Tatooine Manhunt

Episode One - The Mission Begins  First Fight The crew of the Blue Dolphin were ordered to head to Kwenn station. The mission was to extract a deep-cover agent, Dana, who was serving as an ensign on the Star Destroyer Relentless. Dana had reported she needed to get some important information back to the Alliance. Arriving on Kwenn station they headed to the agreed rendezvous point – one of the little –used outer corridors on the station. They arrived, just in time to see Dana crumpling to the feet of an imperial officer. The officer was accompanied by what looked like two bounty hunters – one a reptilian the other a wiry looking human female. A third, dressed in mandalorian battle armour, was just leaving the scene through a nearby airlock.   The party immediately leaped into action ,  Ned charged forward to try and help, while Slim fired off a shot that dropped the imperial with a single shot to the head. The others fired at the bounty hunters – winging one of them.  The reptilian bounty hunter lobbed a grenade before charging forward firing his blaster. The female faired off a shot and moved close to the wall seeking partial cover. The grenade detonated right next to where the party was standing! Slim, Ned and Joe were thrown to the floor, Ned and Joe both rendered unconscious. The reptilian charged forward some more firing off a few bolts at Gant, who returned fire - wounding him. The female bounty hunter lobbed a second grenade, which detonated nearby, but didn’t seem to cause much damage the rebels retaliated with an other fusillade of fire, and both bounty hunters dropped!   While Ogela saw to the unconscious Ned and Joe, Slim went to check the reptilian whom he discovered was dead. Gant went to check out Dana but she was dead – what looked like a small dart embedded in her neck. He recovered her datapad before checking on the female bounty hunter but she too was dead. While Ogela escorted the walking wounded back to the Blue Dolphin, Gant and Slim re-arranged the scene to make it look like the two bounty hunters had killed the imperial officers.   Back on the Dolphin, Ogela decided that they’d better leave sharpish before the bodies were discovered and getting clearance from the station started heading out-system. Gant meanwhile accessed Dana’s datapad and discovered the information she had been trying to get back. The Empire had discovered that  Adar Tallon, a great hero of  the Clone Wars, was still alive and in hiding on Tatooine . The Relentless had been sent to retrieve him, but had suffered problems with her hyper-drive and had stopped for repairs. The captain of the Relentless had in the meantime issued a bounty notice on Talon. Gant suggested they needed to head urgently to Tatooine to warn Tallon, and Ogela set the co-ordinates.    On arrival on Tatooine they quickly settled in to a docking-bay and with the help of a small bribe, managed to clear customs. Episode Two - Welcome to Tatooine A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy Having “cleared” Customs, the party headed out into the hot dusty streets of Mos Eisley. A bewildering array of human and alien life-forms thronged the streets that ran between adobe buildings. The twin suns beat down with a merciless heat that sapped the energy. Consulting the map given to her by the Customs Officer Ogela suggested that they check out the Mos Eisley Cantina, by way of Spaceport Speeders! With the lack of any better ideas the other agreed. When they arrived at the speeder shop they found the lot mostly empty, Ogela discovered that over the last 36 hrs the owner of the shop had sold virtually his entire stock to groups of bounty hunters newly arrived on the planet. Leaving Ogela to bargain the rental of one of his few remaining vehicles, the others headed across the street to the Cantina. Slim stayed outside the door keeping a watchful eye, but the others headed in to the cool, dim interior.   They were immediately assaulted by a wall of noise, the babble of the patrons competing with the live band that played in one of the boots on the right. Ned and Gant got some drinks from the somewhat surly barkeep and headed off to a booth near the back, Lilianna was about to follow them when she was accosted by a curious lobster-headed alien. She discovered from the small crowd that quickly gathered round her that she was being challenged to a “Lumguzzling” contest . Not quite sure what Lum was, or why she would want to guzzle it, the Senator was initially reluctant, bus sensing the mood of the nearby patrons, eventually agreed with good grace. In short order she and lobster-head were downing shots of a foul-looking and extremely potent, purple liquid, to accompanying cheers from nearby patrons. In short order Liliahna was completely smashed, and slumped face-down on the bar. Lobster-head, to ironic cheers from the crowd, got to his feet and weaved his way unsteadily towards the back of the Cantina. Eventually, Gant retrieved the Senator and propped her in the corner of the booth to sleep it off. Slim and Ogela eventually joined them and Ogela told them she’d heard from the speeder shop owner that the bounty hunters were all over the town harassing people, looking for Tallon, and that they had based themselves in the cantina. Finishing off their drinks, they decided to head somewhere quieter to eat. Heading towards the café they passed a Dim-U street preacher extolling the virtues of the bantha, Ogela also insisted on stopping at Hef’s Souvenir Shop. They lingered in the shop for some time, browsing the wares and chatting to the owner, whom they discovered was a font of knowledge about the area as he was one of  the few remaining people alive who'd arrived on the original colony ship. Ogela purchased a sandglobe and they headed off for food. After eating they booked into the Spaceport Hotel. That evening at the bar, they discovered a number of the bounty hunters were staying there as well and Ned managed to glean that the hunters were heading out into the Wastes at first sunrise in the morning, but wasn't able to get any real information from the Bounty Hunters, other than they seemed more like a bunch of wannabe amateurs rather than seasoned professionals.   Next morning, while Slim and Ogela headed out into  the city hunting for clues, the others headed for the Cantina. Most of the bounty hunters had departed so the place was somewhat quieter - though the band was still playing away in the corner, and lobster-head was sitting at his usual spot and waved cheerily at the senator. As they went to the bar,  Liliahna overheard a couple of local discussing a murder. As she listened-in she realised it was Hef, the owner of the souvenir shop they had met yesterday , who had been killed in the night. Slim meanwhile had headed over to the Regional Government Office, where with the help of a small bribe managed to track the details of three land purchases made on Tatooine round about the time Tallon had supposedly died. Ogela, following a hunch, headed back to find the the preacher they'd seen yesterday. She discovered that he and his brothers ran a small community at a remote oasis in the Wastes and mused this might be a good place for a fugitive to hide out in.   Death of an Oldster After speaking again to the Preacher, and unaware of the murder, Ogela decided to revisit “The Hef” to quiz the oldster about the Dim-U monastery. When she arrived there she found the place locked up. Going round the back she found “the Hef’s” daughter clearing up the back of the shop after the militia had left. Ogela spoke to her offering condolences at her father’s death. Figuring that “The Hef” may had been killed as he was one of the few people around who’d been in Mos Eisley at the time of Tallon’s “death” she asked about any other people who had been around as long as her father. She discovered there were only two other survivors remaining from the colony ship – Old Arno and the unfortunately named Slag Flats. She also discovered that a single dart to the neck had killed “The Hef”  - the exact same way as Dana had been killed on Kwenn Station. She hurried back to the others to report, meeting Slim on the way. After pooling all the information they had they decided they needed to find the other oldsters to find out what they knew before the bounty hunters got to them. As they left the Cantina, they headed towards the Spaceport Café for lunch. As they passed an alleyway Slim held a frantic scream, looking down he could see three men in bounty hunter armour beating up a fourth. Thinking this might be one of the Oldsters, Slim decided to intervene , firing off a shot from his blaster-rifle that dropped one of the bounty hunters. The others leaped into action and in short order fusillades of blaster bolts were winging up and down the alleyway, leaving all there bounty hunters dead or dying on the ground. Fortunately their victim had not been injured in the exchange and they quickly retrieved him from the alley and hustled away before the militia decided to turn up.  The person they’d rescued was an old drunk, the bounty hunters were apparently after him because he knew Slag. As the party had probably saved his life, he readily agreed to speak to Slag to see if she would meet with the party and arranged to meet them at their hotel at First Twilight. Episode Three - Blood on the Sand The Deadly Water Trap They spent the afternoon shopping for various supplier for a possibly extended trip into the Wastes. Joe checked over the speeder that Ogela had hired and oversaw the fitting of additional sand filters. At first Twilight, the old drunk turned up weaving unsteadily on a repulsorlift scooter. After a brief pause, while Ogela retrieved the landspeeder she’d hired from Spaceport Speeders, he led them to an old deserted water silo a couple of miles outside town. The rebels entered cautiously, discovering bodies everywhere. Gant suddenly realised that it might be politic to keep an eye outside, but as he turned to return to the doorway it slammed shut with an ominous clang! Gant, Ogela and Joe looked frantically for a way out of the room, however they quickly discovered that that doors were blast -doors and magnetically sealed and there appeared to be no controls anywhere within the room. Gant fired a couple of shots at the doors only to have the bolts ricochet dangerously back towards them, casing everyone to dive to the floor hurriedly . Things went from bad to worse as a hitherto unnoticed iris valve in the ceiling opened and water began pouring down from the massive storage tank above. As water began filling the room, the Rebels began calling out for help on their commlinks, P0L-E picked up the call but, stuck back on the ship, there was little the astromech droid could do. Eventually, as the water continued to flood down and the room filled-up they all resorted to swimming, despite Gant placing a chair atop the desk and standing somewhat precariously upon it. As the level of the water neared the ceiling, following Gant's lead they all took a deep breath and swam up through the valve to the storage tank above. The remaining water in the storage tank was still about waist deep, but at least here there was air to breathe.   In the dim gloom, Joe spotted an inspection hatch about four meters above them. Gant gave him a boost and after a few failed attempts he managed to get that hatch open and clamber up onto the surface of the storage tank - just as the Blue Dolphin thundered overhead! P0L-E landed the ship nearby and, lowering the ramp, trundled towards the building. As Joe began clambering down the outside of the storage tank, the droid managed to open the doors, releasing a flood of water into the desert.  Once everyone had gathered together they flew the Dolphin back to the docking-bay - Ogela doing some fast talking to explain to the Port Authorities about the unauthorised flight!   Episode Four - Cantina Ambush Waiting for Arno When they returned to the Hotel, they found a message waiting for them - apparently Old Arno had heard they were looking for him and was willing to meet them at the Cantina. The "meeting" in the cantina turned out to be a bounty hunter ambush - from which they eventually emerged unscathed. By an amazing stoke of luck, Old Arno had in fact heard they were looking for him, and of the impending ambush, and was making his was way to the cantina to warn them when the ambush was sprung. The oldster didn't recall anything specific about Adar Tallon, however he did recall several groups arriving on Tatooine around that time and buying various properties out in the Wastes - which tied in nicely with the information Slim had obtained from the Governor's office. Seeking to help thwart those who had killed his friends, he offered to act as a guide for the party and lead them into the Wastes. They gratefully accepted the oldster's offer and arranged to meet next morning. Arno suggested that they change hotels as the bounty hunters probably knew where they were staying. The Rebels agreed and they duly took rooms at the Lucky Despot Hotel on the outskirts of town. The Lucky Despot was a converted cargo hauler, partially buried in the sands and although the interior was somewhat faded they spent a comfortable enough night.   Episode Five: Exploring the Wastes Here Be Dragons Early next morning they left the hotel, almost immediately noticing that something was different about the town - all the bounty hunters had gone! Arno arrived early next morning in a battered old  skiff. Slim, Ned and Liliahna joined him, the others all piled into the rented speeder and they headed out into the burning sands. Several hours later they spotted smoke on the horizon, Cresting a dune they saw a crashed sail-barge being attacked by three krayt dragons. The occupants of the sail barge looked like some of the hopeless would-be bounty hunters they'd met previously and it was obvious they were in real trouble. There was some debate about whether the Rebels should help the stranded hunters, but eventually they decided to intervene and managed to draw-off the krayt dragon with a series of swooping attacks in the speeder. Sedi Fisk’s Desert Manor The Rebels sped away from the Sail barge only to be attacked by another krayt dragon that reared up from the sand under Arno’s skiff causing it to  nose-dive into the sand. Arno was knocked unconscious in the crash, but Liliahna, Ned and Slim were thrown free. Seeing the crash, Ogela swung  her landspeeder round, as she did, Gant drew his blaster and began  firing at the heavily armoured beast.   Liliahna, realising that she had landed next to the beast, hurriedly crawled for cover as Slim calmly fired off a shot at it – unfortunately the creatures thick scaly hide protected it against the blasts. Unfortunately for it it’s hide proved less resilient against  Ned’s lightsabre, as the oldster calmly strode forward, and with a single blow, decapitated the huge beast. The immediate danger disposed of, Liliahna tended to Arno whilst Slim took charge of the others in  righting the skiff an ensuring there was no serious damage. In short order they were heading off across the desert again. Arno was too woozy to drive the skiff so Gant took the controls following the oldster’s directions towards a distant range of mountains. The arrived at the mouth of the canyon, which at this late hour was shrouded in shadow,  rather than brave the unknown route in darkness, they decided to camp there for the night. The night passed relatively uneventfully, but at first sunrise, Ned noticed tracks around the vehicles and several of the group noticed small items and trinkets missing from their possessions – obviously that had received visitors in the night! Before second sunrise, they headed into the canyon which twisted for a couple of miles before they reached the settlement. When they got there however they found it in ruins. Judging by the the  gaffi stick Slim found , Arno advised it had been  attacked  Sandpeople. The ruins were also infested by womp rats, which swarmed out to attack the party as they investigated. Slim was badly injured as they swarmed round, but Liliahna and Ogela helped carry him back to the skiff as  Ned and Gant covered their retreat. After Slim received some medical attention, Arno suggested that they head towards Oasis, where they could expect a better welcome form the Dim-U priests and their community. They set off once more across the burning sands, arriving at the small community just as the second sun was setting. Dryon, the high priest welcomed them and invited them to join the community in a meal. The Rebels accepted  and joined them in the Meal Hall. Gant seemed a little grumpy, but the rest spent a pleasant time enjoying the atmosphere.  They also discovered that a party of bounty hunters had shown up at the settlement earlier that afternoon, though Dryon had sent them packing! The pleasantries came to an abrupt end   as a smoking grenade crashed through the window and the sound of blaster-fire erupted outside. Gunfight at the Dim-U Oasis As a white foul smelling gas began spewing from the grenade, the Rebels leaped into action – except for Ned who calmly finished his jasmine tea! Slim and Joe headed for one window while Gant and Ogela for another other. Slim grabbed a chair and smashed the window  and Joe dived through – unfortunately straight into a fusillade of blaster fire. Seeing, Joe go down hard, Gant fired off a couple or shots and crashed through the window - reaching for a medipack. Ogela headed for the door,  and  opened it a crack , drawing fire from the workshop across the yard. The banthas in the yard, spooked by the blaster fire charged off into the night, lowing piteously. As the Rebels returned fire one of the Bounty hunters went down  - dead. Another, wounded, dived for cover, returning fire. A couple of shots from the workshop narrowly missed Ogela as she crouched in the doorway. She spotted two of the bounty hunters sneaking along the sandwall and used the cover of the darkness to sneak out into the yard and follow. Ned, having finished his tea, headed for the side exit, quietly drawing his lightsabre. Slim and Gant, after administering first-aid to Joe, charged across the yard and, leaping over the low wall that encircled it, fired at the wounded bounty hunter there. Ned, lurking in the shadows, spotted the two bounty hunters working round the side of the building, and waited patiently lightsabre at the ready. As they entered the building, he triggered the Jedi weapon and moved to engage – wounding one of them. The other managed to get a shot off before Ogela dropped  from the yard.  Gant, moved forward across towards the workshop, he took-out one bounty hunter crouched in the doorway, but as he moved to the side of the building,  fell foul of a blaster shot from the window next to him. Two bounty hunters, one a woman, emerged from the workshop to finish Gant off, Slim called out from across the yard, drawing attention to himself.  The female trigged a force pike and charged forward, only for fall to a serried of shots from Slim. Ogela and Ned charged forward, Ogela to use a medipack on Gant, Ned to take the last remaining bounty hunter into custody. The battle over, the citizens of the community emerged from their houses and began helping with the clean-up.  Those bounty hunters not killed were disarmed and taken to the store-room where they could be treated securely. As things settled down once more, Dryon told the rebels he’d send word to the authorities in Mos Eisley in the morning. Having now fully gained the trust of the Dim-U monks, Dryon assured them that Tallon was not present in the community, and offered them what aid his monks could give. Next morning the Rebels set out into the Wastes early after First Dawn, replenished by what suppliers the Oasis community could spare. Episode Six: Battle in the Desert The Wounded Sniper After a couple of hours heading across the Wasters, Slim spotted a smudge of smoke on the horizon. Arno informed them it seemed to be coming from the direction of Lank's Farm. Deciding to investigate the headed the vehicles in that direction. When they arrived it was to a scene of burning buildings and smoking wreckage. Stopping the vehicles, Ogela, Slim and Gant made their way cautiously towards the main building to be met by a somewhat erratic flurry of blaster fire.  While Joe took up a covering position, Ned began making his way cautiously to the sidle of the building via the burning outbuildings. Slim and Ogela hit the dirt and began crawling forwards, Gant took to his heels heading towards the safety of the building walls and consequently drawing most of the hidden sniper's attention - although none of the shots actually came near.   Ned, peered in through one of the broken windows near him and to his surprise saw that the "sniper" was actually a young girl, about nine or ten years old,  dressed in tattered clothing and sobbing uncontrollably. Calling out to the others to hold their fire, he spoke softly to the young girl and managed to calm her. Entering the building, he relieved her of the blaster and called the others through. The girl introduced herself as Reen and they managed to get the story that a man "tall and silver and dressed in shiny armour and carrying all kinds of weapons" had attacked the farm killing her parents. She had hidden in the basement while the "shiny man" had searched the place - looking for something.   While Gant arranged for Old Arno to take Reen back to Mos Eisley, the others searched for tracks , but all they could find was some droid prints. As soon as Arno and the girl were safely away, they headed back into the Wastes heading for Fort Tusken.  The fort lay on the far side of "the Barrier" a solid wall of rock that punctuated this part of the Wastes, and was only accessible through a narrow pass. The entrance to the pass was marked by three cairns composed of pillars of armour, helmets and various machine parts - as they passed they recognised familiar bounty hunter gear - recently added to the piles. Nearby they found a group of bounty hunters, dead and dying, that had apparently been ambushed by Tallon.   They headed into the pass - only to run straight into a Bantha stampede. They just had timer to notice that the lead Bantha had the body of a bounty hunter strapped to it's front when the herd hit them! Fortunately the rebels emerged from the stampede more-or-less unscathed, but their landspeeder was trashed. The salvaged what they could from the wreckage and began trudging down the pass. As they neared the end of the pass they were ambushed by the Sandpeople. Somewhat uncharacteristically, Gant decided to surrendered rather than fight it out, and their hands tied behind them, they were escorted to the nearest Sandpeople settlement.   Once at the settlement, Gant was brought before the tribal elders. He was able to work out that the Sandpeople though they were more bounty hunters and that they really didn't like bounty hunters. Guessing that the bounty hunters had been asking questions of the locals with their customary tact and subtlety, Gant was somehow able to convince the Sandpeople elders that they had a common enemy.  The Sandpeople, after offering supplies, led the party to the end of the pass and pointed them in the direction of  Fort Tusken. Episode Seven - Slaughter at Tusken Fort  The General As they approached the old fort which stood atop a small plateau that overlooked a ruined settlement, the Rebels had the distinct view that they were being watched the whole time. Deciding that the direct approach was best they marched up to the front door and knocked! The door was opened by Shrike, an insectoid alien who greeted them cordially and inquired as their business - observing that they didn't get many visitors. Slim whipped out his Rebel Forces i.d. card and said they were here to see the General.   Shrike invited them in and led them through the comfortably appointed interior to a chamber with a high-domed ceiling and lavish furnishings. An old man, dressed in a plain black tunic, raised a glass as they entered and said "And now the hiding ends". The General was joined by his wife and  Quist, another of his retainers. As he asked the Rebels their business.  Ogela and Slim began to explain, but it was clear that the general was sceptical, seeming to believe they were in fact Imperial agent, however the presence of Ned, a Jedi, eventually seemed to convince him.   As the discussion ranged, Slim suddenly noticed that Quist seemed uncomfortable and looked like he was operating something under cover of his cloak, but before he could react Quist suddenly pulled a gun and pointing it at Tallon's wife said "I'm sorry commander there's no other way!" With that both sets of doors to the room swung open and armed bounty hunters charged the room - led by one in Mandallorian battle-armour!   The rebels reacted swiftly and the blaster bolts started flying. Two of the bounty hunters in the first group went down swiftly but Ogela and Gant took hits as well! Joe fired at the second group and Ned waded in, his lightsabre swinging in elegant, devastating sweeps. He took out one bounty hunter before turning his attention to their leader - who's armour proved little aid against the ancient Jedi weapon. Slim drawing a vibroblade charged forward and hacked at Quist's gun-arm. As the gun - and the hand holding it - fell to the ground, the general swung a roundhouse kick at Quist's head and, grabbing his wife, hustled her to relative safety behind the desk.   With their leader lying in the floor in two pieces it didn't take the rebels long to mop up the rest of the bounty hunter force, and before long calm was restored to the old fortress.  While his household staff and  Shrike cleaned up the mess, the final arrangements were made with Tallon and his wife to evacuate before the Imperials arrived.   They made excellent time on their way back to Mos Eisley, but arrived to find the city in uproar. The Relentless had arrived in-system and  those with anything to fear from the heavy hand of the Empire - and there were many - were scurrying about trying to either get off-planet or find somewhere to hide. They ran into Old Arno who warned them that the spaceport had been sealed! The prefect and his small force of stormtroopers proved little deterrent to the Rebels on their way - particularly in face of a speeding aircar heading straight towards them and a thermite grenade! Once past the troopers they quickly headed for the Blue Dolphin's docking-bay. Arriving,  they were subjected to a final attack by the bounty hunters. The "shiny man" who had destroyed Lenk's Farm was an assassin Droid and was lying in wait. The droid managed to wound the General before he too fell victim to Ned's lightsabre and the concentrated fire of the others.   Once aboard the Blue Dolphin, they quickly basted off. Gant checked out the General discovering his wound wasn't too bad and after patching him up headed for the lower gunnery port. As they headed out of atmosphere Slim, dropped out of the specially adapted cargo-bay in his x-wing to provide escort cover.   The Sensors picked up the Relentless coming in-system and ahead of her were three waves of TIE fighters. They fought their way through the first of these before successfully making the jump to lightspeed and safety!