Star Wars D6: Green Vipers Episode IV

Episode IV - The Pirates of Pilahni

Introduction:

The Long Shot campaign continues with the published adventure "The Pirates of Prexiar" which features in the excellent Star Wars D6 REUP rulebook which you can find here by clicking on this text. This adventure took 2 sessions to run. As usual, I own none of the images which were mostly sourced from google, and thieved from the REUP book. Please note that this is an advert free, not for profit blog. 

Additionally, please visit The Rancor Pit. The support shown to me by fellow GMs and players there has been wonderful - thanks again to all of you who are reading these write ups! 

The Pirate Camp:

Jungle on Pilahni

Music Cue: Mouse Robot and Blasting Off

Not knowing what the data cache looks like, the Vipers decide to worry about that later, and simply focus on getting to the supply crates. The first hurdle they encounter is crawling under the shock fence by the stream. All goes well until the last Rebel - Skye Bodelyn - clips the fence. The electrical shock is amplified by the stream she is crawling through and she is knocked unconscious! Jimi pulls her free and Kira cracks open a medkit to revive her friend. The team push on past the kitchens and then head for the tool shop.

Note the PCs in the red box on the bottom left hand corner

Time is running out before dawn and they hug the shadows as best as they can, but as they make a break for clear grounds, Jimi looses his footing on some loose stones, and not seeing him in the dusk light, Skye trips over him! Nearby guards approach to investigate. Kira and JiBa make it behind the landing struts, while mercenary Kaleban lies down and eyes the pirates approach through his rifle sight. The spooked guards fire a blind shot into the dark. Although Jimi and Skye regain their footing, the sound of them rushing across the open ground draws in the guards further - with further guards rushing from the rear of the corvette!

Music Cue: Return of the Jedi

As the guards unwittingly approach them, JiBa and Kira spring from the shadows and stab repeatedly at the pirate sentries, killing both after a brief scuffle! Kira checks the pirate communicators and realises that they've been detected! With the sun now rising and reinforcements on the way, they need to move fast! JiBa climbs the landing gear and impressively uses the fine gaps in the ship's hull plating to climb the overhang and get on top of the ship! 

JiBa

JiBa provides a distraction from above the corvette, drawing the guards below towards him, providing Kira and Kaleban the opportunity to catch the guards in a crossfire, killing both! Jimi and Skye get bogged down in a firefight with the two guards guarding the cargo, but eventually both are incapacitated and the way is cleared for them!

JiBa leaps from the corvette on to the skiff which Kira takes control of. The rest approach the crates while more pirates - guards from nearby warehouses - close in on them!

Jimi hears shouting coming from his crate. His gun at the ready, he flips the crate open - and a protocol droid springs out! 

C4-S0: Thank the maker! Master Lens Reekeene must have sent you to save me!

Jimi: I'm not so sure about that!

C4-S0: Oh dear! Please help me escape this awful place!

C4-S0

Skye discovers a light repeating blaster in the crates and, aided by Kaleban and Jimi, opens fire upon the pirates! Kira revs up the skiff and launches it through those not cut down by the withering Rebel fire! The team load up the skiff with the cargo crates and hop on board. C4 waves his hands despairingly!

C4-S0: Wait for meeeeeee!

Jimi hauls the protocol droid on board as Kaleban takes over the skiff's controls and guns it for the entrance! Kira deploys the repeating blaster on the tripod at the rear of the skiff and blasts a guard from one of the towers! He falls upon the shock fence, electrocuted in his last moments! Seeing ten pirates ahead of him, Kaleban floors the accelerator and mows down the entire mob - but is shot from the tower! 

With Kaleban collapsing, Skye desperately grabs the controls and just manages to slow the skiff enough to spin it around, the rear smashing a tower down! The scaffolding crashing around them, a guard crashes on to the deck. JiBa is quick to react, instantly driving his sword through the prone pirate! Skye brings the skiff around and drives it out into the jungle...

Skye Bodelyn

Jungle Chase:

Music Cue: Duel of the Fates

Before long though, the Vipers hear the sound of speeder bikes! Six pirates quickly make up ground on the slow-moving skiff and trade blaster shots with the Vipers! C4-S0 barks suggestions to aid Skye in her piloting the skiff, but if the robot's demands to pull on different levers annoy her, she doesn't let it affect her. JiBa screams insults at the riders, daring them to pull up alongside so he can spear them with his sword, while Jimi and Kaleban take potshots at the bikers. Jimi's shots go astray but Kaleban blasts a biker from his mount! Kira looses several volleys from the repeating blaster - to deadly effect, taking down another two bikers and wounding another! 

Kira Rishkar

Music Cue: General Grevious

The bikers break off the pursuit as the skiff heads through a clearing...no one spots two AT-PT walkers waiting at the far end of the clearing to ambush the skiff! 

Pirates and AT-PT Walkers

Heavy fire from the walkers broadside the skiff - knocking C4-S0 from the skiff - and, smoke billowing from one side, it comes to a standstill. Kaleban leaps from the skiff and rushes off to one side, taking potshots at one walker to draw its fire from the skiff. The walkers advance, but, somewhat fortuitously miss both Kaleban and the skiff! Jimi realises that if they switch a power coupling over, they can bring the skiff back online. Skye snatches the cables from him, and the engines roar to life. Kira's repeating blaster strikes a power regulator on one of the walkers, and it is disabled! Meanwhile, JiBa refuses to lift the 'dumb droid' back on the skiff, only relenting when Kaleban moves to do so! With both back on board, Skye guns the skiff forward at break-neck speed and away from the last walker!

Kaleban Maars

The Pirate Corvette

Music Cue: The Forest Battle

As they Vipers finally return to the Long Shot, they see the pirate corvette circling in the sky, searching the jungle for them - but 10 pirates have been dropped off and are planting detonite charges on the ship! Skye brings the skiff in close to the ship and Jimi tells Captain Ixthmus to take off to shake the boarding party loose. He starts firing up the engines - while a deadly firefight ensues between the Vipers and the pirates! With the whole team laying down heavy fire, the pirates are cut down one after another - but Jimi takes a blaster shot to the head. He recovers and incapacitates another with his stun weapon! But the last pirate standing returns another shot - and he is hit on the head a second time...killing him!

Jimi Ackbar

Music Cue: Into the Trap

Finishing off the last pirates, they take his body on board the Long Shot and make a hasty blast-off. Vangar's corvette follows them in quick pursuit, but a pinpoint shot from Kaleban on the turbolasers punches through the shields and hull to damage the generators! Vangar is forced to make a hasty landing while the Long Shot makes the jump to hyperspace.

C4-S0 reveals that he is the data package that Lens sent them to retrieve; the Rebel Transport he was on was sending supplies to Callonia to prepare for Operation Retribution.

On return to Nowhere, Lens Reekeene shares the Vipers' grief at the lost of Captain Jimi Ackbar. The team decide that they will bury him at sea when they are next on an appropriate planet to give him a proper send off. Lens also reveals that Tarrik Nightburner's old droid R3-FU has had its power restored and a brand new motivator installed. It will need a variety of other parts to be brought up to full functionality, but, despite being worried by Kaleban's amusement that the droid will prove a magnet for blaster fire, it is brought into the team. C4-S0 seems happy as he doesn't understand human behaviour - although when FU cheeks him, he slams its dome in anger! Lens promises that she will have another rebel assigned to their squad to replace Jimi. Lens points out that the team needs a new leader. JiBa leaps at the opportunity, and this time no one objects. He will be their captain with immediate effect! 

R3-FU

Battered and broken at the loss of Jimi, the Vipers wonder what role they will have to play in Operation Retribution....

To be continued... 

Closing Reflections

Another fun adventure! Skye once again used a force point when she gunned the skiff away from the AT-PT and recovered it. It was really sad that Jimi was killed outright - a difference of 16 is an automatic kill and gallingly that was the difference. Jimi's player took it well and agreed fair's fair as we said we'd stand by rolls and avoid fudging, even if it meant character death. I thought it was fun to make new player character C4-S0 be the actual data that the team were looking for - and Operation Retribution was brought into the game background as that is the next one in the Long Shot campaign. 

Watch out for another report soon!