SotB XLIV: Friendly Fire, Part I

*At the behest of Borga the Hutt, the agents find themselves putting their Rebellion duties on a slight hold to track down someone that could land Borga in hot water, if he talks to the wrong people!*

## Agents

### Session 1

* Derra
* Gristle
* Hack
* Juba
* Shorbecca
* Zeevo the Hutt

### Session 2

* Domdees
* Eve
* Hawk
* R2-M5
* Rogesh Vai
* T'Rhik

## Mission Report

*Summary by Ben*

The agents are pulled into a briefing with the Broker, who informs them that Tortie has gone missing on the planet Dac while doing a job for Borga the Hutt. Borga himself is offering a reward for Tortie’s recovery, and the Rebellion has requested the agents’ help in ferrying some technicians from Dac to Arda I in the meantime. Tortie seems to know something that Borga doesn’t want loose, and he suspects that a party may have kidnapped him to gain such information.

They set off aboard the Sunflare, using the Rebellion’s directions to avoid the mines protecting the hyperspace inroads. The trip is a little slower than expected, but the agents are immediately greeted by the rebel liaison as soon as they set down. He directs the agents toward the training facility, eager to set up the transfer of the recruits, but confirms that the agents will have time to complete their other task. Proceeding through the city, the agents spot signs warning against the poaching of ‘whaladons’, which are sentient aquatic creatures. They also see two aqualish poachers being led away from a submarine by the authorities.

At the rebel compound, they’re introduced to the technicians they’re to transport. The technicians are allowed into the Sunflare’s landing bay to wait while the agents try to catch onto Tortie’s trail. They first head to the authorities to procure a list of people charged with whaladon poaching or selling. Tortie’s name doesn’t appear on the list, and neither do any of his aliases. There’s a bounty list with several known poachers and sellers on it, but no sign of Tortie himself. With few tangible leads, the agents decide to head to a casino, since Tortie was a known gambler, in order to find some new information. Zeevo decides to pose as a potential buyer of whaladon meat while Juba combs the scene for bounties and Hack looks specifically for Tortie, showing around a picture to the people gambling.

After some time spent gambling, Zeevo and his posse are approached by a quarren. The quarren suggests that if Zeevo wants to find some exotic food, he might be able to arrange something. Zeevo suggests that they meet out behind the casino to set up a deal. Hack finds someone who recognizes Tortie’s picture, and after some questioning, he finds that Tortie was last spotted 10-12 days ago. He gets in contact with one of the casino workers and asks them to inform him if they see Tortie again or find any information on where he may have been staying. Juba, in the meantime, has followed a pair of bounty hunters near the casino, but they give him the cold shoulder, apparently pursuing a private bounty rather than the public ones.

Zeevo and his posse meet with the quarren out back, and when whaladon meat is mentioned, he warns them that the people pursuing it usually go missing if they aren’t arrested. Zeevo’s questioning makes him nervous, however, and he admits that the Empire may be involved with the current demand for the meat. The main poaching ring has an arrangement with them, and they don’t appreciate competition, resulting in the disappearances of the other poachers. The leader of said ring is a Captain Dunwel, who has been luring in other poachers and buyers in order to capture them and then ship them to Imperial space, where they’re turned in. The captain is apparently almost untouchable, and maintains a subaquatic processing facility. When asked about duros, the quarren admits that he’d heard about a duros being taken to Dunwel’s processing facility about a week ago, but there hasn’t been any sign of him being transported off-world just yet. Dunwel seems to have put an off-the-books bounty on a mon calamari dealer, and capturing him may be a good way to get into the facility.

While Juba is watching the two bounty hunters, a third runs in and shouts about having found their target. The three leave together, and Juba and Hack follow them after giving their coordinates to the others. They remain hidden and follow the trail to a shop that the three bounty hunters disappear into. Upstairs, the three hunters appear to have found their quarry, so Hack and Juba close in behind, weapons drawn. Juba claims that the bounty is his, but the other hunters refuse and draw their own weapons. Hack lunges in and immediately uses his vamblades to tear apart some of the sensitive components of one of the hunters’ rifles, rendering it useless. One of the other hunters jumps back and opens fire on Hack, landing a solid hit while Juba fires back from across the room, pumping a few bolts into his target. Juba takes a hit as well, and the hunter with the broken rifle drops his weapon and pulls out a knife to try to engage Hack. Shorbecca bursts in through the window with his jetpack and unleashes a salvo on two of the hunters, taking them down. Zeevo calls up from below, trying to get the hunters to stand down Gristle races up through the building and up the stairs before finally persuading the last remaining bounty hunter to give up. The hunter attempts to flee, but is stopped by Shorbecca. Gristle begins stabilizing the other two bounty hunters while Zeevo questions the one still standing. They are, indeed, pursuing the mon calamari for Dunwel, and when Gristle tries to arrange to let them have the bounty in exchange for access to Dunwel’s base, the mon calamari speaks up, claiming that he knows how to get to the facility.

The bounty hunters don’t seem to have much information, so they’re sent off. The agents begin to question the mon calamari, who explains that the best way to get to Dunwel’s base is to get caught among the whaladons during a hunt. They could also tail their hunting submarines in a submarine of their own. After running through some ideas, the crew decides to rent a submarine in order to investigate the hunting grounds. Zeevo, of course, gets them a good deal on a rental sub, and they quickly launch under the mon calamari’s guidance after acquiring some rebreathers and diving suits.

Gristle, Hack, Shorbecca and Juba all head out into the water to swim with the whaladons while Derra and Zeevo stay in the rental sub. The swim is difficult and floating along with the whaladons is daunting, but the agents manage to stay close to them. Soon, the rumble of a massive hunting submarine fills the water and a huge, whale-shaped vehicle crawls into view. It appears to use whirlpools to suck in the whaladons, including the one the agents have hidden beneath.

The four find themselves dumped into a large holding chamber within the submarine with three whaladons laying around them and a crowd of aqualish standing over them. Immediately, the apparent leader of the aqualish drives his beamdrill into Shorbecca’s armor, wounding him. The wookiee then ignites his jetpack and shoots across the floor, busting through the knees of the other aqualish whalers and knocking them all into a scattered pile. Juba climbs to his feet and fires off a shot at the leader, slowing him down momentarily while Gristle activates his stealth field to make himself less of a target for the beamdrill. Hack takes down the aqualish, clearing the coast for the moment. The agents move to commandeer the submarine itself and have a fairly easy time of it with the limited crew. They release the captured whaladons and load in the rental sub before proceeding toward the processing facility, which transmits docking protocols. Shorbecca brings the sub in to dock, and the agents get ready to board the processing center.

As soon as they’re aboard, they’re confronted by Captain Dunwel, who quickly dismisses them by explaining that Tortie has already been handed over to the Empire. The captain seems to only work with the Empire out of convenience, but before any fighting can break out, the facility begins to rock with several huge impacts as the whaladons outside begin to attack. In the confusion, the captain escapes and the agents retreat aboard the hunting sub after breaking into a console near the docking bay to download some information from the station’s systems.