Episode 3.09 - Escape Velocity

Star Wars

Shards of Exploration

Episode 3.09: Escape Velocity, Chapter 1

The war on Chalcedon ended. Pirate forces, caught unprepared, were ambushed at their mountain stronghold by the rag-tag Freedworlds armada. The Dread League crumbled under the assault. Survivors fled or were captured.

While the war has ended, the battles continue. Brush fires from pirates and bitter insurgents burn in pockets across the Chalcedon system. Freedworlds forces work to stamp the fires out.

On Chalcedon, negotiations begin between the Hutt Meldari Council and the Freedworlds Republic. The heated talks focus on JEM VANDOS, the kidnapped member of the Hutt Council. Meanwhile, the evil SARGON XAN DARAN dispatches thousands of SEED DRONES to begin the next phase of galactic conquest.

Components

Goals

The war in the Chalcedon system has come to a bloody, ragged end. But even though the war ended, the battles continue. Brush fires from scattered pirates and insurgents harass the young Republic.

Freedworlds forces, battered and bloody, are unbowed. They work overtime to stamp out these problems with an eye to avoid the mistakes of the past. Chancellor Kanter is well aware of the path that was taken between the Old Republic and the tyranny of the Galactic Empire. She has no urge to repeat those mistakes.

Now, the actual work to build a stable and just government has started. Already the first challenge has appeared: the Hutt Meldari Council.

Black Sun retreated into the shadows, leaving the Hutts no choice but to concede Chalcedon to the Freedworlds. With no other options, the Hutts entered a negotiation with the Freedworlds Republic for concessions over captured prisoners of war, resources, business deals, and more.

One issue stands in the way of the others, and may be the Hutt’s main grievance: the kidnapping of Jem Vandos. Vandos is the only humanoid to be legally considered a ‘Hutt’ and a voting member of the Meldari Council. To the Hutts, Vandos is legally one of their own. So this kidnapping is a dire offense.

The Hutt Kajidics, or clans, blame the Freedworlds for the kidnapping. Chancellor Kanter denies it.

As the negotiations are at a stalemate, Chancellor Kanter has dispatched dozens of teams to scour the system for Jem Vandos. Returning the man to the Hutts would break the stalemate.

On Chalcedon, the heroes regroup to get their bearing and a long, two week rest. Looming over them are the ghosts of problem’s past...

The assassination of most of the Crimson Knight Order.

The kidnapping of the famous Jem Vandos, known as “The Gamesman”. It was thought to gain access to his wealth and fleet of ships, but was it… really?

Almon D’Joy. Now captured, he has been assigned to the mentat Reese Pieces by the Mentat Science Council. Almon’s retraining has been a challenge at best.

The Chalcedon obelisks, what are they for? Who left them?

The Atheneum. This mysterious research station and library sits hidden in hyperspace. Who is after it and why?

Eborrean invaders. The ancient Eborreans, that are rumored to be from another galaxy, have been quietly attacking Outer Rim worlds. They are a looming threat that has been fought before, but the galaxy is less unified now than over a thousand generations ago.

But now, more pressing troubles have emerged…

Sargon Xan Daran. A tyrant bent on no less than ‘cleansing’ the galaxy of corruption, starting with the Bene Gesserit order.

Crimson Knight survivors! Through a Force vision, Vanya has discovered that a number of the Crimson Knights still survive and are on the world of Byss. Unfortunately, they may be fighting against overwhelming odds.

Relations

Protagonists

Jedi Knight VN Ysadora

Jedi Knight So'Zen Al Saba

Alliance of Worlds Captain Aerena Kolene

Tapani Imperium agent, Danar Vorpadaran (in one of his many cover identities)

Crimson Knight Sir Davish Tam

Reese Pieces, otherwise known as KitKat the Mentat. Assigned to investigate the odd happenings on Chalcedon but now assigned to retrain the nefarious Almon D'Joy by the Mentat Science Council.

Allies

Sabine Tri'elle, exiled leader of the Shalent Aw'akeen.

Kal Holst ( field technician and slicer ), former Bloodsmith Raider. His anger and rage over his past lead him to the Bloodsmith Raiders. However, Jedi Knight VN Ysadora showed him there was another way. Now with silicon antibodies from Sabine Tri'elle freeing him from Almon D'Joy's influence, the young man has made his choice: to work with the heroes and the Aw'akeen exiled leader to stop the Slave Lords and the Eborrean threat.

Chancellor Nalerine Kanter. A female Human outlaw mechanic who kept herself to a cautiously confined life as a starship repair facilitator until she met the passengers of the Kylo's Star.

Sent from the Tapani Imperium: Beskar Aran

Doc. A male Clone Trooper of the now infamous 257th Clone Detachment that survived over 30 years in stasis. Doc loves it when any complicated system works at peak efficiency, whether that is heavy power armor or a person's biology or a government system. He is easy to pigeonhole as "the soldier who deals with medical stuff" but believe that he studies, analyzes, and judges the crosscurrents of power dynamics in the social situation around him. What will he do with his conclusions? That's on a need-to-know basis, and frankly, Doc is the only one who gets to see that particular list!

Goss. A male Clone Trooper of the now infamous 257th Clone Detachment that survived over 30 years in stasis. Goss would feel better about this planet if he were in heavy armor. He wants to poke around at one of those "Variwalkers" from the inside as soon as Salbur and Kal Holst confirm that the things will neither fold nor spindle a near-human in the pilot seat.

Hicks. A male Clone Trooper of the now infamous 257th Clone Detachment that survived over 30 years in stasis. Hicks tried to take a vacation, but fell into his lifelong habit of recognizing danger to civilians and then taking firm action in regard to it.

Jenkins. A male Clone Trooper of the now infamous 257th Clone Detachment that survived over 30 years in stasis. Jenkins is the highest-regarded expert among the Beskar Aran at communications, encryption or decryption, and tactical organization. He was the leading officer of the original squad sent to Chalcedon with orders to find out what had gone wrong in this distant region -- orders he received and obeyed before his Commander-in-Chief had any reports that the Beskar Aran might be needed. Since Jenkins still prefers to operate away from the spotlight, he was glad to have Bureau of Ships and Services representatives arrive in-system along with Captain Rico and Corporal Goss.

Rico. A male Clone Trooper of the now infamous 257th Clone Detachment that survived over 30 years in stasis. Rico likes to get his information directly from a trained observer when he can. He is polite to everyone around him, even when administering a dressing-down. The sheer indisputable fact of his presence on Chalcedon means that managing the chaos on Chalcedon was assigned to the Beskar Aran by Emperor Gregor Vortapani in a personal, private, closely held conversation.

Sir Saphor Kronn. A male Knight Errant of the Crimson Knights order. Perhaps he survived the recent wave of assassinations because he was cargo in a Nightsister slave ship?

Talow Kit'Sedda. A male elderly Aildae who is likely to be the last surviving member of his reclusive Force Order. He spent a long time in hiding, living as a hermit in a subterranean region of the dark planet Nar Shaddaa. Within the past two weeks, he has seen stars and sunlight in greater quantities than even most surface-dwellers of Nar Shaddaa experience in a year.

Kerplocken's Brigade. A feudal militaristic society of Chalcedonian residents, mostly noghri, who saw in Space Pirate Vance Kerplocken the messianic cause that elevated them from "mostly desert raiders" to a noble force.

The Ragnar Syndicate. A pirate clan with a regional headquarters in Port Nevermore. Thus far they have mostly gotten along with the Explorers, trading assistance back and forth on various problems.

Captain Jerrod Quantas. A male Human originally from the Tapani Sector. Captain of the Razorback. He was originally hired to steal any information the Explorers had already gathered. He wound up allied with them, even escorting the Kylo's Star from Thyferra to a safe landing at Port Nevermore on Chalcedon.

Quanor Al Fayed. A male senior pilot and pirate. He is the second in command at Port Nevermore.

Felnir Jax. A resident of Port Nevermore with more energy at his disposal than any three of his seniors. He is one of the youngest full-fledged bounty hunters in Ragnar Syndicate.

Erenn Baize. Leader of the Baize pirate clan and self-appointed defender of the northern expanse of Chalcedon's Strosis Continent. Despite an initial bad impression, the pirate willing to take up the alliance with the Freedworlds Republic to root out the rampant corruption in the region.

Jula Brisina. Palatine of the Sisters of Battle mission to bodyguard and escort the Galactic Star Empire’s royal consort, Yeager Lexis while on Chalcedon.

Derma the Hutt. He thought he would contract the passengers of the Kylo's Star to transport him, his household, and his beloved orchids away from his sister Rogga the Hutt's ever-constricting prison. Suddenly he is a critical leader in Chancellor Kanter's government of the Freedworlds Republic -- how did that sneak up on him?

Neutrals/Bystanders

Mistress Belshanna. A female Rancor, elderly, grandmotherly, and a Bendu priestess.

Dr. Bengala. A male Devaronian staff member at Port Nevermore Hospital. If he can profit from events around the Explorers, he probably will.

Gelvin. Chief of staff at The WAVE Pirate Radio in Port Nevermore. If he can create exciting news broadcasts out of events around the Explorers, he certainly will!

Salbur. A male Noxarin in the Eborrean starfighter forces. Freshly cleared of a puppetmaster parasite, incredibly confused about the Galaxy around him and the course of events that led him up to a meeting with the Kylo's Star. Has his people's entire history been a ruse? Are these strange short-faced aliens to be trusted, and to what extent?

Zaye Grakkus Kerplocken. A female noghri whose husband died in defense of Vance Kerplocken. By her people's custom, that sacrifice immediately made her bond-wife of Vance Kerplocken himself, as her children become his heirs and dependents. Lady Zaye is calm; reserved; formal; and deadly, She could be a great ally of Lord Danar Vorpaderan, if such an individual ever trusted her enough to create a true friendship. But why is she a relatively impoverished Chalcedonian at the mercy of the bondwife custom when her adopted father is the great Grakkus the Hutt of the Ponua Kajidic?

Arthal Kale. Former Jedi hunter for the Galactic Empire's Inquistorium during the Galactic Civil War. Now a bounty hunter willing to work with the heroes on Chalcedon.

Heth G'vanek. Master practitioner of the ancient arts of Zama-shiwo. For reasons unknown he was willing to work with the heroes and travel with them at least to Port Etmar. Perhaps farther.

Zam Ello. Former member of Clan Tilles. Now working as a retainer for Sir Davish Tam and Jedi Knight Vanya Ysadora

Kunla, the Wookiee. Former pit fighter named 'Iron Kunla' now retired and running an inn at Chausid Station.

Competitors

Caressa Drakon. A female Human (probably!) disciple of a Dark Side philosophy. She is in favor of using cybernetic implants to control megafauna. She has a special rage regarding elderly Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. She is not particularly insightful!

The Corellian Intelligence Agency. They seek information that is connected to Tapani High Vor House Vormecetti and to the genetically mutable creatures from Tor Ceti.

The Spartan Imperium has its own ideas on what is moral, what is true, and what is urgent. Some of those ideas may be compatible with the Alliance of Worlds' plans. Others may not be!

Adversaries

Sargon Xan Daran, a deadly and powerful individual who rivaled Darth Sidious himself. His obsession with 'cleansing' the Tapani Sector and the galaxy as a whole, is only equaled by his obsession with Danar Vorpadran.

Piotr Sparaval, a male human who worked with Almon D'Joy for his own plans. The smuggler-pirate maintains his own batch of cybernetically linked clones, effectively making him both near-immortal and an 'army of one'. He bears a grudge against the heroes that they have yet to understand.

Elvera Hayley. Member of the Tilles Pirate clan and rumored former member of the nefarious Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. Humiliated by the heroes, she is looking for payback.

Crimson Nova. A pirate clan that operates on a rule of "Might Makes Right". They profit from smuggling, looting, slavery, gambling, and bounty hunting. Some of them specialize as "Jedi Hunters". Until recently, they had a fine guildhouse in Port Nevermore with close proximity to a small fighting pit and planetary tunnel connections to Undercity.

Aurra Sing led the three pirate team to steal the Kylo's Star from a parking apron on Nar Shaddaa, search and disable the ship, and recover their missing credits -- stolen from the Crimson Nova's own bank in Port Nevermore a month ago.

Nassha Tomesta, bounty hunter once working for Almon D'Joy. What is her stake in all this? Is it only credits?

Plot type

Chapter

Subplots

• Episode 3.09 - Escape Velocity, Chapter 2
• Episode 3.09 - Escape Velocity, Chapter 3
• Episode 3.09 - Escape Velocity, Chapter 4
• Episode 3.09 - Escape Velocity, Chapter 5
• Episode 3.09 - Escape Velocity, Chapter 6
• Episode 3.09 - Escape Velocity, Chapter 7

Related Characters

• Aerena Kolene
• Danar Vorpadaran
• Davish Tam
• KitKat the Mentat
• So'Zen Al Saba
• VN Ysadora

Related Organizations

• Freedworlds Republic
• Meldari Council
• Nova Orion Industries

Related Locations

• Port Etmar
• Tunring Station

Related Session Reports

• Episode 3.09: Escape Velocity, Chapter 1 Report

Planet of Chalcedon

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The world of Chalcedon, third planet of the system by the same name found in the Tashtor Sector.

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