Episode 3.09 - Escape Velocity, Chapter 5
Star Wars
Shards of Exploration
Episode 3.09: Escape Velocity, Chapter 5
On Chalcedon, Danar Vorpadaran, in his alias as Vance Kerplokin, continues the hunt for Jem Vandos. The trail leads him to ruins high up in the Xemki Highlands. Ancient structures that predate even the Old Republic and may have a tie to the mysterious Choni Techaugers.
But those ruins have been taken over by a faction of the Tilles pirate clan. Under orders from Sargon Xan Daran, they are searching for a lost research station. A laboratory once owned by the nefarious and bloody-minded Imperial Security Bureau of the Galactic Empire.
Little does Vorpadaran know that Sargon Xan Daran, obsessed with overthrowing the fragile galactic order, has dispatched a special agent to oversee the pirate’s work. Once complete, they hope to uncover an experimental weapon technology that would seal the fate of not only the Tapani Imperium and Alliance of Worlds, but all freedom loving people of the galaxy.
Components
Goals
The war in the Chalcedon system has come to a bloody, ragged end. But even though the war ended, the battles continue. Brush fires from scattered pirates and insurgents harass the young Republic.
Freedworlds forces, battered and bloody, are unbowed. They work overtime to stamp out these problems with an eye to avoid the mistakes of the past. Chancellor Kanter is well aware of the path that was taken between the Old Republic and the tyranny of the Galactic Empire. She has no urge to repeat those mistakes.
Now, the actual work to build a stable and just government has started. Already the first challenge has appeared: the Hutt Meldari Council.
Black Sun retreated into the shadows, leaving the Hutts no choice but to concede Chalcedon to the Freedworlds. With no other options, the Hutts entered a negotiation with the Freedworlds Republic for concessions over captured prisoners of war, resources, business deals, and more.
One issue stands in the way of the others, and may be the Hutt’s main grievance: the kidnapping of Jem Vandos. Vandos is the only humanoid to be legally considered a ‘Hutt’ and a voting member of the Meldari Council. To the Hutts, Vandos is legally one of their own. So this kidnapping is a dire offense.
The Hutt Kajidics, or clans, blame the Freedworlds for the kidnapping. Chancellor Kanter denies it.
As the negotiations are at a stalemate, Chancellor Kanter has dispatched dozens of teams to scour the system for Jem Vandos. Returning the man to the Hutts would break the stalemate.
An Artful Dodge
The trip to Tunring Station uncovered illegal spicing mining but not Jem Vandos. Instead, the Jem Vandos the Explorers found was an actor. A decoy hired to mislead any hunters searching for the real Gamesman.
It was a deadly trap but one the Explorers survived. After the dust settled, they learned that Jem had been transported across the galaxy at Sargon Xan Daran’s orders. Where? They didn’t have exact coordinates. Instead, they had four probable locations. Of the four, one was a distant set of ruins in the Xemki Highlands on Chalcedon.
Desert Destinations
Chalcedon has a reputation for chaos. It was known for generations as a haven for Black Sun, the Hutt kajidics and their criminal enterprises, then an upstart stellar government that rose after a bloody revolution. But, the other reputation is has is for ancient ruins.
This desert world is rich in history. It has witnesses the best, and the worst, the galaxy has offered. Each time, Chalcedon survived but with new and unusual scars to tell the tale of what happened. The ruins in the Xemki Highlands are one of those unusual, ancient scars.
These ruins are also the destination for another of the Explorers, Danar Vorpadaran. In his guise as Vance Kerplokin, he’ll be investigating if there is any truth that the Tilles pirate clan has a gang of their cutthroats searching the ruins. Rumors suggest they are after an ISB Weapons Lab, once belonging to the Galactic Empire but now lost. A laboratory that could contain new and deadly weapon systems that allow the pirates to restart the bloodshed once more…
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Chpater
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