SotB XLII: In the Clutches of COMPNOR, Part II

*Seven months. Seven months where a member of their team shared their trials and their triumphs. Seven months where friendship began to feel like family. All a lie told by a cold-hearted spy who insinuated himself into their lives, all for the might of the Empire...*

## Agents

*Recording for Team Saber*

* Alro
* Chim Chim
* Derra Asbra
* Erdogan
* Eve
* Gerold
* Gristle
* Hack
* Jokan Benn
* Makren Duvel
* R0C-K4
* (Rogesh Vai)
* (Saber Scintel)
* Tortie

## Mission Report

*Summary by Ben*

The crew wakes up to a vidscreen activating in their cells. Yolan introduces Makren, Jokan and Gerold kneels beside R0C-K4. Rogesh enters, seemingly unaware of the arrangement, and chastises Yolan for bringing the agents into the control center. Nearby, a hologram activates, revealing the Colonel, who seems to have authorized the ‘execution’ of Jokan and Gerold - Makren seems to have been brought along for Yolan’s own satisfaction. He hands Rogesh a disruptor pistol and commands him to execute Jokan. The agent raises the weapon, requests any last words, and just as Jokan yells out “For the Alliance!” he turns the disruptor on Yolan, who laughs and reveals that the pistol does not function. He’s then disarmed and Yolan takes over, commanding R0C to restrain him and dislocate his right arm. Nearby, Kolgray Tarkin seems distressed, but Yolan has Pan Stegby hold him back.

At the same time, ships drop out of hyperspace around the station. Yolan commands his comrades to continue as planned, but a voice soon begins broadcasting throughout the station itself. Killjoy, one of Jeppo Eddo’s creations, seems to have come for his creator with an armada of commandeered ships. Killjoy also broadcasts a signal, taking command of the station’s droid and proclaiming them ‘free,’ R0C is forced to reboot and quickly takes charge of the control center’s droids, ordering them to only target Imperials. When they move to engage Rogesh, R0C picks him up himself and leaves to look for the others’ equipment. Rogesh protests, saying they need to find Saber first.

In the cell block, Ostine manages to slip through the containment field of Gristle’s cell as the power fluctuates. She frees him quickly and moves to help the others out. In the meantime, Eve has broken her own shackles . Erdo calls to the control center, where Makren, Jokan and Gerold have freed themselves, and asks for help releasing the fields for the whole cell block. Hack walks Jokan through slicing into the security systems, and while he’s in the computer, he manages to lift some of Rogesh’s debriefing files. From there, R0C, Rogesh, Makren, Jokan and Gerold head toward the armory to reclaim the crew’s equipment. Along the way, one of the commando droids addresses R0C in Killjoy’s voice, stating that he does not approve of R0C’s protection of organics, but he does respect his choice. Once at the armory, they discover their equipment, along with Saber’s torn, bloodstained robe and a broken lightsaber. Shortly, the agents from the cell block show up and begin formulating a plan. The key to escaping safely is securing Jeppo Eddo, but Saber is also somewhere in the facility in need of rescue. Gristle, Gerold, Alro, Tortie, Derra and Chim go to get Jeppo while Jokan, Eve, Hack, Makren, R0C and Erdo go to get Saber.

Tortie is still unconscious, so Gerold carries him along toward Jeppo’s location. Through the next corridor, the agents happen upon a battle between some of the commando droids and Hans Pansar, as well as his contingent of stormtroopers. Gristle tries to get Hans to overlook them, but the Imperial re-education paired with the heat of battle seems a little too strong. The Imperials and droids trade shots, but Hans breaks off to engage the agents, lunging toward Alro. Gerold also tries to convince him to back off, but the Imperial is unconvinced. Tortie wakes up, understandably confused, and Gerold tosses him a blaster. The commando droids fire a few shots into the agents and troopers alike, wiping out a few of the Imperials and opening up a potential route to get to Jeppo. Gristle moves back to help Alro, who’d taken a bad hit from one of the droids. He patches her wounds despite his mangled hands, and she gets up to help hold the droids off while the group escapes. Gristle tends to Hans’ wounds, stabilizing and sedating him before joining the others in escaping toward Jeppo’s workshop.

At the workshop area, they find Killjoy dragging Jeppo Eddo away while he yells to be unhanded. Gristle tries to reason with the droid, but he keeps on, requesting to be left alone. In the meantime, Alro slices into one of the nearby robotic arms and uses it to snatch Jeppo Sr. out of Killjoy’s grasp and toss him down to Gristle, who catches him and throws him over his shoulder. The agents immediately flee at all speed with Killjoy in pursuit. At the same time, they receive a message from the other team, saying that Saber seems to be under someone’s control, but also that Yolan has been dealt with. Alro sends her remote back to self-destruct and slow Killjoy down. Chim ducks into a vent and takes a shot at the droid’s legs, but Gerold turns around to try to reason with him, but to no avail - however, the pause his suggestion prompts in Killjoy lasts long enough for Gerold to realize his idea probably won’t work. Still, they’re able to keep a lead and avoid most of the droid’s frenzied firing on the way to the other side of the station, where the others are engaging a dominated Saber.

Immediately, as Killjoy bursts in after the agents, Saber leaps to engage him with force lightning. This puts the two out of commission for a moment, giving the agents time to help Makren up and sedate Saber before heading out to the landing pad, where the Silver Lining, Tallera Sky and Sunflare are waiting. After loading in, all three lock in coordinates for the Redemption, a rebellion vessel where Crix Madine is waiting with a hologram of the Broker. Renci greets Ostine, her mentor, but immediately shoots her with a stun blaster, claiming the woman isn’t actually Ostine, but a COMPNOR imposter.

The Broker then announces a partnership between his network and the Alliance for the purposes of influencing the tide of the galactic conflict from the shadows.