Doomsayer Session 08

26 June 2022: The PCs successfully execute an elaborate plan to capture the Umbaran crime lord Castus. They also experience an unusual shared vision through the artifact.

Previous: Doomsayer Session 07

Plot Summary
While sleeping, the Force-sensitive PCs all dreamed the same dream of Firith Mobak, in which he spoke to them and then shared a memory of an experience he had shared with Damasa Kovani and Lilikai Singan. The other PCs were able to hear the sounds of the dream through the speaker Vic Dantor had set up. For the contents of the dream, see An adventure with Damasa. Vic was thrilled that his plan with the scanner had worked, and also said that he liked Damasa because of her use of explosives.

Brawln then noticed some interesting pieces of news during his usual HoloNet review of newly posted bounties. The Imperial Security Bureau had just posted a large bounty (5,000 credits dead; 10,000 credits alive) for Master Quiet, which stated he had recently been seen on Thyferra. Also, a smaller bounty (1,000 credits dead or alive) had been posted for Efnir Kis, probably because Seth Iscandar's people had spotted him following them the night before. Though the bounty was specific only to Corellia (for now) and the image it included was quite out of date, everyone still agreed it was best if Efnir stayed on the ship. Somi Amersu, feeling panicked that her recent popcorn machine theft might be discovered, rapidly agreed to stay on board with him.

The others proceeded with Nawah Masin's new mission of eliminating or capturing the Umbaran crime lord Castus on Iscandar's behalf. They went to the club Castus owned, observing right away that it was a members only establishment. Nomi Amersu approached a manager she spotted sweeping the sidewalk and asked if the club was hiring, using the assumed name Aayla Shalah; she aced the interview and was hired as a cocktail server, starting that evening. Vesper Syl'tine sneaked into the coat check room near the entrance and acted like he worked there. The remaining PCs took up stakeout positions near the club, planning to see who came and went.

Inside the club, there was a main level for eating, drinking, and dancing, as well as numerous private suites on the higher levels. There was no weapons scanner at the door, and many of the patrons were unobtrusively armed. The lights were kept very low to account for Umbaran preferences. Nomi's trainer, an experienced server named Nancy, instructed her to stay on the main level and allow other employees to handle the VIPs who had the upper levels reserved. Partway through the night, the PCs outside saw an expensive speeder pull up in front of the club. Castus got out and entered along with several associates, and Nomi saw him go up to the uppermost suite. Nancy took charge of his party, a job which included running ingredients for a fancy sushi-style meal up to the suite; Nomi made herself useful, helping with the task to gain Nancy's trust. She and the other PCs saw a few other groups have meetings with Castus in his suite, with Vesper overhearing that their names had been placed on a guest list for access. Vesper also stole a membership key fob from the jacket of an intoxicated guest who forgot to pick it up at the coat check.

A little before closing time, Castus and his entourage left the club. Nawah and Brawln had rented a speeder, and were waiting across the street to tail him. They followed without being detected and saw Castus drop off a few of his bodyguards at a train station, then continue on to a high-rise condo tower in a wealthy neighborhood and go inside with the one remaining bodyguard as a driver parked his speeder elsewhere. They then met up with the rest of the group back at Rogue Ronto.

The PCs discussed many potential plans for dealing with Castus. They quickly agreed to do everything they could to capture him alive, with the intention of implanting one of the tracking devices they had taken from the Mirror into his body before they delivered him to Iscandar. In light of this, attacking him inside the club seemed much too risky, but they thought they could use their access there through Nomi to somehow manipulate events and take him by surprise at a different location. Since they also knew Castus specialized in illegal weapons dealing in his role as a mid-level boss in the Black Sun crime syndicate, they considered various excuses for doing business with him, beginning with asking him to source lightsabers for the padawans. Ultimately they discarded this plan as too risky (you think?) and decided to send Nawah to buy an ion mine from him, using Iscandar's expense account to pay for it. They intended to rig the mine in a place where it would detonate beneath his vehicle and disable it while he was leaving the club at the end of the night, and seize him at that time.

Toward that end, Vesper used his knowledge of the underworld to set Nawah (under the assumed name of Edna Delgado) up to meet Castus at his club the following night. She brought Brawln and Vic along as backup. While waiting to meet Castus, the three of them witnessed him having a heated exchange with a group of Rodians who had apparently failed him in some way. As the argument reached its peak, Castus looked the leader in the eye, and Brawln heard him saying under his breath, "You really feel as if you have too many fingers right now. On the bright side, they taste delicious." The Rodian abruptly stood up, walked over to the sushi bar, grabbed the droid chef's sharp knife, chopped off a few of his own fingers, and shoved them in his mouth - which certainly seemed to confirm the rumors of Castus's Force-sensitivity, and enhanced the PCs' desire to tread carefully around him. Nawah successfully feigned not being shocked by what had happened, and avoided arousing Castus's suspicions long enough to arrange the purchase of the ion mine.

It took a few days for Castus to acquire the mine and for his associates to bring it to the PCs. During this time, the PCs busied themselves with various projects:
 * Rhen dyed her very obvious red Nightsister armor a dark blue to make herself less identifiable.
 * Vesper tried to steal clothing to give to the other PCs but only succeeded in getting himself banned from various retail establishments all around Corellia.
 * Vic made progress on assembling the medical droid the PCs had acquired on Nar Shaddaa. He also attached power sources to a few of the Mirror's tracking devices, such that they would function while planted on a person rather than needing to be installed in a droid.
 * Nawah purchased various pieces of new and improved armor and got Vic to help her modify and upgrade them.
 * The PCs established that the holographic disguise matrix the Mirror had been using to impersonate people was still operational. Nomi took it with her to her job at the club and used it to record Nancy's appearance in case she ever needed to impersonate her.

Vesper also met with his Bothan spynet contact Hosk to find out what he had learned about Iscandar. According to the spynet, Iscandar was a native of Corellia who had a distinguished and decorated 20-year career as a Republic bureaucrat. His most recent position prior to the establishment of the ISB was as an assistant director within the Republic Bureau of Corrections, overseeing about 60 prison facilities in a particular sector of the core and colonies. Based upon how quickly and readily he has incorporated himself into the new structure of the Empire, he probably had some idea of the changes that were coming and may even have been helping them happen behind the scenes. Despite Rhen's assumptions, it seemed unlikely that he was Force-sensitive. Hosk also mentioned that the spynet had been unusually difficult to access, particularly in the parts of it that overlapped with the Republic espionage apparatus, and that it seemed like a lot of Republic spies were falling out of communication.

Once the PCs had the ion mine in their possession, Vesper guided Vic through the sewers near Castus's condo to install it directly beneath the place where his speeder usually stopped to let him out. In order to stack the odds in the PCs' favor, they decided to spike Castus's sushi dinner at the club with some of the sedatives they hadn't gotten to use on the Mirror (since Nomi was now trusted to help prepare his food), which they hoped would make him feel sick and want to go home early. However, since Somi was likely better at sneaking substances into food than Nomi was, they would also have Somi impersonate Nomi at her job to do the actual sedating.

Somi went alone to the club while the remaining PCs waited in a rented speeder down the street from Castus's condo. Soon Somi urgently contacted them saying that she had spilled some of the sedative and that Castus didn't seem to be affected by it the way they'd hoped (GM's note: they legitimately failed this roll on her behalf, I am not just cackling and pointlessly obstructing, THIS TIME). The others advised her to try to taint his food in some other way to make him leave, which she did by serving him very old fish. Somi then reported back that Castus and his entourage were leaving in a hurry.

Shortly thereafter, Castus's speeder screeched to a halt in front of the building. He, a lady friend, his driver, and three bodyguards began to pile out - he'd been in such a rush to get home that he hadn't bothered stopping to drop anyone off. Vic detonated the ion mine, disabling the vehicle and also knocking out the power in the immediate vicinity. The PCs then sprung their trap. Vesper leapt into action first, igniting his lightsaber (which got a lot of attention both from Castus's group and a gawking security guard at the front desk inside the condo building) and deflecting Castus's blaster shots. The others charged in with their weapons set to stun and engaged Castus and the bodyguards in combat. Nawah quickly incapacitated the driver, and Vic came up with a few stun grenades from his utility belt and used them to knock out one of the bodyguards and Castus's lady friend, though Castus himself was still standing.

Looking panicked, Castus threw up his hands and sent two large decorative planters flying into Brawln and Vesper, injuring them both. He looked as startled as anyone else at what he'd been able to do. However, with his allies falling, the PCs overwhelmed him with Vesper landing the final shot that stunned him into unconsciousness. The two remaining bodyguards fled, and the PCs chose not to pursue them. While looking through Castus's speeder they found a tied-up man in the trunk, who they also let go. The PCs injected Castus with more sedatives to ensure he wouldn't wake up, then loaded him into their speeder and headed back to Rogue Ronto.

Things to Remember

 * Vesper ignited his lightsaber in public. The security guard inside the condo building witnessed this, as did Castus, his driver, his 3 security guards, and his lady friend.
 * Nomi recorded Nancy the human waitress on the holographic disguise matrix.
 * Vic needs to accumulate 8 successes to assemble the medical droid. He currently has 3 successes, 5 advantage.
 * Castus pooped himself when he passed out (careful with your sushi choices, kids)

Next: Doomsayer Session 09