Star Wars - Dark Aftermath

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

… the “Battle of the Eclipse” was barely over, but there was no time to rest for the countless champions who were more or less involved in the events. The aftermath of the battle was about to bring new motion and inspire further galactic events.

Episode 1: Wreckage

Directly before, during and after the victory celebration for the “Battle of the Eclipse” many teams and crews were working tirelessly to search the numerous drifting wreckages from the battle for survivors as well as catch damaged escape pods whose beacons had failed. One of those teams, lead by pilot Juri Shukov and junk collector Ken Drahin, was roaming the debris field above planet Tagrom II in their old freighter to find and mark damaged escape pods for later pickup, so the survivors would have a chance of being rescued.

During a very extensive U-turn, however, the pilot missed to notice that they were in the direct flight path of the aft section of the derelict Vitiation-class supercruiser “Harbinger of Doom”. He only noticed when it was too late and the freighter hit an open hollow in the hull of the battleship, becoming stuck in the process. Since they seemed to have formed a sort of “natural” airlock outside their ship they decided to take the chance and board what was left of the supercruiser.

When the salvage-team went on board the remains of the “Harbinger of Doom” they had to fend off attacks by primeval creatures like dinosaurs and giant worms which were roaming through the corridors and maintenance shafts of the ship. They met a young officer named Kendra Farstrong who negotiated a temporary alliance between the salvage crew and her own people, so they could all escape the wreckage alive. A high-ranking imperial officer was also found who was keen on wildly ordering Lt. Farstrong and her crew around, but she managed to outsmart him and, due to lack of internal knowledge of the ship, expose him as an impostor who had accidentally swindled his way onboard the cruiser in their last visited port before the battle.

Together they fought their way down to the jumpdrive core of the “Harbinger” which had been overloading since the explosion and thus had opened a permanent portal to a planet with primeval fauna and flora. The portal had become more and more unstable and threatened to tear the wreckage apart within less than an hour. So they tried to initiate the emergency shutdown procedures of the core, but then the dinosaurs attacked and the explosion of a misdirected grenade damaged the magnetic containment seals of the core itself. When they finally managed to eject the core from the wreckage it seemed to be a matter of seconds until the containment would break and the core would be unleashed, creating a new black hole.

To the overall surprise and relief the core did not explode, but vanished through the very dimensional corridor it had created itself. The imminent danger was averted, the salvage crew could continue their mission and Lieutenant Farstrong was able to strike a deal with General Shore about acceptable terms of surrender for the surviving crew of the “Harbinger of Doom”.

Episode 2: In Her Majesty’s Imperial Service

Lieutenant Riggin, bridge officer onboard the star destroyer “Annihilator” which had sided with Empress Thul at the end of the Battle of the Eclipse, was tasked by her captain with a very important mission: She was to deliver an encrypted data-chip directly to the Empress herself. While she had also been authorized to assemble a trustworthy team from other crew members she had been warned to be careful about whom she would trust, as in the aftermath of the battle the loyalty of many crew members was still questionable.

How true this actually was, the team learned the hard way when their shuttle’s hyperdrive failed and they narrowly avoided an explosion. They were rescued by a Victory- class star destroyer which had not officially supported the Empress, but the team was able to subdue the ship’s commander and take control of the vessel.

But even when they came aboard another Imperial class star destroyer they still had to fear for their lives. Lt. Riggin surprised an assassin who attempted to plant another bomb in their shuttle and barely escaped the explosion. And even en route to the Imperial palace on planet New Alderaan the air defense cannons tried to shoot them down as they were now denounced as assassins out for the life of the Empress.

They set down in the woods and “borrowed” some clothes from a zipline to disguise themselves. So they were sneaking through the streets of a small village that lay just outside the palace gates and desperately searched for a way to contact the Empress while imperial patrols were on their tail. Fortunately, they were first discovered by Lieutenant Kiera Sarkon, the personal aide of the Empress, who had been looking out for them. Through secret tunnels they entered the palace and received a private audience with Her Majesty Lady Thul who was delighted to receive this information.

The data-chip not only held a list of traitors still loyal to the Sith-Lords instead of the Empress, but also a warning about an assassination attempt on a planned diplomatic mission that could not be stopped at this point.