, though much of the surface was left in ruin. Not long after, Taris was linked to the Hydian Way - the sole route that passed through the entire galaxy.

During the final days of the Republic and the Clone Wars, Taris was considered a "faded" city-world and was represented in the Galactic Senate by the human female, Kin Robb. When she found the battlefronts getting closer to her homeworld, she joined the Council of Neutral Systems under Duchess Satine Kryze, hoping it would keep her world out of the fighting. But what truly kept the planet out of the war was the lack of interest in it - save for a place to base, Taris had few resources left to offer.

When Caden had pulled the Aegis up and out of the planet's atmosphere, he had been relieved. It was sad to see the pathetic struggle of life on Taris and he knew now why the contraband that he had been paid to move was sent. There was little money left on the planet, but great need, and so the black market merchandise was made easily available to the colonies - items that the New Order would not see fit to waste on a world in decay.

That had been three days ago. Now the crew of the Aegis sat about, just aft of the Aegis' bridge, in the explorer's primary lab. Caden and Kex had re-fit the lab into a planning area with star charts and holo projectors, using the original equipment in ways that they were not designed. But it was still resourceful - even more so now that they had needed to plan an incursion into an Imperial prison.

Over one of the projector tables was the holo-image of the gas giant Tantau II and its series of small moons that hung amongst the asteroids in orbit. On the other planning table, schematics that were found on public files on the holonet were displayed. The data was old and the accuracy could not be guaranteed, but still it was something. The administration areas, maintenance sheds, hangar bay, and the penal area were all displayed.

The prison building was three stories wrapped around by the administation complex, maintenance buildings, the comm towers, and the landing bay. It was extensive, but not massive. It was also no longer a high priority prison and so the garrison of troops stationed there would not be great.

[tomcat]

The crew of the Aegis were all aware that they were on a new desperate mission, but two did not know all the details. Kara and Logar'Dan looked at the two projector tables and the information they displayed. The public information that was available on the holonet read:

System: Tantis - Type G, Yellow bright dwarf star
Planets: 4 planetary system
-- Tantol, Class-D rocky planetoid in short orbit of Tantis; extreme environment, no life capable
-- Tantel, Class-F rocky planet in median orbit of Tantis; extreme environment, no life capable
-- Tantau, Class-J gas giant in median orbit of Tantis; extreme environment, no life capable
-- -- -- asteroid belt
-- -- -- Tantau II, Class-D rocky planetoid (moon) in orbit around Tantau; environment, normal gravity, can sustain life with protection from radiation
-- Tansil, Class-F rocky planet in wide orbit of Tantis, extreme environment, no life capable without support

There was more, but it was computer generated statistics of gravity wells, radiation levels, and magnetic fields - all important, but nothing that any of the crew really needed to know. Rather the images and information that did interest them all was the Republic built penal facility that sat on the far side of Tantau II from its gas giant planet. The public information for the prison was listed as well:

Tantau II Republic Penal Facility
-- prison facility built for dangerous convicts within the galaxy;
-- prison specifications - three story confinement center; control and administrative station; medical and barracks; hangar bay
-- facility is powered by quad-core nuclear plant along with geothermal syncs
-- standard sensor system and hi-frequency supra-luminal holonet communication link
-- garrison strength: base 25, not including adminstrative and command personnel

Kara and Logar were also mulling over the purpose of it all - to enter a now Imperial-run facility to retrieve a political prisoner taken to the rock, left to die and fade from memory. The importance of the individual was none to clear, save that the man was an engineer with the technical designs in his head of a new advanced fighter ship.

Brim gestured towards the three-dimensional display of the facility that was above one table, "There is a sub-surface maintenance channel into the maintenance shack on the one side of the prison. It would make for a discreet way to enter the facility... as long as it is still viable."

The information was old and none knew if the tunnel was caved in, secured by a new barrier, or whatever. Who knows what might have been changed since the new paranoia of the Empire now reigned supreme? Then again, Tantau II was about as far off the beaten path that anyone could ever go. Being stationed there had to be a dismal existence.

As had been discussed with Organa, the ingress to the planet would be safest on the orbital side that faced the gas giant. The radiation along with the body of the planetoid would block all sensors. Once within the confines of the planet's atmosphere, they could use the natural landscape by flying in low, to hide their presence. Thus allowing them to get in close enough to then move to the facility on foot. The side of the planetoid on which the prison sat was safe from the dangerous radiation that bathed Tantau II from its giant neighbor. The atmosphere and gravity of the planetoid was also within safe levels for all the human and humanoid members of the Aegis.



if anyone has a question, let me know. If you want more information than what is displayed will require a Gather Information test DC 25 and may have to come from some outside contact and require a favor or other payment source.

[Jingo]

I'll try to discreetly get more up-to-date information on the facility on our stop-over to drop off the contraband in Taris. I will try to meet an anti-imperial contact--maybe an escapee from the prison we may have heard about, or someone who used to work there but is now willing to give info to support anti-imperial movements. I'll make two rolls:

1) I want to persuade them to give details to support work against free of charge or very highly discounted since I have very few funds, though I am willing to pay up to 200 credits left to my name if I must.
Persuade:

Rolled 1d20+15 : 8 + 15, total 23

2) Gather Information check to get the following:

• Updated schematics of the place
• List of prisoners including dossiers beyond the one guy we're tasked with getting (there may be others we'll want to rescue)
• Anyone garrisoned there that we could maybe bribe or contact who would be willing to work against the Empire
• Scheduled times for resupply of the outpost, patrol routes, etc.

Not sure if anyone else can or wants to assist with this roll, but she'll likely need some help. She will use a force point if needed on this one.
Gather Information:

Rolled 1d20+10 : 13 + 10, total 23

[tomcat]

Jingo - the only test you are missing it the Gather Information test to find a contact on Taris that might know anything about the Tantau II penal moon. The test is DC 25 and will require bribes if successful. The first roll will determine if you found anyone; the second roll is to determine this persons attitude towards you, which in turn will determine the DC of your persuasion test - the results will be 1-5, right down table 4-4 in the CRB. Lastly, will be the Force Point roll you wanted to make.

Obviously since this is contacts made on Taris, which is behind us story-wise, these tests will reflect Kaida's efforts on the planet two days ago.

Kaida's Gather Information test to find a contact with information regarding Tantau II - DC25 1d20+10 : 11 + 10, total 21

If Gather Information above was a success - Contact's attitude 1d5 : 5, total 5

Kaida's Force point usage 1d6 : 1, total 1

[tomcat]

The dice fell bad... the Gather Information to find someone failed and the Force Point spent to cover a roll was not enough... so Kaida gained no other information on Taris.

Kaida - Spent Force Point 

[tomcat]

Caden zoomed into a closer view of Tantau II where the prison sat. It was mounted atop a plateau that had been cut into the planetoid's surface by a recessed river. The holographic image displayed the chemical make-up of the river as H2O2... hydrogen peroxide. The planet did have a source of water, but it would need to be treated before it could be used to drink, for now it was naught but bleach.

The wide river valley had another plateau just south of where the prison sat that would provide valuable cover for the Aegis' approach. The Bestinian manipulated the holo-images and laid the prison over the terrain map and the long maintenance/drainage tunnel could easily be traced to where it opened on the river for waste disposal. It would be easy for the ship to set down south of the prison and the crew make its way north to the access tunnel.

Caden spoke, "The turrets that can be plainly seen on the front and side balconies of the prison make me hesitant to approach the facility by any other means than the underground tunnel. The maintenance tunnel would deposit us just under the prison most likely at that maintenance shack." He pointed to the small one-story structure that was mated to the barracks and power plant.

Brim answered, "If that is a nuclear plant - it is possible we could be facing radioactive waste in that tunnel. Dangerous for most of us, let alone the radiation that bathes the planet."

"But the radiation from Tantau should be blocked by the planetoid's mass," replied Caden. "I agree with you of the fear of nuclear waste radiation, but I am sure Sam can keep a read on that for us, right big guy?" The Bestinian looked to the silent droid and then continued, "It would take us a good number of years sitting in those UV rays for us to develop some ill-effects."

The Rodian thought about how long the prison had been there and whispered, "Well hopefully nothing has been."

[tomcat]

Caden turned to Sam and the two soldiers, "Well... you guys were trained for this stuff. Is it a tactically sound idea?"



Also, John, Logar'Dan has just been brought into the fold regarding what is going on and the raid on the prison to free an engineer (this is not in the post above, but you can either ask the others about what's going on, so it is story, or read the thread called Meetings in Secret). Please give me some insight as to what he thinks. Is he cool with all this? It doesn't have to be in dialogue to the other characters, you can just give me narrative on his thoughts, if you prefer.

That kind of goes for ALL PC's. You guys are about to cross a threshold into acts against the government... you are about to become Rebels. That might be heady to some characters... to others, it might be the thing you all have been waiting on. Also remember, the New Order (or the Empire) is only about 5 years old - the Clone Wars ended in 19 BBY, and our story is taking place in 14 BBY. That said, the atrocities that Vader and the local Moffs may have committed may not be as prevelant yet. Alien species would be feeling the noose, as they were kind of sequestered and taken out of positions of authority. Oppression is starting to happen and white-shelled troopers are becoming common, but still... it is all fresh.

Your PC might just hate the fact that the Republic is no longer that... instead now, an Imperial state.

Anyway, keep these things in mind as you post, and I look forward to it all.

[Telcontar]

Britton cleared his throat as they all looked at the schematics and the layouts again.

"Well we have no new information so I guess the plan that we were given is about as good as we are going to get."

Britton walked around the holo projections hand on his chin, "Only one thing that bothers me...why do we break out only one guy, why not all of them? No one deserves to be left forgotten in a backwater Imperial prison on the edge of the galaxy because they disagree. I know if I was in there I would want out, and frak, I might be in a place just like this soon. Can we get everyone out? Do we have weapons we can give the prisoners? The Empire wont know why all the prisoners were broken out but they will be able to figure out why one was so it serves a tactical purpose too."

Britton looked around at those around them, "If we are going to fight the Empire lets do it for the nameless and the faceless, not just those who are known or important to important and rich people."

"There are 35 storm troopers, they have to work 24 hour shifts, we can make a guess that they do either 12 or 8 hour shifts. I did security work, once upon a time you may recall and in a back water like this I would guess they are working in three shifts of 8 hours. There is nothing to do in a place like this but work, but not working is better than standing around with all your gear on. That and the officers will know that the soldiers will stop paying attention even if they are standing there. So, say there are 10 guards per shift, one guys in charge of the troops, one guy is in charge over all making his own hours and working during the day, and a handful of admin guys and maintenance that work during the day. So if we attack at night we are facing 11 guys who will be suited up and ready to fight. The rest will be in various states of disarray and chances are that even if there is a drill if they come under attack no one has practiced it since they got here or at all. So we need to quickly reduce those who are on shift and then just mop up those who are not. Maybe we can mask our attack to look like some kind of system failure. That would provide initial confusion that would wake everyone up and then they would ignore it."
Britton looked around getting excited with is own plan, and looked back that map.

"YEAH...... the tunnel leads to the maintenance bay, you jack nuts and bolts over here into the network, he can give them false readings like there is a fire, then tell the system there is a flood, then something else and keep setting off different failures. The maintenance guys will get dispatched, they wont have any guns and any thing that happens it will take people awhile to realize that there is actually an attack going on and not some weird glitch or mechanical problem. Response time and alertness will be even lower because no one there actually cares to be suspicious. We may even be able to bag the maintenance guys and get better info on the place."

Britton looked up at everyone, "set up a spot to see if we can figure out when their shift changes are, pick a time, cause some mayhem on their comms and weapons stations, storm the castle, imprison the guards, rescue the prisoners, and all head back here to the happy wagon, for space trip food and caf. How's that for a Commando Raid on an Imperial Prison on the edge of the world!"

"And BOOM goes their happy time!"

[Callowmoryne]

Logar cleared his throat. "Id have to agree on almost all those points. Your approach plan is sound, you dont want to fly anywhere near those turrets. And i strongly agree with playing games with there comps, if we can bag a maintenance crew theyll know all the ins and outs and possibly have access cards or another keylike device. Where i think you might be making a mistake is considering to free all the prisoners. I agree it would be a great distraction and sure some of these folks probably got the shaft from the empire and dont belong here. But what about the ones who do belong, the ones just as likely to want to rape and kill us as shake our hands, you let them out and arm them and weve got another threat to ourselves and the mission........... But, either way im in."

[tomcat]

Excellent post, Tom and John!



Brim listened intently to the soldiers speak. It was not within his purview to plan such things, but once laid out before him seemed very easy and understandable. He marvelled at how a person was able to think out a challenge in such a way. He spoke, "I agree with Britton in the removal of all prisoners... it would make for a less obvious reason on why the facility was raided. Yet, Logar's reasoning seems more sound. Do we really want to release some awful criminals back into the galaxy?"

[Telcontar]

Britton listened to what everyone had to say after he said what was on his mind. The excitement of the moment didn't appear to have carried him way, he listened to all the points and comments of what were said and weighed them for the merit and wisdom they may have contained.

"Our information indicates that most of these people here are political prisoners and not violent criminals. We don't have to arm them all, in fact we probably won't have enough weapons to do so, even if we were to find all the blasters in the prison. The most difficult part would be dropping them off somewhere or in groups where they had a chance to make it on their own and not compromise the mission as a whole. This mission is different than anything else we have done so far. This isn't survival, if that were our aim we would have begged borrowed or stole enough credits to exist in some corner of the galaxy, alone and in hiding, but a life none the less. But this? This is crossing a line. We go from being vagabonds space dust exiles to making a statement, a political statement. We can rise above our own selfish interests of self preservation and exceed the goals of a politician, a thug, or a gangster. We can, here, in this back water do something that has a meaning greater than the sum total of ourselves or our own selfish aims to survive.
     Chances are whether we succeed or fail here in time, maybe a few cycles or maybe a lot, end up in a place like this ourselves for the things we are being accused of doing. In fact being in a place like this we might in some future date consider ourselves lucky. But if this mission is the one where we cross a line, be it weight of the crime, or ideological departure, then let us do it on our own terms.
     I fought in the Clone Wars; I served proudly despite the end result of that conflict and would not trade that time for any other. Some have an idealized view of the Republic, some saw flaws in it and thought the Empire was a solution. But most of those people as individuals couldn't change the end result anymore than the fate of a dock rat in a radiation storm. The hyperdrive on that ride was set by someone else and we were all along for the ride. But if I am going to use my blaster on this rock to kill I don't want it to be for a Senator, a dead republic, an Empire, or some engineer with important friends. For once I want to do it for someone who couldn't do it on their own and deserved a chance. Perhaps by trying we may even save ourselves or those who may be facing what will be our future."

Britton stopped and looked around, he wasn't sure why he felt so strongly about it. At some point maybe the running and the hiding got to him as a soldier, maybe the Senator had said something that inspired him, or maybe it was hearing the story of Kaida's families defiance to stand when no else did, but something made him angry at the symbol of this prison on the display.

At that Britton looked down at the deck and mumbled, "I'm sorry, I was just a blasterman in a squad, no great military thinker or commander. Sorry I got carried away Cap but I think this is finally a place where we can fight, if not directly against those who have chased us across the galaxy at least the next best thing. Whether they are guilty or not, there is no justice for the person who would find themselves here."

[tomcat]

really kick ass posts, Tom. You have me ready to go in there gun a'blazing. 

[tomcat]

"Your words ring in my heart, Britton," said Brim. "You do argue a strong case for us to go to Tantau and liberate the oppressed, and certainly there are many that need to be liberated. There are many unjust things happpening that are far out of most of our control, but we must remember... this was a Republic prison first. It was used to contain individuals that our galactic democratic society had deemed as unsafe, due to their actions. These were not freedom fighters, these were individuals that commited crimes against our laws and thus have been punished. We cannot let the fervor of our new ambitions cause us to make hasty and ill choices. To turn some of these folk back out onto society would make us no better than the Empire we now take up arms against."

The Rodian was sympathetic, "Let us evaluate those incarcerated there on a case by case basis, and then decide, but also we must keep our eye on the ball." He turned to the others, "What say you... does it seem wise to grant freedom to all because we now feel the oppression of a greater force? Are their actions and choices given reprieve due to the greater evils that this Empire is starting to commit?"

Brim had not, as of yet, revealed much of his past. He had served in the Clone Wars, too. He was once part of the proud Republic Scout Service. He had seen first hand the effects of the war and then Order 66. He became an outlaw due to his associations with an Order that did nothing but keep the peace in the Galaxy. He watched younglings blown away by the white-shelled clones, as they trained in the Academy on Cularin. Brim disappeared into the fringe society of the galaxy... until he was rescued by Caden and Kex. He knew there was justice in society ... even for those that had made bad choices. They were tried and justice was done. The changes of their political world did not warrant a breach in the most basic of society's rules. The Rodian thought of what he learned while being amongst the Jedi on Cularin. He knew in his heart that he was following the path. Knew that Ulric would have agreed with him.

[donimator]

Sam listened in on the mission planning. He had little in the way of tactical programming. He was more tasked-based in his approach to things...leave the thinking to others. (Wait...'nuts and bolts'???...now hold on a minute.) Sam analyzed the plan and computed probabilities based on the available information. But too few inputs and too many variables made any prediction guesswork, at best.

Sam viewed the displays and compared them against his own internal copies to look for any errors in the combination of datasets that might throw off the scale of this endeavour. Satisfied with the integrity of the images and mapping, still frightfully little for a mission of this complexity, he considered his suggested role.

"Just because I'm a droid, doesn't mean I can talk my way past any computer. I have middling skill at best, so let's not hinge this mission on me being able to trick a defence net. It is likely to have some strong encryption. Likewise, I can go ahead and ensure the passage is habitable for you to follow, but this frame was not built for stealth. We need to be prepared to come hard and heavy at a moment's notice should things go spinward."