Doomsayer Session 31

02 April 2023: The PCs set a plan into motion that will remove the Imperial company from Zoph by luring Lilikai Singan to the planet. They then sneak into the temple to reunite with Zernvik Akawoi and prepare for the coming confrontation.

Session 31 audio log

Previous: Doomsayer Session 30

Plot Summary
In orbit of Zoph, the PCs continued to discuss the matter of Zernvik and the temple. The idea of getting Lilikai to call off the company remained compelling, but also seemed incredibly risky. The PCs considered various other methods of luring the Imperials away from the temple without involving her - using Vic Dantor's explosives to blow something up? getting a herd of "choulders" to attack the encampment? Master Quiet still had a huge bounty on his head and the Empire didn't know he was dead, so maybe someone could impersonate him and get them Imperials to chase him (a "Diet Quiet," if you will)? - but ultimately rejected them all as not distracting enough. They couldn't think of any way to make hundreds of troops abandon a siege in which they had the upper hand that didn't involve a superior officer telling them to stand down.

Brawln still thought he could use his contacts to track Lilikai down on Byss, but the other PCs weren't sure they wanted to do that either. They considered arranging a meeting there for the sole purpose of having Nomi Amersu record her on the holographic disguise matrix to later pose as her, but worried that Lilikai would see through the ruse and that this might not account for the secret codes or countersigns that would likely be built into such a far-reaching order. The PCs knew they needed Lilikai to give the order voluntarily, and that she would only give up whatever she wanted on Zoph for a much greater prize: the Amersu sisters.

After much debate, the PCs' plan was this: Vesper Syl'tine would reach out to his cousin Liona, an architect coincidentally working to design and build the Emperor's new palace on Byss, and have her put him in touch with Lilikai. He would then tell Lilikai that he was tired of running from the Empire and that he wanted only to bind himself to the temple alongside his master and remove himself from the galaxy at large. If Lilikai called off the garrison and allowed him to deliver the rest of the PCs to Zoph, he would hand them over to her. The PCs would then find some way to sneak into the temple undetected while Lilikai was en route, and would aid Zernvik with the veil ritual to conceal the temple's location. Once the veil was in place, only Lilikai and the PCs would still be aware of the temple's location, leaving the PCs to deal with her alone. What "deal with" meant was not entirely clear; the PCs were by no means certain of their ability to defeat her in combat, but Nomi remained confident in her own ability to persuade Lilikai back to the light side (the others weren't so sure this was still possible).

Vesper contacted Liona and persuaded her to pass a message to Lilikai. No response came that day, so the PCs decided to wait on Rogue Ronto in space. Vic spent his time building a small satellite drone and placing it in orbit of Zoph, allowing him to see the general size and capability of the forces amassed outside the vergence (it amounted to more than 100 troops, defensive fortifications, and a bunch of heavy equipment). Overnight, all the Force-sensitive PCs shared Mother Lampir's Vision, a dream-memory similar to the ones shown to them by the artifact, but concerning some questions Rhen had asked her Nightsister mentor about the Sindonese. The PCs were intrigued to learn that the existence of the All-Furnace may have influenced the species' evolution and led to their inability to safely leave Sura Sindo, but concluded this was a matter to address with Damasa Kovani and/or Green Coral later on.

Later that day, Lilikai called Vesper. She seemed to buy his story about wanting to go into exile (GM's note: Triumph on Deception, with IIRC one Threat) and agreed to the general terms of his proposal, including that the Imperial company would need to fully withdraw from the mining camp (including the departure of their air support) before Vesper delivered the Amersus to her. She warned him that it would take time for this to happen - three days for her to make the trip from Byss to Zoph, and at least another day after that for the company to manage its retreat. Vesper said he would be ready for her when she arrived.

The PCs decided to land on Zoph and use this time to figure out a way of gaining access to the temple ahead of time. They instructed 3D6 to come in for a landing in such a way that Rogue Ronto would be out of visual contact with the Imperial corvette orbiting the planet, though they knew the corvette's sensors would still pick them up. When the Empire hailed them and asked them to state their business, Nomi provided the crew's false identification and said they were an independent trading vessel coming to buy and sell wares, as they had done in the past. Her story seemed to hold up, and Rogue Ronto landed in the small settlement nearest the mining encampment.

In the settlement, Nawah Masin turned a tidy profit wheeling and dealing while Vic modified the landspeeder provided by Jaquina Masin to allow it to carry everyone on the crew (though this came at the cost of all its cargo capacity). The other PCs began planning how to sneak into the vergence through its less-heavily-defended back entrance. Vesper's Farsight power identified a squadron of stormtroopers on either side of the gully that led to the entrance, covering the whole area with E-Web blasters. Not wanting to give their presence away, the PCs decided to create a distraction by luring as many enraged choulders as possible into the troopers' camp, then running into the gully in the ensuing chaos. They used the profits from the trade goods to buy a cargo floater and a bunch of lizard meat that Nomi knew the choulders ate, then rigged up the floater/meat combo to the back of the speeder so they could attract a herd of choulders as they traveled.

Nawah and Sekar Mirah took the controls of the speeders and the PCs set out for the vergence, bringing the artifact (in Nawah's backpack) and the corrupted lightsaber Efnir Kis had taken from the Warden along with them. Their plan went off without a hitch. By the time they approached the gully they had attracted at least a dozen choulders. Efnir used the Force to detach the floater and launch it into the group of stormtroopers with the choulders following after. As a battle between stormtroopers and choulders broke out, Nawah and Sekar Mirah concealed their speeders in the gully and the PCs ran undetected into the caves.

To be continued

Things to Remember

 * 3D6's piloting roll generated 3 threat (as yet unresolved)
 * 2 days will pass uneventfully inside the temple before Lilikai is due to arrive and order the garrison to leave. All players are encouraged to bluebook with each other and/or Zoph NPCs (Zernvik, Reevo, Nazdesh) during this downtime.
 * Rhen won't carry the artifact because she is concerned about breaking a nail

Next: Doomsayer Session 32