SotB LI: Triple Threat

*If all the galaxy’s a stage, former ISB agent Rogesh Vai has played his fair share of roles. But with so much time spent as a villain, what happens when the heroes of past tales come calling?*

## Agents

### Session 1

* Gristle
* Pakbatt
* Aiden
* Derra
* Saber Scintel
* Hack

### Session 2

* Rhuk
* Alro
* R0C-K4 "Rocky"
* Nahat Haako
* Erdogan Cael]
* Wulf

## Mission Report (Session 1)

*Summary by Ben*

Rogesh and N1-M3 have been missing for about a week after embarking on a supply run to Sriluur. Additionally, any transmissions to the Broker have been met with silence. The agents, having become worried by this point, gather up to begin an investigation. Saber recalls Rogesh leaving after seeing Atai and Makren in the holding cells. He also recalls seeing Rogesh looking up cold weather gear on one of the base’s consoles before hiding the screen. It seems that he’s been hiding something, but has been wanting to avoid outright lying to Saber about his intent. The agents, in their search, find a transmission that had been sent to N1-M3 recently. Hack decrypts it and finds a message from the Broker to N1-M3, asking him to invoke a certain protocol if he can’t steer a certain individual clear of something.

Saber goes to talk to Atai, seeking clues regarding Rogesh’s whereabouts. Atai requests his freedom, but the agents are able to sway him with offers of special luxuries instead. He is comfortable recounting his last interaction with Rogesh: a conversation during which Rogesh requests Atai’s help in orchestrating the assassination of King Alberon. Atai did aid him, but also warned Rogesh that it would be very difficult to pull off. At the same time, Hack searches through Rogesh’s activity on the base’s consoles. He finds the name Astrid repeated, and upon further investigation, finds that it’s a popular Corfinian name.

Moments later, a secure call comes in from Borga the Hutt’s line, clearly tagged as being from King Alberon. The king congratulates the agents on their recent operations and invites them to his birthday celebration on ‘New Zygerria’, a colony near Zygerria that has been renamed and repurposed with the help of some new allies. He doesn’t seem to have any ill will toward them and the invitation appears genuine. With the offer open, he cuts the call. The agents then call up Borga, who seems to have no knowledge of Alberon’s new allies, but was also invited and will be attending the festivities.

Gristle and Hack do some research and find that a pantoran known as Eno Palwappa (a known alias of Rogesh) has been digging up some information on an associate of Prince Xizor, the leader of Black Sun. With Aiden at the helm of the Sunflare, the agents chart a fast route to New Zygerria. In the meantime, Derra contacts Avadrie Norz to warn her that Rogesh is missing. When questioned about the name Astrid, Avadrie informs them that it was her mother’s name, but she died over 20 years ago.

Over New Zygerria, numerous ships float in orbit, all guests of the king. Aiden takes the Sunflare down onto the surface, to the royal palace. The planet isn’t very developed, but what signs of civilization there are are centralized to the capital. The local spaceport authority offers shuttle service, and it seems a contingent of royal guards have been sent as an escort. They bow to Saber and lead the agents to the palace’s throne room, where they’re met by Alberon and his trio of daughters. After a brief introduction, N1-M3 and Savo enter the room. Alberon mentions Astrid, the mother of Avadrie, who had a hand in many underworld operations, and explains that he had asked Rogesh to investigate Astrid’s suspicious death. She had, at one point, the makings of a Black Sun vigo, but was at odds with the former queen of Zygerria, Saber’s mother. N1-M3 insists on talking to the agents in person along with Savo, and they all gather in an alcove to meet privately.

N1-M3 projects a recording of the Broker, who apologizes for keeping so many things secret. He’d concocted a scheme to convince Atai that Rogesh wanted to assassinate Alberon in order to find and eliminate the king’s competitors, aiding him in reclaiming most of his lost power and prestige. Rogesh had requested that the Broker keep the mission a secret in order to limit the amount of disinformation within the organization. However, Rogesh is still missing and Savo recalls him living earlier after packing a parka. With the king’s celebration still five days away, the agents decide to pursue Rogesh to Corfai and return later. Saber, wanting to stay in Alberon’s good graces for now, hands over the crown of Zygerria as a birthday gift. His father thanks him and the two agree to speak later about the future of their people.

Heading back to the spaceport, the agents soon see several zygerrians blocking the way. One of them calls out to Saber, rejecting him as the prince and calling him out for his ties to Rogesh. A thermal detonator flies out of the crowd, but Saber keeps it from causing massive damage. Immediately after, the sound of a lightsaber rings out and Pokhil the Clanless drops down from the ceiling with two other noghri at his sides, a saber in hand with a rippling, flaming blade. He calls out the agents for being allies of ‘the traitor’ and advances with his allies on either side. Saber attempts to stop Pokhil, but the noghri uses a Force technique to dull the effect of Saber’s powers. He also spies Gristle activating his stealth field and rushes over, using the Force to seek him out. He strikes out, and although he doesn’t connect with the shistavanen’s body, he clips the stealth field and deactivates it. One of the clanless assassins rushes up to join Pokhil and stabs out at Gristle with a poisoned dagger, but the weapon is wrenched from his hand and thrown into a nearby waste bin. Derra lands a shot on the other assassin, and the zygerrian guards that had been escorting them turncoat and begin helping the assassins.

Aiden and Pakbatt weaken one of the noghri as it charges, and Gristle sends him to the floor as he passes by, knocking him out. Pokhil pushes past to go after Pakbatt, slashing him and incapacitating him with the flaming saber. Before the fight progresses, Gristle steps back and calls for Pokhil to be reasonable. The noghri hesitates and backs up, claiming that the Broker can’t be trusted. He extends a hand and uses the Force to project a memory into the agents’ minds, showing himself dangling on the edge of a cliff and Rogesh forcing him to fall into the fog, to what could have been his death. Pokhil then leaves, claiming he’ll find Rogesh on his own, taking both of his clanless brethren with him.

Departing New Zygerria, the agents take the Perlemian trade route down toward Corfai. Derra sends a message to Avadrie, but receives no reply. Upon arrival, they find no sign of Imperial patrols, and the Force points Saber toward the capital, Winterdome. They ask around for a while, and eventually catch word via local police chatter that there’s a crime scene nearby where someone has just been poisoned. They make their way to the scene and, after some difficulties, Saber convinces the outer guards to let them inside. The forensic investigators are surprised, but Gristle assures them that he’s a poison specialist from a nearby university. They buy it and allow the agents free run of the crime scene. They find, after sweeping the room, the claw of a defel, as well as a large amount of blood belonging to Rogesh. At the same time, Derra tries to call Avadrie’s security chief, Gunnar, and finds that the two of them are both missing. During the search, a small holodisk turns up, and the agents manage to pocket it without drawing too much suspicion from the other investigators. Pakbatt and Gristle begin following the blood trail with Saber, and Aiden and Derra go to find a merchant selling frost caps nearby. While following the trail, Gristle looks over the holodisk. It shows Rogesh dressed as Captain COMPNOR, a recording from his briefing before the assassination of Avadrie’s father. Pakbatt follows the trail, coincidentally, in the direction of the merchant, but doesn’t find any solid sign of Rogesh’s presence. The two groups meet up near the vendor and Derra and Pakbatt each eat one of the mushrooms. At the same time, Aedra sees a fleeting shadow nearby and Saber reaches out to sense two defel fleeing away. The two split up and head in different directions. Saber attempts to foresee what might happen and sees Rogesh screaming, as well as the agents splitting up and being cut down. With that in mind, he directs the whole group to chase the defel running north.

The defel is cornered in an alley and turns, but is interrupted when a human steps into view. It appears to be Dalan Oberos, a bounty hunter who specializes in hunting down force-sensitives. Bitter at the loss of the bounty on the pirate queen, he orders his defel allies to attack. Saber, able to sense all of the defel in waiting, uses the Force to hold three of them at bay. From the buildings above, however, a shot rings out and brings Saber to his knees. Pakbatt, scanning the rooftops, sees Aurra Sing with her rifle shouldered. Saber, gathering his senses, manages to stand up and move out of the alley just as Pakbatt fires a return shot at Aurra, wounding her before retreating, himself. Dalan rushes in, brandishing a whip, and lashes out at Derra, but misses. The agents are able to evade their pursuers, and sirens go off in the distance as the guards come toward the sound of Aurra’s rifle.

Once safely away, the agents’ comlinks light up with a call from Avadrie Norz. They find a safe spot to answer, and they see Avadrie in tears with Rogesh’s screams in the background. Gunnar is injecting a wounded Rogesh with poisons, and Avadrie asks the agents what they know Rogesh to be. In exchange for Rogesh’s freedom, she demands that the agents find out who killed her mother 20 years ago.