Pirates of Prexiar, Modified

Gamemaster Information

This adventure supplement adds a prologue to the "Pirates of Prexiar" adventure. The prologue replaces everything up to the line where it says "Episode One." Then, the Epilogue replaces everything after the "Flight from Prexiar" header.

Prologue: The Graveyard

The characters' shippasses quickly through hyperspace, the blur of starlines outside the cockpit make it evident that they are traveling at an incredible rate. The PCs begin the adventure, lounging around the crew and passenger quarters as they await their arrival at their next destination. This is a good time for Jedi to "train" or PCs to improve their characters’ skills, as they may not have a chance to for a while. Character may even trade goods or information between themselves, or NPCs. Once they have finished what they need to do, the real adventure begins.

After a few hours of cruising through hyperspace, the ship is rocked by what seems to be a violent yank coming from the aft end of the ship. Proximity sirens begin to blare across the loudspeakers, and the ship shakes violently as it continues to move quickly. As the pilot characters reach the cockpit, he sees what caused the violent lurch of the ship. The ship is no longer in hyperspace, but rather is in the middle of what appears to be a huge space junkyard. Floating adrift are what appear to be not only capital ships, but also starfighters and freighters. In the field are the ruined hulls of a pair of Medium Transports, a Nebulon-B frigate, and what looks like a squadron of A-Wings.

The proximity sirens are blaring because the ship is about to collide with one of those ruined ships. The captain must make a Difficult space transports or starfighter piloting roll to avoid colliding with the ship. Similarly, any starfighters which may be accompanying the ship must make Moderate space transports or starfighter piloring rolls in order to avoid collisions.

From this point, the PCs have several choices. They can try to identify the ships, they can try to board the ships and scavenge for evidence, or they can simply try to get out the other side of the debris and make a break for a safe haven.

To identify the ships, it takes an Easy sensors roll to read their IFF Transponders, which ID the ships as the convoy of supplies headed for a local New Republic base. Also, a Difficult communications roll picks up the following distress signal:

"Mayday, Mayday, this is Captain Sarin Virgilio of the New Republic Frigate Sediam. Our ship has come under attack by unidentified pirates. Our escort has been destroyed and our transports captured. Even now we are being boarded by the pirates. Any who hears this message should contact the New Republic with news of our destruction."

The message then goes into a loop and simply repeats itself. If the characters so choose, they can home in on the point of origin for the automated message, which is coming from the remains of the Nebulon-B frigate.

If the characters choose to board the ships, they may board only the Nebulon-B and one of the Medium Transports, the Atlas. To do so the ships must dock, and using vacuum suits the characters may cross over. However, it is recommended that the GM not allow this, as it adds very dangerous elements to an adventure designed for beginning characters. This being the case, the outline for adventuring onto the ship will not be included in this adventure supplement.

Once the characters decide to head out to the other side of the space junkyard, the real adventure begins. Unless a character is actively scanning the junkyard, they will not detect the last remnants of the pirates. Breaking out from a patch of debris behind the PCs are starfighter uglies, emblazoned with the fiery claw of the Thunderstrike, that the pirates have left behind to take care of any New Republic forces "playing dead."

X-TIE Ugly (2): starfighter piloting 5D, starship gunnery 4D+2, starship shields 3D, Maneuverability 3D+1, Space 9, Atmosphere 365, 1050 kmh, Hull 4D, shields 1D, Four Laser Cannons (fire arc: front, fire control 3D, damage 6D)

Corellian B-Wing Ugly: starfighter piloting 5D, starship gunnery 4D+2, starship shields 3D+1, Maneuverability 1D+1, Space 6, Atmosphere 330, 950 kmh, Hull 2D, Shields 2D, Anti Infantry Turbolaser Cannon (fire arc: turret, fire control 2D, damage 4D)

Y-TIE Ugly: starfighter piloting 5D, starship gunnery 5D+2, starship shields 4D, Maneuverability 0D, Space 4, Atmosphere 280, 800 kmh, Hull 4D, shields 1D+2, Two Laser Cannons (fire arc: front, fire control 2D, damage 5D), Two Laser Cannons (fire arc: turret, fire control 2D, damage 5D)

Each round, the captain must make a Moderate space transports roll in order to avoid flying debris. Also, the starfighters must make Easy maneuver rolls to avoid the same debris, but only once every two rounds.

After clearing the field of debris, the characters see that the pirates have not yet jumped to lightspeed, and that another ship resides among their pirate vessels. The ship sticks out like a sore thumb, and the characters cannot help but notice the clean polish that comes with Imperial starship maintenance. Any character quick enough to make a Difficult sensors roll will be able to tell it is an Imperial Interdictor Cruiser, the Vengeance. With a hint of pseudomotion, it vanishes into a small dot as it jumps to hyperspace.

Soon, the other ships jump to hyperspace, but not before the characters' ship's own Nav Computer tracks their destinations, allowing the PCs to follow them to Prexiar. With this in mind, the adventure picks up at the beginning of the "Pirates of Prexiar"

Epilogue

As the characters lift off from the planet, they see the Pirate Corvette beginning to pursue. They race away from the planet, but soon it appears as though the ship will overcome them. The characters may try to either engage the pirates head on, or they can continue to run for it and hope to be out of the planet’s gravity shadow.

Should the characters decide to battle the ship head on, then run the space battle like you normally would. However, if the characters decide to try to make a break for it, they are rewarded for not jeopardizing their cargo. Arriving in system is the New Republic Assault Frigate Barrage, accompanied by a flight of E-Wing starfighters which make quick work of the Pirate Corvette.

Once the Corvette has been disabled, the characters turn to make the jump to lightspeed. Instants before the jump is to be made, an Imperial-II class Star Destroyer blinks in from hyperspace and captures the Pirate Corvette, not noticing (or perhaps ignoring) the New Republic forces and the characters' ship.

Other Modifications

Other modifications may be made to the adventure as follows:

Hostages in the Warehouse: Inside one of the warehouses is a pair of New Republic Navy officers (Captain Sarin Virgilio and Lieutenant Day Vedbrin of the Sediam). If the characters discover them, they should attempt to get them out of their captivity.

Imperial Transmission Equipment in the Pirate Captain’s Quarters: From within the Pirate Captain’s quarters you can hear the muffled sounds of an argument. What is actually taking place is that Vangar is arguing with the Imperials via a secure transmitter about payment for the damages his ships received.

Gossip in the Mess Hall: In the mess hall, several of the Thunderstrike Pirates are lounging around after their successful raid on the NR Convoy. As most do when having too much alcohol, they are running their mouths without caution. Here information on the mining operation, Imperial leaders, and Vangar himself.