Main Page: Starfall
The Rebels flight from the detention block has led them to the upper levels of the engineering section. With Walex Blissex’s help, they begin a journey that will take them to the heart of the Star Destroyer- to the engine control core! But on the way they must circumvent collapsing engines and other hazards, while trying to ascertain exactly what is going on outside the dying ship.
Blissex's Plan
Once the Rebels safely reach the empty corridor outside the turbolift shaft, Blissex comes out of the semi-conscious state induced by the Interrogator Droid. He takes a moment to get his bearings and says:
“We are in an access corridor just above the engineering section. I believe that we can find a computer terminal in one of the work stations. It should be a simple matter to get into the computer and determine just what we are up against. What do the rest of you think?”
Blissex eagerly wants to hear what the Rebels have to say about the situation. But he also believes that since he knows the interior design of the Victory-Class so well, his plan is the best. At least until they reach a computer and gather more data.
If the heroes choose to accept Blissex’s plan, he leads them to a blast door. Behind the door is the emergency entry into the engineering section. Blissex explains:
“Behind this blast door we will find a staircase leading down into one of the smaller sublight propulsion units. From there, if the damage isn’t severe, we should be able to find a computer work station that we can borrow. But first we must get this blast door open, and I am not very good with security programs.”
Blissex will try to open the Blast Door, but he fails. He isn’t proficient at manipulating existing programs. The heroes must handle these types of chores. To open the Blast Door, a Rebel must use the access port beside the doorway to get into the lock override program. A DC 16 Use Computer check, followed by a harder DC 21 Use Computer roll opens the door. Then proceed to “The Burning Engine.”
If the heroes decide to take a different route, use the Gamemaster's Guide to VSD Subjugator to help describe locations. Just make sure to use the events presented in this episode no matter what route they take.
The Burning Engine
When the heroes open the Blast Door to the engineering section, they are greeted by a terrible sight. Read:
The blast doors slide open and a burst of hot air forces you back. You see a twisted metal staircase that descends into a raging inferno! The large area beyond the blast door is a sublight propulsion unit shaft, and the cylindrical sublight engine itself is burning. But it appears that the staircase can be used to reach a suspended catwalk which opens onto a workstation.
The Rebels must climb down the twisted staircase, using two DC 16 Climb checks to reach the catwalk. Pause between each roll, building the suspense as the chamber shakes and small explosions play across the burning engine column. Once three heroes have crossed the catwalk and reached the workstation, another explosion rips the catwalk lose from the wall. Anyone on it must make a DC 19 Acrobatics check to stay atop the swaying walkway. Now, hanging on by the merest of fasteners, the catwalk presents a hazard for those still on it and those yet to cross it. Two successful DC 16 Acrobatics checks allow each remaining hero to reach the work station. Those who fail have one last chance to catch themselves before falling to their deaths. They must make a DC 24 Acrobatics check.
Once they reach the workstation, go on to event one.
Event One: Accessing the Computer
In the work station, the Rebels find a computer access terminal. There are a number of these throughout the Star Destroyer that work, but they only provide the information presented in the pullout when the text says to. If the heroes ask Walex Blissex to access the computer, he tries but without success. He just doesn’t have the aptitude in computer programming.
The character elected to access the computer must first make a DC 13 Use Computer check.
If he or she succeeds, display the full color Star Destroyer Technical Readout to the players (Here). If they wish to continue, have them make a DC 16 Use Computer check. Success means they receive “Computer Monitor #1,” below. This provides the Rebels with some information about the state of the Star Destroyer, and also tells them that Subjugator has been set to self-destruct in approximately three hours.
If a character fails a roll, they cannot try again. Someone else must attempt another try, at a difficulty one level higher than the difficulty that was failed (DC 21). If anyone decides to check for security monitoring, they must make a DC 21 Use Computer check to determine that they are indeed being monitored.
Once they get a chance to examine the data they have received, they should realize that the engine control core is the next place they should proceed to. Blissex says that he can turn the self-destruct program against them if he can reach the main control station in the core.
“No one knows the working of this ship better than I do,” explains Blissex. “I can manipulate the destruct mechanism to explode one hour earlier than the Imperials expect. That should take out the remaining crew and this vessel, while still providing us with enough of a buffer to reach the hangar bays and escape. Follow me.”
A DC 20 Perception check (Or Taking 20) uncovers enough Breath Masks for everyone. Breath Masks allow the Rebels to survive in near-vacuum, but do not protect them from hard-vacuum.
The Trip to the Core
Blissex leads the Rebels through a door in the work station. Once they reach the corridor beyond, a gigantic explosion in the sublight engine shaft throws them to the floor. If they open the Blast Door to look back, read:
The far side of the engine column has ruptured, piercing the outer hull from the inside. You see flames and smoke boiling off of the shattered engine and rolling out into the exposed vacuum of space. Already the air thins and freezes, forming another dead chamber in the dying Star Destroyer. Walex warns you to come away and seal the door before more atmosphere is lost.
Now Blissex takes them through corridors and shafts that have suffered some damage, but not to the extent of some places they have seen. They proceed down levels toward the core with little trouble. They do, however, run into an MSE-6 Repair Droid (See the Gamemaster's Guide to VSD Subjugator for suggestions on how to run that encounter). Feel free to add any other encounters pertaining to the wrecked ship you like, such as corridors of near-vacuum or exploding walls that seal the path ahead or behind. When you have had enough fun with these types of encounters, go on to Event Two.
Event Two: Meeting Captain Kolaff
As they move through the massive vessel, the Rebels enter an area that is strangely quiet. The corridor they are moving through is wide and low, with intersections about 30 meters apart. With shocking suddenness, a squad of six Stormtroopers appears in the intersection behind the Rebels and open fire. There is no Cover, but the troopers are at Medium Range.
The first Rebel to reach the next intersection finds a devastating surprise. The Imperials have positioned one tri-mounted E-Web Repeating Blaster with a crew of three Stormtroopers in the left corridor. A DC 14 Perception check allows the most attentive hero to notice that a Blast Door's Control Panel lies just beyond the intersection. If it can be reached, the Rebels can seal the corridor behind them, giving them time to get away. But reaching the Blast Door means crossing the intersection, and crossing the intersection means getting past the E-Web.
One round after the heroes discover the E-Web Repeating Blaster, read the following aloud:
As the deadly blaster fire thickens, the shipwide comlink crackles to life. A smoothly sarcastic voice adds itself to the din of battle. “Are times so trying in the Rebellion that they have armed moisture farmers and used-Droid salesman against the might of the Empire? Must they leave it to me to train you as soldiers? So be it. Your first lesson is called 'neutralizing a crossfire position.’ Do try not to panic.”
This is the voice of Captain Kolaff. A Rebel who makes a DC 19 Perception check remembers it as the voice of the Imperial captain who greeted them at Kwenn. Kolaff uses the comlink as a psychological weapon, trying to make the Rebels believe that he is in total control of the situation and merely toying with them. Actually, both the forces at his command and his methods of surveillance have been greatly depleted. He has only become aware that they escaped when they accessed the computer (Or when they ran into the Mouse Droid).
The Stormtroopers behind the Rebels move in and Aid Another with their attacks at the fugitives. The E-Web Repeating Blaster is operated by two Stormtroopers, one firing and one feeding energy clips. The third stands guard beside them. Because the intersection is particularly wide, the E-Web can fire twice at a target moving across. Try to make it clear to the players that there is absolutely no Cover here, and they must act quickly to avoid being cut to pieces.
Once the Blast Door Control Panel is reached, a DC 21 Use Computer check allows a hero to operate it (As with other Control Panels, however, a hero can simply destroy the panel to close the Blast Door). Once closed, the Stormtroopers have to call the bridge to have the door opened again. This gives the Rebels adequate time to escape.
Event Three: Back to School
Before long, the Rebels reach a blocked corridor. But an open blast door leads into what seems to be a repair facility. Racks of engine parts line the far wall, and dismantled sublight modulators lie on a central table. Another door across the shop leads into what seems to be a clear corridor. This is the only way to go unless the heroes want to retrace their path and risk running back into the Stormtroopers. A second door on the far wall is closed. Blissex says that the passage through the repair shop isn’t the most direct route, but it will be quicker than back-tracking. As the Rebels enter the repair shop, read the following out loud:
You enter the deserted shop, noting how equipment seems to have been left in the middle of use. You hear the scrape of an armored boot across the metal floor and spin to meet whoever approaches. A flash of light explodes in front of you, blinding you with its brilliance. When your eyes clear, your vision remains obscured as the room fills with thick grey smoke. More armored footsteps sound, and a familiar voice resonates from the shipwide comlink. “So good of you to find us. Welcome to lesson number two. I call it ‘stacking the deck.’ I suggest you refrain from coughing, so as not to attract undue attention.”
Ten Stormtroopers have entered through the once-closed door across the room. Because of the equipment in their helmets, they suffer no ill effects from the riot-control smoke. Rebels not wearing Breath Masks must make DC 14 Endurance checks every round that they remain in the room. If a hero fails the roll, he or she moves -1 step down the Condition Track. The Stormtroopers disperse themselves and fan out into the room, attempting to cover as much space as possible. The smoke limits what the heroes can see (Granting Concealment), but begins to dissipate in six rounds, with visibility returning to normal on the seventh round. Once the cloud dissipates the Stormtroopers retreat back into the corridor from which they emerged, shutting the blast door behind them. The open passage that Blissex wanted to take remains clear.
Heroes can retrieve Blaster Rifles from any Stormtroopers who fall during the fight, but you must check to see how much ammo remains in the Power Packs (Roll 3d6 to determine the number of shots left in each blaster recovered here).
Event Four: A Welcome Reprieve
The corridor beyond the repair shop passes one of the many medical stations scattered throughout the Star Destroyer. Read:
This large chamber is obviously a medical station, and it appears strained under the weight of a ship full of casualties. Twelve bacta tanks fill the center of the chamber. Three of these have been shattered due to the damage Subjugator has sustained, their life- giving fluids splashed across the metal floor. But the other tanks are intact, each holding a wounded man. The beds and examination tables are filled as well, and other wounded crew members spill into the crowded corridor.
As you look around, a frantic medical Droid pops out from behind the tanks and says, “None of my assistants answered my duty alert, so you’ll just have to wait until I get around to you. So many wounded, so many dead.”
The droid is programmed to tell the sick or wounded from the healthy, not Rebel from Imperial, so the PCs should be safe here. While none of the bacta tanks are available, the medical Droid will use his built-in supplies to heal any Rebels who need it (provided they are cooperative and don’t blurt out that they are the enemy). The Droid simulates the effects of medpacs with its diagnostic and treatment appendages.
If the PCs attempt to destroy any of the equipment here, the wounded men will band together and defend the station to the best of their abilities, but only 15 are in good enough condition to fight. If the PCs make DC 20 Perception rolls (or take 20), they find two Medpacs. and four blaster energy cells that they can take. Roll four six-sided dice to determine how many shots each cell contains.
After the Rebels are satisfied that they have found everything they are going to, Blissex reminds them of the time and suggests they continue on to the engine core. Go on to episode three.