A Clash with Kolaff (SF)

Summary

With time running out and a squad of angry troopers behind them, the Rebels reach the hangar bays — but realize they are in the wrong one! To get one level down to the bay they want, the Rebels must face perhaps the most deadly challenge of this adventure. They must face Kolaff who awaits them in an AT-ST scout walker! The fate of the approaching Rebel task-force hangs in the balance.

Hangar Bay H-12

The Rebels finally arrive at the entrance to the hangar bay and close the door behind them. A DC 16 Use Computer check allows the PCs to lock the door. Use the map of the hangar bay found in the pullout section and the counter strip provided with the adventure. As the PCs turn to examine their surroundings, read:

Smoke fills this small bay, obscuring vision in all directions. Some distance to the right, four large objects can be seen through the smoke, but no details can be gleaned.

Use “The Set Up” below to run the battle in the hangar bay.

The Set Up

The PCs enter the hangar bay, starting at the door. The bay is full of a cloying, choking smoke which issues from a smoldering Dygian coolant pool in a particularly bent portion of the left wall. Walex informs the PCs that they are a level above the shuttle hangar bay, but that this bay should have a cargo lift — if they can find it without falling into it.

A DC 26 Perception roll is needed to find the edge of the cargo lift in the smoke, and the PCs notice that the lift platform is on a lower level. Display the hangar bay map from the pullout so everyone can see it. Blissex points out the control station against the wall. From there, the Rebels can raise the lift platform, which appears to be the only way out of this bay. (They can hear troopers at the door behind them, trying to get in.) Blissex moves toward the control station immediately.

As someone heads for the control station, ask for more Perception rolls. Anyone making a DC 21 roll spots the waiting stormtroopers in the smoke. The PCs may react to the stormtroopers’ actions. If no one makes the roll, the stormtroopers open fire, getting one free round of actions before the PCs can react. Place six stormtrooper on the map, setting them on the far side of the vehicle lift.

It takes one round for a PC to reach the control station. The stormtroopers will not fire at this PC this round. A DC 16 Use Computer roll activates the lift platform. A DC 14 Perception roll allows the PCs to find the environmental controls. With this panel the PCs can begin to vent the smoke from the bay.

Venting the smoke reveals the stormtroopers if they haven’t been spotted already. The smoke seems to roll and boil off their armor as they take their positions. As soon as the stormtroopers are spotted, Walex hits the activator for the cargo lift if a PC hasn’t done so yet. As the battle begins, ask for one more set of Perception rolls. Anyone making a DC 16 check notices that the shadowy forms on the right hand side of the bay are AT-ST scout walkers. Place four AT-STs on the opposite side of the bay from the vehicle lift.

Combat Round 1: Stormtroopers begin their attack, firing at Rebels who have not headed toward the control station. Blissex, and any Rebels with him, reach the control station.

Combat Round 2: Lift activated. Stormtroopers continue to attack, combining fire effectively. Remember to add the smoke combat modifiers presented in episode two. If the Rebels activate the environment controls, the smoke begins to clear next round.

Combat Round 3: Lift approaches. If a PC examines the lift area, ask for a Perception check. A DC 14 roll reveals something on the darkened lift; a DC 19 roll lets the PC know that an AT-ST is on the lift. Stormtroopers continue to attack, firing at any PCs that head toward the parked AT-STs.

Combat Round 4: Lift arrives. Internal lights of walker on lift glow to life, walker turns toward PCs. Unknown to the Rebels, Captain Kolaff is at the controls. Place an AT-ST in the vehicle lift on the map.

Combat Round 5: Kolaff attacks.

Stormtrooper Tactics: The stormtroopers want to keep the Rebels occupied until Kolaff arrives. They set up a position at medium range (at least 10 meters away) if there is no smoke, falling prone within short range if there is smoke to cover them. They combine fire effectively, most particularly on Rebels who are trying to make it to a parked scout walker. Once Kolaff’s AT-ST rises out of the smoke-filled lift, they work as support for the superior fire power of the walker.

Kolaff's Tactics: Captain Kolaff wants two things — a fight and a win. Kolaff tries to keep the Rebels from using the other AT-STs, until there is only one walker left. He then duels the remaining walker one on one.

Final Exam

Kolaff has left this “gift” for the brave Rebels. He has provided them with AT-STs in order to meet him on the field of battle, assuming they are good enough to get past the last squad of stormtroopers. The obsessed captain has ordered that the Rebels be allowed to board one of the walkers, so that he may administer to them his final lesson. As the PCs enter the cockpit of one of the AT-STs, read the following aloud:

The AT-ST’s holoprojector hums to life. The image of a man’s face appears before you. He is wearing a sleek black command helmet, which seems to complement the stinging grin cracked across his face. A painfully familiar voice speaks. “Welcome, my students, to your final exam.” The confident Kolaff slides a pair of dark goggles over his eyes. “This is a fight between soldiers. Soldiers in the skins of titans. Or should I say farmers in the skins of soldiers in the skins of titans, hmmm?” With that, the AT-ST that arrived on the vehicle lift tips its cockpit toward you in salute. Then it opens fire.

Run the battle in the hangar using all the rules presented here. Let Kolaff’s voice break over the comlinks every so often to complement a good move or to chastise a bad one. The battle ends when the PCs defeat Kolaff and the stormtroopers, or when Kolaff defeats them.

Ending the Episode

Once the haze of combat clears, the PCs can use the lift to lower themselves to the hangar bay that holds the shuttle. Go on to episode six for the grand conclusion.