Crimson Squadron - a Star Wars campaign
A gurps lite exploration with x-wing miniature space combat.
Characters
BBOR9 Former Docking bay engineer droid played by Daniel.bowling
Pwando Duru Rough and tumble soldier played by Anthonius
Dakotan Defecting Imperial Officer played by Brokunn
Campaign Background
We are situated in the Gaulus sector of the Outer Rim Territories. Near the home-planet of the Twi’lek, Ryloth.
The party is composed of experienced adventurers of various types, all capable of flying a star-fighter in combat, though some better than others. Your characters have reason to cooperate and work against the Galactic Empire or would not have been chosen to fly in the Crimson Squadron.
You start on a small space refueling station known as Staion76 which is also a secret waypoint for Rebellion activity.
Recently, you’ve been asked or ordered to participate in a new Rebel splinter acting out of station 76, which while being a refueling and not-so-secret smuggling station, has not been known to be a rebel base. Someone is about to change that. They’ve gathered a few hodge-podge star-fighters, some munitions and enough intel to begin applying pressure to some imperial resources.
Mission 1
There is a small research facility on a large asteroid within one parsec. We have reason to believe a recent communicae, though using a very old encryption method and only partially deciphered, is from a high-level researcher who is wishing to join the rebellion. She has reached out and asked for an extraction after the installation has been occupied by imperial forces.
We have reason to believe this mission, though likely not highly dangerous must be executed rapidly before whatever she was researching falls into the Empire’s hands...if we’re not already too late.
Our surveillance of imperial transit also indicates an imperial shuttle is in the area and may be bound for the research facility.
Try to beat them there and find Doctor Carelle before she succumbs to the imperial grasp. Your fighters are being prepped in the hidden docking bay beneath the trash compactor. May the Force be with you.
What Happened
Three of Crimson Squadron jumped to the coordinates; Marson and Dakotan in X-wing fighters and BBOR9 in an Arc170. As they approached, two patrolling TIE Fighters banked to close the distance. Before any comm was commenced, BBOR9 fired proton torpedoes at the lead TIE, who dodged. After a brief dog-fight the rebels were victorious and flew into the docking bay, led by Marson who blasted a parked imperial shuttle as he flew in. BBOR9 followed suit and laid into one of the 2 TIE fighters docked in the bay.
As the rebels de-planed, the blast doors on the docking bay closed and Marson noticed two bodies in the adjoining control room. BBOR9 immediately approached the console and jacked in. He turned off the attack alert and re-opened the blast door. The party gathered and opened the control room door and Marson listened through with his cybernetic ear hearing little, other than the words "doctor" and "escape". The door was opened with Marson kneeling ready to blast in the front. As the door opened, Dak shouted for whomever was in the room to cease and put their hands over their heads. One of the confused spacers within complied while the other charged Marson who dropped his blaster and grappled the man to the floor.
After some commands from Dak and threatening motions from Marson's blaster, Bert and Clif complied. BBOR9 jacked into the control room console and downloaded schematics of the research facility and access logs and tapped into surveillance footage throughout the facility.
While a plan was hatched, Marson boarded the damaged imperial shuttle and changed from his rebel flight suit into an imperial pilot jumpsuit.
After finding the doctor via video surveillance in the ante-chamber of the latrine, Dak and Marson had Bert lead them through the facility to her via maintenance tunnels, while BBOR9 and Clif surveilled and unlocked doors from the docking bay command room.
Passing through the mess hall and into the kitchen the trio picked up a trail of concerned facility workers. Dak and Bert talked them down, then Bert led the rebels through the walk-in cooler to maintenance and machinery tunnels behind the walls of the facility. Behind the walls, the remote support of BBOR9 was crippled. After Bert made an educated guess at the proper door Marson listened and heard two sets of footsteps. Assuming them Dr. Carelle and her aide, the opened the maintenance door and entered the hallway to find imperial midshipman Shneel with a woman. Dak ordered him to stop and for the woman to come with him, then asked Shneel if the woman was "the target". Shneel gave a suspicious look and asked the Captain if he had been properly briefed. Dak asked for an update and as Shneel stepped back and reached for his comm, Marson quick-drew his blaster as Dak shouted for him to stop and drop the comm, noting that their comms had been compromised by imperial technicians and were not to be used under any circumstance. That's why Dak and his pilot accomplice where not fully briefed. Dak then ordered Shneel and the woman to join him while Marson and Bert cleared the latrine for any stragglers. They convinced the Dr. to follow them back to the bay to get away. Carelle was relieved her dated rebel encryption worked. The party opted to have BBOR9 lead them through the corridors via surveillance and door locking rather than going back through potentially hazardous maintenance tunnels. Rounding once corner, they group encountered two storm troopers carrying crates of research equipment. Dak convinced them to move along, as they were and the group reached the docking bay control room. Dak dismissed Shneel to the "lower level" and watched him confusedly go back down the hall into the facility. The group debated which ship(s) to take and settled on the supply freighter after noting the imperial shuttle though shielded and more luxurious had no hyperdrive and was unable to jump back to Station76. As the group loaded into the light freighter and strapped into some make shift seating, Dak and Clif and Bert (debating to stay or go) saw Shneel lead 4 storm troopers into the bay, pointing at the ship as BBOR9 fired it up. Seeing Dak and Marson in imperial attire confused the troopers, despite the anxious pleas of the Mid-shipman. Dak yelled that rebels were infiltrating the facility and pointed behind the troopers. Marson dove out of the closing freighter ramp as Bert, Dak and Clif scrambled in and the troopers advanced leveling their blaster rifles. They fired on the two ships' cock-pits as Marson fired up his x-wing and blasted out of the bay, followed by BBOR9 sloppily knocking over a parked TIE and bumping the left x-wing. As Marson wheeled his X-wing back executing a Koiogran turn to provide cover the single remaining TIE took flight to give chase. BBOR9 wasted no time using his lightning calculator and ship engineering to rapidly jump to hyperspace and back to station 76, followed shortly by Marson in his X-wing.
While the researcher and two of her aids were recovered, two rebel fighters, complete with jump drives and recent coordinates were left behind. BBOR9's data scrape revealed that the Captain deployed to the facility was known to mostly have experience on planet-side operations and his escort's IDs indicate they were all academy trainees. There's hope that they neither have the experience to fly the left ships or the know-how to harvest data from them.
Mission Two
Kardon Brigg, your “Commanding Officer” at Station 76 was pleased you brought in Doctor Carelle, and she and her assistants have been assets already to helping keep Station 76 off of imperial radars. He calls you into his office for a meeting.
“We’ve been farming information brokers all over to find the ARC 170 and x-wings you left behind, and to gather intel about the Doctor’s research and it’s whereabouts. We haven’t gotten a bead on the x-wing and suspect the empire still has it within their iron grasp. However, the ARC has popped up on planet-side on Plooruu, a small jungle planet in the same system as the research station. Plooru is known as a vicious place for both its wildlife and the mercenaries who frequent it. We have a man on the ground, an ex-soldier named Pwando Duru. You’re to meet him in a cantina in a cliffside “resort,” then work your way back through a bit of the jungle to where we believe the ARC is. We’re going to send you with a cred-card loaded with enough we hope you can buy it back. Bring it home if you can, or find out who has it. That ARC was a versatile combat fighter we want back, starships are expensive, but so are talented pilots. Be careful about engaging any combat down there. May the Force be with you”
Dr. Carelle has been able to modify Imperial sensor jammer tech and equip your ships with it, so it should give you a bit of an edge if you end up in future dog fights. Rebel techs have also equipped a YT 2400 freighter for you to take down wing one x-wing.
You start parked in a clearing with a few yacht-type vessels in a clearing where the jungle has been cut back and hemmed out with 20 ft-tall electro-fencing below an elaborate cliff-side building some 200 feet above, appearing like a bunch of black and gold bubbles erupting from greenery and cascading waterfalls.