Agents of the Outer Rim 2 - Icy Approach

*After being reunited with their fearless leader at last, our heroes are contracted one final (?) time by Cal Omas and the New Republic to rescue the missing Charlie Team on the little known planet of Illsauvis at the edge of Wild Space. Having made their way to the planet’s surface they now need to enter the nearby city to begin their search in earnest. The Jedi Kyle Katarn, the ever stunning Taz Solana, lovable Skids McDougal, and the ever lonesome Solo Mon await. Can our heroes accomplish another daring rescue, or will they forever lose their New Republic competitors forever?*

## **Previously**

*Arriving on the planet of Illsauvis, our heroes must pilot through an Imperial blockade in order to commence their search for the missing New Republic commandoes. Harpoons are fired, caverns collapse, speeders go riderless, and Bota accidentally lets slip a personal interest in feet. Finally safe from Imperials, Bota and Katira agree to help a droid that seems to have some genocidal programming interests but might just have been imprisoned for a misunderstanding. I mean, he can’t be any worse than the Imperials, right?*

## **Recap**

### **Welcoming Party**

The heroes jockey for position to enter a nearby canyon, with Bota claiming the lead and entering first. Spotting two Imperial probe droids up ahead, he opens fire and manages to score a blow on the nearest. Flying just behind, Jowkazza and Jawa Jimmy notice a third probe droid and open fire as well. From the cockpit Jimmy blows away one of the messengers as Jowkazza launches a harpoon at the last one but misses. Taking up the rear, Katira and Droo take aim and finish the job off as the group gets a look further ahead.

Spotting an AT-ST alongside several speeders atop the canyon walls just ahead, Bota banks hard to the left, entering a cavern to avoid combat. Turning in behind Bota, Jimmy runs a scan of the area and reports that there appear to be more Imperials ahead in the canyon with signals indicating at least one more AT-ST and two AT-ATs lying in wait. Continuing to scan ahead as they enter the cavern Jimmy reports a signal indicating a massive life form ahead, and from the rear gunner’s seat Jowkazza fires a mag disc directly into the AT-ST in hopes of pulling it down to the canyon floor below. The last in line, Katira opens fire at the massive ice pillar supporting the cavern’s entrance and punches her speeder inside.

As the supporting pillar begins to crumble and shift the Imperial speeders make their way down the canyon walls and begin to close in on the team. A hail of blaster fire is directed at the snow speeders as they make their way into the cavern, and Jowkazza roars out in surprise as a well aimed shot from the AT-ST dissipates over his speeder’s shields. In response, Jimmy punches the throttle to full and the pair are jostled about as the tether connecting them to the walker pulls taut. Jimmy narrowly avoids crashing into the cavern wall as the AT-ST tumbles down to land in a crumpled heap and the tow cable goes slack.

Seeing the AT-ST fall gives Katira the inspiration needed to see her plan through as well. She shouts back and tells Droo to fire a harpoon into the crumbling pillar, and the pair cheer as they watch the pillar collapse into the entrance, crushing two of the three pursuing speeder bikes.

A short distance ahead inside the cavern, Bota shuts down his own vehicle and bursts from the cockpit, blaster in hand. Just as the sole surviving Imperial is about to open fire on the team, Bota pulls the trigger and watches as the blaster bolt streaks directly into the head of the incoming soldier and the speeder bike skids to a halt.

> "*I always feel more comfortable on my feet than behind a stick.*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*Oh, so you’re a foot man then?*"
> ― Rusty
>
>

### **Cold Steele**

As the rubble at the cavern entrance finally comes to rest, an eery silence begins to fall over the pitch black of the underground space. Bota and Rusty begin to carefully make their way forward and scout ahead, easily avoiding the moderately sized pillars scattered through the area and pointing out a congregation of large batlike creatures sleeping while hanging from the stalactites overhead. Jimmy and Jowkazza acknowledge and slowly maneuver their way past in their speeder, without any trouble they eventually make their way to the cave exit and proceed to the Illsauvin city without further pursuit.

While the first ship passes into safety, Bota and Rusty wait patiently for Droo and Katira as the trailing group toy with the idea of taking custody of the remaining functional speeder but eventually decide to just keep their own snowspeeder and catch up to the pair. The heroes in the cave move ahead at a slow pace and observe the cavern around them, discovering that they narrowly avoided the den of a massive creature near the entrance but more interestingly they also find a hidden passage that they must dismount to search. Bota and Katira move ahead on foot as Droo and Rusty each take a moment to partake in a shared hibernation trance.

Weaving their way through the tight passage, ready for more pandemonium and hoping for an easy access to the nearby Illsauvin city, Bota and Katira are surprised to stumble upon an apparently untouched cavern. Scattered about the small room are an unknown quantity of sheets that at first glance appears to be some valuable metal, tossed about as if they were an annoyance and an eyesore, and in the center of the room a massive column of ice is wrapped in a heavy metal chain that snakes its way about to end at a single manacle that holds the figure of a humanoid droid captive. Bota enters first, and the droid calls out before the ambassador has stepped out from the shadows.

> "*Hello, hello… can you hear me? Are you the true race?*"
> ― shackled droid
>
>

> "*What’s the true race?*"
> ― Bota
>
>

> "*Not those people that occupy the planet now. I’ve been imprisoned by them here for thousands of years.*"
> ― shackled droid
>
>

With Katira asking a probing question here and there, the duo interrogate the droid in hopes of learning something of value before they head into the city ahead, but instead find that the being before them has been left trapped in his current location for an unknown period of time that seems to predate the current Illsauvian civilization. Further to the point, the droid seems to believe that the current inhabitants of the planet are not natives thereof, rather they have usurped their habitation from its original owners.

The droid, calling himself 061274000 and given the moniker “Cold Steele” by Katira due to his condition as a prisoner in an icy cell, expresses a desire to be freed and is not shy in stating that he intends to eradicate those who claim stewardship of the planet. In exchange he offers Bota and Katira all the (presumably valuable) metal scattered about the room, as well as the reward of being granted the position of “acolyte” in his new order. While there is certainly a voice screaming in the back of their minds - maybe just in Bota’s mind - that this is a bad idea, Bota agrees to the proposition without any prompting needed from the naturally chaotic Katira.

> "*I don’t care about any of this metal. You can take it all. Unchain me and I will attack the people on this planet now. Unless there is a better time to do that…*"
> ― Cold Steele
>
>

With the simple shattering of a few manacles, Bota and Katira are each given a golden ring to signify their new position as acolytes of Cold Steele, and the pair return to their sleepy friends. A satchel full of the mysterious metal is loaded onto the snow speeders, and with Cold Steele hitching a ride, the team exits the cave to catch up with Jowkazza and Jawa Jimmy. Upon exiting the cavern, the team enters into the valley that signifies the outer limits of the Illsauvin city of Khloris with no Imperial pursuit.

The speeders cruise past two massive anti-starship turrets and the heroes look on in awe as the icy tundra gives way to a verdant landscape. Continuing ahead beasts of burden and creatures not known to any of the team can be seen grazing in the fields, being shepherded onto waiting starships, or being loaded with goods to be brought in for trade. The skies overhead soon become busy with the hustle and bustle of small transports and civilian craft buzzing about the approaching metropolis, and patrol craft soon make contact with instructions transmitted for the appropriate landing site.

## **Featured Characters**

### **Our Heroes**

* Bota Zi
* Jawa Jimmy
* Jowkazza
* Katira Eve
* Roostan Steele

## **Inventory**

* +golden ring signifying status as an acolyte of Cold Steele (Bota, Katira)
* +satchel formerly belonging to Cold Steele/061274000 (Bota, Katira)

## **Notes**

* Though Jawa Jimmy was more than willing to take a scan of Cold Steele before the group unchained the droid, he was already through the canyon and unable to return without risking Imperial attack
* Names of the missing New Republic operatives:
	+ Solo Mon
	+ Taz Solana
	+ Skids McDougal
	+ Suh-Hander McGee
	+ Cheers Vex
	+ Sivist I’magician
	+ Phil Le’Ofish

## **Quotations**

> "*Look, obviously this droid has a certain “genocidal” flair to him but… well I like him. I think we should set him free and see what happens.*"
> ― Katira
>
>

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