All Your Comlinks Are Belong to Us

A Rebellion Era Empire Strikes Back mission for five 2nd level heroes Background While the Rebels are stationed on Hoth, a mysterious condition affects all comlinks. The Rebels are unable to communicate with each other or with offworld bases. For some reason, a pair of comlinks the team possesses are unaffected. While they are relaxing between missions, a Rebel agent, a Cerean female, finds the heroes and discovers the working comlinks. Knowing how much of an asset they could be, she sends them to two dangerous locations: the Rebel base on Hoth and an Imperial Star Destroyer where a Rebel sympathizer can feed fleet information to Rebel Command. Because of the extreme secrecy required, the team will be given disguises and a familiar loaned transport. Also, they must land well away from the base on Hoth itself to avoid rousing suspicion, trekking across the arctic wastes to the base. Once that is done, if the team is up to it, they can help locate the saboteur. Wideband jamming is out of character for the Emperor, so there must be a network of civilians organizing the strategy. The Rebels have little to spare in the way of credits, but would offer a fair amount of training and influence (XP and Reputation) to anyone who can help them with this problem. Environmental hazard blizzard A Simple Battle wampa commoner B Challenging Tougher battle The Pluribus Corporation C Extreme Social challenge gathering intelligence about the Pluribus Corporation and finding their secret base A Simple Tougher social challenge tricking an Imperial officer B - Challenging Skill challenge astrogating a Rebel transport from Coruscant to Hoth and to Naboo within a limited timeframe A Simple Skill challenge piloting a life pod to a rendezvous on the hull of a Star Destroyer B challenging Thats 3 Simple, 2 Challenging and 1 Extreme. 3x200+3x600+1x800=600+1,800+800=3,200 to 3,500

Scene 1 Get to Hoth immediately

Have one of the hero players read the following aloud: If you had bet me at the time of the Battle of Yavin that wed visit the new secret base on Hoth and live to tell the tale, Id have lost. Even today, when I tell people we sent a life pod to meet a Star Destroyer to stop a power-crazed CEO, people can only tell its true from some scars and the look in my eye. The heroes are resting on Coruscant from a previous Rebel mission. They meet a Cerean smuggler who tells them of the mission and promises small rewards on behalf of her boss, Col Serra. Then she dispatches them to Hoth in her modified YT-1300. If theres room, she will tag along for the ride but will not leave the ship for any encounters she hasnt paid it off yet. Keep track of the time it takes for travel and rest for the rest of the adventure.

Cerean Rebel sergeant low-level smuggler Kono Dee left her world to make her fortune among the stars. She grew up poor, blamed the Empire, and decided to defy its laws while growing rich. A win-win situation. Still early in her career, she came under Col Serras tutelage. When he defected to the Rebellion, so did she.

Scene 2 Get into the base alive

A blizzard means the heroes cannot rendezvous with a snowspeeder as planned. They must trudge through the cold and lick one wampa to get in. The heroes need to follow the homing beacon Dee gave them, and that path takes them directly past the lair of the wampa. Pick whichever party member is likely to recognize the signs and tell them that character says the following: Droids dont have to worry, but humans should beware the wampa. Wampa commoner This poor creature had a hankering for the Rebel tauntauns he saw patrolling near Echo Base. Unfortunately for him, he barely escaped his first encounter with a blaster alive. Wearied but still hungry, he encounters the heroes. His goal is to grab the lightest one and make off with her or him before the others can stop him. He will try to grapple and incapacitate that hero, regardless of the heros combat skill. Regardless of what they do, the wampa attacks them from behind. Roll Listen vs. DC 15 to see if they can act in the surprise round. He starts just within charge range of the lightest character and cover would be pointless if there was any. He ignores droids entirely and will fight to the death. Once they kill the wampa, on the plains or in his cave where he has hung up his living meal, the blizzard reaches them. They must make Fort saves against 1d6 cold damage for one hour while they walk to the base. They check every 10 minutes and the DC is 5 the first two times, 10 the next two and 15 the final two. A hero who makes a successful Survival check (DC 15) before the first cold check gets an additional +4 competence bonus on cold checks for the rest of the scene. Keep in mind that vitality points lost to cold fatigue a character and cannot be restored until the heroes get to a warm place. Once inside Echo Base, Col is indisposed but sends a low-level medic to administer a stimpac and medpac to each of them. They can recuperate with their own skills for 12 hours, but should keep in mind their deadline: they need to stop the Empire from capitalizing on radio silence. The commander soon briefs them on their next encounter.

Scene 3 Get to Naboo before the deal is made

Rebel captain high-level smuggler Col Serra, an old friend of Han Solos with a left eye patch, joined the Rebellion after Yavin. The smuggler commands Renegade Squadron, a covert ops unit made up of mercenaries sympathetic to the cause.

Col informs the heroes that Lt. Jaziel, a low-level Imperial officer, is about to meet with the extortionists on Naboo. The heroes must get there and get the working comlink to Jadim, a Rebel spy, before its too late. If asked further questions an attendant soon comes to Col, taking his attention away from the heroes. Looking at a printout he growls, Dammit, I need more intel. Then he regards the heroes. Well dont just stand there. Get that comlink to Naboo. The heroes are sent through the same blizzard, which has not abated, and must make the same six checks before returning to the ship, starts with DC 15 for two, DC 10 for two and DC 5 for two. The storm is ending, and they can start with the Survival check to help themselves out. At the Bounty Dee has the lights on and greets them at the ramp. There you are! I was about to take off and assume you were dead. The comlink bleeps and its Col. He tells a relieved Dee to take you to Naboo. The heroes can rest and heal after the astrogation is done. When they come out of hyperspace, there is an Imperial Star Destroyer visible orbiting Naboo. Kono explains there is a specially designed life pod which can get two of the heroes and the comlink within its sensor range and back safely. They could not approach in the Bounty. The autopilot takes them directly toward a TIE fighter patrol! The pod has limited maneuverability, but one of the heroes onboard must make a pilot check (DC 15) to avoid arousing suspicion. If it fails, add a low-level stormtrooper to the encounter with Jaziel later. Rebel spy on Star Destroyer low-level slicer Jadim Chastoulia is a computer programmer stationed on the Star Destroyer Rapid Vengeance. At the time of this adventure, his work for the Rebellion is unknown to his commanders. He has an olive complexion and sports short, thick black hair under his Imperial cap. Once Jadim has the comlink, Serra speaks through it and sends the heroes to the surface, where Jadim has said the Pluribus Corporation is headquartered. He cant tell them more than that, because he doesnt know and there isnt time. He sends enough Imperial engineer uniforms, dirty ones, down the chute for all the heroes. These should give you a leg up on Jaziel. Good luck. On the way back to the ship, the pod encounters another TIE patrol! Make the DC 15 Pilot check to see if Jaziel adds another trooper. When the heroes relay what Jadim said, Dee takes the Bounty down, but stays inside.

Scene 4 Stop Jaziel

The lieutenant is already on the surface with a small retinue. The heroes, disguised as Imperial engineers, catch up to him just before he is about to board a Chariot Command Speeder to reach the corporate headquarters on the outskirts of the city. They must either

talk him out of meeting with Pluribus or kill him. Roll oen Disguise check using he average modifier for the group to oppose Jaziels Spot check to see whether they pass off as Imperials, but give Jaziel a +5 circumstance bonus for each TIE patrol the pod failed to dodge earlier. If the heroes succeed, they have the option of telling Jaziel that he is needed urgently aboard the ship. He will give them the benefit of the doubt and leave immediately. If that fails but not terribly, Jaziel immediately attempts to arrest them. In any case, the heroes can attempt to kill Jaziel. If so, they would have access to his vehicle and uniform, but they would have to leave immediately before local police arrive. The speeder already has a course plotted to Pluribus. Imperial officer low-level military officer with low-level stormtroopers (3 or more see above) Lt. Thorin Jaziel is brash, ambitious and has a secret addiction to spice. Because of that, or in spite of it, he commands the shipboard security detail on Rapid Vengeance. He will do anything to advance in rank. Rebels, and Imperials alike, should be wary of him. If they did not kill Jaziel or arrive too late (GMs discretion, considering astrogation failures, resting and other delays), they need to Gather Information to find where Pluribus is, which means buying 250 credits in drinks and making a DC 20 check. (Make a note of what they spend. The Rebellion is poor but it does repay business expenses.) Once they succeed in wringing out the necessary information, the heroes may use borrowed Rebellion speeders to get to the corporate HQ. If Jaziel is ahead of them, the heroes arrive while he is in Chathers office and must deal with both at the same time. In this case, Jaziels stormtroopers are not involved. He likes to keep secrets. If the Disguise is used at this point, Chathers knows his people would not know where he is, so he will attack the party with Chathers help.

Scene 5 Dissolve the company

The heroes arrive at the security booth for a private arcology. Security cameras watch their every move. They encounter two Pluribus agents, mid-level republic peace officers, at the desk. If the heroes tell the guards they are here to speak for the Rebellion or the Empire, they are ushered into an office with CEO Randall Chathers and three guards. If not, the guards eventually ask them to leave. If combat begins, an automatic alarm sounds and the rest of the five guards on duty arrive in 1d4 rounds. If the downstairs guards are out of the way, a Search (DC 10) check finds the CEOs name and room number on the directory plaque. A Computer Use check (DC 20) can deactivate the alarm, adding 1d4 rounds to the time before backup arrives.

Pluribus agents (up to 5) mid-level republic peace officers Pluribus CEO mid-level administrator Randall Chathers treats business like war, and considers war his most profitable business. Currently, it serves him to shatter Rebel communication in order to extort money from the Rebels, to lift the block, or from the Imperials, to keep it on. He hopes a bidding war will ensue, but the heroes could prevent that. Whether they encounter him in his office or in the conference room, Chathers response is simple: he is a business man and he will only understand money. Its up to the heroes whether they dicker with him. He first offers 3,000 credits for the heroes to simply let him continue the block. Then he offers 5,000. If they cannot be bought, or if they threaten his life, he informs them that only he knows the keycode to deactivate the scrambler array. His stockholders expect him to die before revealing the code. He does offer to restore communications for 2,000 credits per week, the first payment due immediately. Strong negotiation or threats could bring his price down, but he will refuse any offer to dismantle the scramblers permanently, due to a stockholder agreement. My hands are tied, he will say. If the heroes refuse all these offers and/or kill him at any point, it takes a DC 25 Computer Use check to unlock his system. There are enough access points that each hero with a datapad can aid the lead computer user on Chathers computer, possibly granting a synergy bonus. Also, if the heroes gave Chathers 2,000 credits to turn off the block for a week, Jadim is able to help from orbit, possibly granting another synergy bonus. The heroes cannot take 20, but can retry the check as many times as they like. For the second and fourth retry, another shift of three guards will attack. If at least one hero or droid does not stay logged onto the computer during the fight, the connection times out and the next check suffers +5 to the DC. If he is able, Chathers will jump in on one of those attacks. After all those guards are out of commission, the heroes can take 20.

Aftermath
With communications restored, the Rebels are able to prepare an evacuation before the Empire reaches Echo Base. Jadims cover is preserved and, if either one of them survived, Chathers and Jaziel will continue plotting their own advancement, and will be looking for revenge someday. If Chathers is dead, his open desk drawer contains a box marked petty cash with a 1,000 credit stick in it. Jaziels Chariot was only a rental and must be returned at the end of the day or it deactivates and phones home. Dee takes the heroes to safety, but not to Hoth - theyd only have to evacuate immediately.

In the meantime, the Alliance reimburses the heroes for their expenses but can offer no financial reward. Let the party split 3,500 XP. If the heroes are unable to complete the mission, Jadim eventually pages Col, who sends Rebel commandos to the Pluribus headquarters to do what the heroes could not. The Alliance will commemorate the heroes after Endor, but say nothing of them until then.