Doomsayer Session 26

29 January 2023: Vic Dantor confronts his brother Ori Dantor on the Imperial mining platform, but the Empire and the PCs aren't the only ones who get involved. The PCs then fulfill their debt to Talanis by helping the Mechanics' Guild escape Sura Sindo.

Session 26 audio log

Previous: Doomsayer Session 25

Plot Summary
Efnir Kis, Nawah Masin, Somi Amersu, Vesper Syl'tine, and Vic discussed their strategy for reaching the north mining platform. With Vic and Somi occupying the two fake contractor slots, it fell to the other three to figure out how they could get close enough to the platform to intervene if things started to go wrong. Vesper, upon hearing this, immediately left to go find a speeder to steal without waiting for anyone else. In the process of sneaking around the Avernus spaceport, Vesper was intercepted by a visually impaired Mon Calamari who mistook him for a fellow Imperial contractor and took him aboard an airspeeder transporting the staff to the north platform (GM's note: failure with Triumph on Stealth). Vesper used his commlink to get a discreet message through to the others, who realized they should hurry to catch up.

While Somi and Vic worked to modify a spacesuit to allow Somi to breathe underwater if the need arose, Efnir and Nawah left to find their own transportation. Nawah ended up purchasing a battered but reliable airspeeder from a person who was eager to unload it, then got Curo Varnas (who was fired up to resist the Empire thanks to Nomi Amersu's influence) to sell her a bunch of stimpacks and a pair of electrobinoculars on the cheap. They flew the speeder out to a tiny island just in sight of the platform and settled in to wait for a signal. Meanwhile, Somi put on her Gungan disguise and pretended to be Vic's incompetent assistant as they invited themselves aboard the next transport. Trying to blend in without drawing attention to themselves worked to get them as far as the platform, where Vesper (who had slipped away from his group upon arrival to hide behind some crates) soon joined them. But when Somi tried to convince a supervisor to take them to see Ori, the supervisor became suspicious and summoned some stormtroopers to confine the two of them in the facility's brig (GM's note: more failure with Triumph on Deception). Vesper Now-You-See-Me'd the stormtroopers and got away again, then hid near Vic and Somi's cell to see what would happen when Ori showed up.

Ori soon arrived and Vic demanded to know what he was thinking by collaborating with the Empire. Ori said he had no other choice after Vic sold him out. It seemed that when Ori had recently gone to Zoph in keeping with Vic's suggestions, he'd found the mining site occupied by an Imperial garrison who swiftly captured him. Vic was shocked to learn this and swore he hadn't known. Ori said that the Clone Wars were over and the Empire had clearly won (in fact, he claimed that any contacts he'd ever had with the Republic had all turned up dead), and he saw no other way to secure his own safety and that of the Dantor family than to cooperate. He urged Vic to join him, saying the Empire offered the best opportunity around for Vic to use the skills he'd worked so hard to attain and to get rich doing it (from the GMs' notes: "join me, and together we can create enhanced value for our corporate shareholders, as brother and brother").

Vic wasn't convinced. What he'd seen over the past several months had proved to him that the Empire was evil and needed to be stopped. He said the Empire couldn't be allowed to take control of the All-Furnace, and told Ori of his plan to find explosives and blow a hole in it to flood and disable it. Ori responded by showing Vic a scan of Sura Sindo that showed the moon's entire interior hollowed out; he said following that plan would involve draining the moon's oceans, which wouldn't be very good for the Sindonese. Vic expressed astonishment that Ori knew about the Sindonese at all, and Ori explained that the translator unit he'd built and programmed for Vic had actually been recording all of Vic's conversations all along (GM's note: THE PLAYER PUT THIS IN HIS BACKGROUND IT WASN'T MY FAULT THIS TIME). Grimly, Vic told Ori that if he'd heard all of that, he would have to know how miraculous Sura Sindo and its people were and how evil it would be to let the Empire enslave and exploit them. Somi added that she knew Ori would do the right thing. It seemed like they were getting through to him...until a sudden explosion rocked the mining platform and Ori fled, leaving Somi and Vic locked in the cell as it slowly began to flood.

Meanwhile, on Rogue Ronto, Nomi abruptly woke from her vision (mediated by the artifact) to find Beepo fussing over her and Brawln incommunicado in his bunk. She got 3D6 to fill her in on what the others were doing, then headed out to see what else was happening around Avernus. She found Talanis busily preparing the Mechanics' Guild for departure; Nomi confirmed that the work on Rogue Ronto's hyperdrive had been completed, and arranged to signal Talanis when the time was right to leave. She then went to Sierra's cafe (which was completely empty now that the Empire had deployed a new, no-cost, spyware-laden HoloNet relay) and checked for a message from Lilikai Singan, but found nothing - but learned that Sierra, like Curo, intended to stay on Avernus and fight. Wanting to make sure the other PCs were okay, Nomi tracked down one suit of stormtrooper armor that Nawah hadn't sold, disguised herself with it, and bluffed her way aboard the next airspeeder departing for the north platform.

Back on the platform, Vesper freed Somi and Vic with his lightsaber and the three of them hurried to the upper level to see what was happening. (Vic grabbed a box of mining explosives on the way.) From their nearby island, Efnir and Nawah saw that something had caused one of the platform's main support pillars to collapse. The platform was now beginning to tip into the sea. Their speeder was then attacked by a dianoga, which Efnir yeeted toward the platform with the Force before Nawah took off to help the others. Nomi's transport touched down at the platform just before the explosion occurred; it began to slide toward the water. Spotting Somi, Vesper, and Vic, Nomi started ordering them to get aboard the speeder, pointing out the fastest ways for them to do so. Efnir and Nawah arrived just as a few large carnivorous fish (plus the dianoga from earlier) burst out of the water and began trying to eat anyone in range. For the PCs, this was mostly a problem for Somi, who tripped while trying to extricate her lightsaber from her nearly skintight clothing (GM's note: resolving some Threat from earlier). However, Somi ultimately prevailed against the creature, while Vic dispatched the other with the speeder's guns. A few stormtroopers, seeing the lightsabers come out, took potshots at the PCs but only succeeded in hitting Nawah. Ultimately, everyone got aboard the various speeders and fled to regroup at Efnir and Nawah's island.

From a distance, the PCs watched as the Empire struggled to stabilize the platform; they appeared to stop it from sinking completely, but it would obviously be some time before further mining could take place there. The PCs had various theories about who might have caused the damage, ranging from Damasa Kovani to Alashaa Sanu (perhaps inadvertently?) to Middle Current wielding Damasa's discarded lightsaber. Vic also saw Ori getting aboard a speeder of his own. The PCs considered pursuing Ori, or trying to gain access to the All-Furnace to rescue Damasa, but decided against doing either. Though Somi's Seek power confirmed that Damasa was alive somewhere inside the All-Furnace, Nomi reiterated that Damasa had told them not to interfere with whatever she was doing and that she probably didn't need or want rescuing. Vic badly wanted to go after Ori, but realized he needed to tell Green Coral what was going on instead. Using a system the two of them had worked out earlier, he arranged for the PCs to meet with Green Coral at another island nearby.

To be continued

Things to Remember

 * Nawah's new speeder is a T-47 Airspeeder with no weapons (though weapons could be purchased and mounted on it if desired).
 * The journey to Kashyyyk will take 6 days.

Next: Doomsayer Session 27