A Bold Plan (JotS)

*Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Dawn of Defiance*

*Main Page: Jaws of the Sarlacc*

After speaking with Bail Organa at the conclusion of the previous adventure, the heroes are directed to meet up with Lady Alya Aldrete. They find her at a rendezvous point in space, outside a massive gas cloud where she has amassed a small armada of ships. The rendezvous point is only two hours away via Hyperspace, still well within the Deep Core Security Zone, and Lady Aldrete's communications officer transmits a Hyperspace route for the heroes to follow that will get them there safely. As the heroes approach the rendezvous point, describe the other vessels here as a rag-tag collection of tramp freighters, modified bulk haulers, a few Clone Wars-era Capital Ships, and an overall motley assortment of vessels that look vastly different from the pristine ships of the Empire.

Lady Alya invites the heroes to dock on her flagship, a heavily modified Corellian Gunship. As the deck crew sets to refueling and restocking their ship (or ships), the heroes are shown to temporary quarters and allowed to refresh themselves. Once suitably rested and cleaned up, they are invited to join Lady Aldrete in the ship's command bridge to discuss the next step.

## Lady Aldrete's Briefing

Lady Aldrete welcomes the heroes into her ship's command bridge, where she and some other rough-looking ship captains are quietly talking next to a holographic display that looks positively chaotic from a distance. The heroes also spot two familiar faces- Captain Adrian Verana and Captain Sirona Okeefe, who seem to be deep in their own conversation. As the heroes approach, they realize that the display shows a single, massive planet around which hundreds, if not thousands, of ships and space stations can be seen in continuous orbit.

When the heroes step up to the projector, Lady Aldrete ends her conversation and turns to them. Read the following aloud:

***"My dear friends," says Lady Aldrete, a look of pity in her eyes. "It is good to see you alive. Bail told me about Master Denia- she will be sorely missed."***

***"I'm afraid that we have little time for mourning. Too many lives have already been sacrificed to stop now. While you were traveling to Prakith, I sent out the call for all of my contacts in The Deep Core to come to me, and one of them brought some very timely data. We have not only discovered the location of the Sarlacc Project above the planet Byss, but we have also obtained a full readout of the vessel's defenders, and we know that the Sarlacc Project, while not yet complete, is within weeks of being so."***

***"What I have proposed to my captains is a mission to destroy the prototype. We've got enough ships to distract its defenders, but we can't hope to beat them and destroy the ship- just survive. What we need is someone to take control of their defenses and turn them against the prototype. You're our best, and probably only, hope for that."***

With that, Lady Aldrete begins outlining what little they have of their plan. First, the smuggler fleet will jump into the Beshqek System and engage the Sarlacc Project's defenses. Then, while feigning a retreat, they will draw the defenders away from the Super Star Destroyer and its Golan Defense Platform. The heroes' strike team will then infiltrate the platform, seize control of its weapon complement, and turn the weapons on the Sarlacc Project. Undefended, it shouldn't take long for the Super Star Destroyer to become so much debris drifting into the atmosphere of Byss. The heroes and the smuggler fleet will then retreat and jump to lightspeed, leaving Byss far behind.

### The Calm Before the Storm

Of course, heroes being what they are, they might have some alternative plans they would like to enact. Lady Aldrete's plan is left somewhat vague intentionally, and if the players show some initiative, you should let them fill in the gaps or even rebuild the plan from the ground up. Of course, allowing them to do so will alter the way this adventure plays out, but given the fact that this is the climax of the Dawn of Defiance campaign, feel free to let the players concoct a better plan if they see fit.

The two most important parts of the plan, and the two events around which this adventure is engineered, are taking control of the Golan Defense Platform and flying into the superstructure of the Super Star Destroyer to take out its main reactor. When the heroes are cooking up their plan, keep in mind that, in general, those two events need to happen, and they must take place in that order.

Naturally, this adventure cannot cover every eventuality or plan that the heroes might come up with, but the following information should help you determine whether they succeed.

* The Sarlacc Project is a Super Star Destroyer that has not yet reached completion. Many of its systems are still offline, but (unknown to Lady Aldrete and the heroes) its engines, life support, and weapons are online.
* The Super Star Destroyer is defended by a Golan Defense Platform. However, something the heroes do not know is that the platform also acts as a stabilizer by using its incredibly powerful Tractor Beams. The upshot is that the platform anchors the Super Star Destroyer in place; as long as the Tractor Beams are active, it cannot move.
* The smuggler fleet is ragged, but well defended and captained by some of the best in the galaxy. Given the fact that the defense forces around Byss are not quite up to what they will be by the time of The Rebel Alliance, the smuggler fleet can survive about 20 minutes of direct fire, plus another 20 minutes during the faux retreat. If Starfighters take part in the conflict, the fleet can survive for another 10 minutes during both the initial assault and the retreat.
* Even when the main defense forces pursue the smuggler fleet, a small number (mostly Starfighters and GAT-12h "Skiprays") will stay behind. However, good piloting might allow a ship to avoid notice by more than one patrol.
* Lady Aldrete's smuggler fleet has a number of slicers that can alter a Starship's IFF Transponders and other transmitters to disguise a small number of ships as Imperial vessels. This won't stand up to closer visual inspection, but it should fool sensors.
* Admiral Varth is commanding the skeleton crew currently operating the Super Star Destroyer. When the smuggler fleet appears, he immediately suspects a trap and begins ordering the crew on the defense platform to begin emergency shutdown procedures of their Tractor Beams. However, due to the high power being pumped through the beams, shutting them down is a lengthy process- upward of 30 minutes if all protocols are observed.
* Inquisitor Draco has retreated to Byss, where his time spent in dark meditation has revealed that he will face his final conflict with the heroes. With Admiral Varth's blessing, Draco has placed himself in charge of the defense platform, and he believes that once he defeats the heroes and crushes Alderaan's resistance, he will be given command of the Sarlacc Project and its associated fleet. He has not warned Varth of his visions. Instead, Draco plans to step in and save the day when Varth would have failed, thus removing the Admiral as a rival for control of the Emperor's greatest fleet.
* The Golan platform is manned mostly by Droids. Admiral Varth did not trust Humans to operate his prize ship's defenses, although he has allowed a complement of the Emperor's hand-picked agents to occupy the station for defense.
* Varth will order the defense fleet to pursue the smugglers, hoping that they will be crushed by his ships. However, Admiral Varth is no fool, and he would not leave the Super Star Destroyer unprotected if it weren't defensible on its own. Varth believes (and rightly so) that the Super Star Destroyer, although incomplete, is still powerful enough to obliterate the smuggler's ships on its own.

One way or another, a large chunk of the ship's hull will be ripped away, exposing the interior superstructure and providing access to the main reactor. Although this can happen in several ways (see Part 3: Into the Sarlacc), the heroes might come up with their own plan to gain access to the core.

## Getting to the Golan

Once the heroes have a plan, the mission can begin. Captains Okeefe and Verana are both taking part in the mission. Captain Verana will command Blue Squadron, a collection of Starfighters cobbled together from the various smuggler crews, while Captain Okeefe will serve as Verana's wingman and executive officer. Lady Aldrete will lead her ship and the rest of the smuggler fleet into battle. The heroes have a chance to say their goodbyes, then it is time for leaving.

When the heroes depart, they make the short jump to Hyperspace to the planet Byss. Upon arrival, they find everything going according to plan. The smuggler fleet is occupying the ships defending the Sarlacc Project, giving the heroes a clear shot at the Golan Defense Platform. Read or paraphrase the following aloud:

***Before your eyes hovers the oddly colored planet of Byss, its orange land masses and purple oceans casting the cockpit in an eerie glow. However, drawing your eyes away from the planet is the largest capital ship you have ever seen. The dagger-shaped hull of the Super Star Destroyer, known to you as the Sarlacc Project, looms large against the backdrop of the planet.***

***The Golan Defense Platform anchoring the massive ship looks tiny in comparison. All around, you see flashes of light as Starships burst into flames and then flicker out, or watch the glowing light of turbolasers streaking between the vessels. The smuggler fleet has distracted the Sarlacc Project's defenders; now is the time to strike.***

Luckily for the heroes, the plan is working, and only a few small patrols remain near the Super Star Destroyer. Unfortunately, being spotted by one is nearly unavoidable. A small patrol, consisting of a GAT-12h "Skipray" and a few Dark Squadron TIE Fighters, is on a course that will intersect with the heroes. If the heroes have taken precautions against being detected, play them out. Otherwise, the patrol spots the heroes' ship and attacks. This close to the Sarlacc Project, the patrols are ordered to fire on non-Imperial vessels without warning.

If the heroes can sneak by, deceive, or otherwise deflect the attention of the patrol, they should be able to avoid a violent conflict before docking with the Golan. Otherwise, the heroes must defeat the patrol before they can go on with their mission.

### Run on the Golan

The first encounter of the adventure takes place when the heroes are approaching the Golan Defense Platform that defends (and serves as a space anchor to) the Super Star Destroyer known as the Sarlacc Project. This encounter begins with the heroes approaching the platform, intent on landing in its docking bay. Four ships contest their approach and position themselves between the heroes and the platform.

#### **Read-Aloud Text**

When the encounter begins, read or paraphrase the following aloud:

***The massive Super Star Destroyer looms in the distance, but more pressing matters occupy your attention. An Imperial defense patrol consisting of three TIE Fighters and a Skipray Blastboat wheels toward you, and it looks like they have every intention of stopping you. Green lasers streak out toward you, confirming their hostile intentions.***

#### **Encounter Setup**

* 3 Dark Squadron TIE Fighters
* 1 GAT-12h "Skipray"

##### **Tactics**

The Dark Squadron TIE Fighters try to disable the heroes' ship through whatever means possible. Their best chance is to get at close range and attack with their lasers, reducing the damage thresholds of the heroes' ships with **Dirty Fighting** as soon as possible. Any TIE that survives taking a hit from the heroes' ship will use Vehicular Surge or perform **Repairs on the Fly** to try to be able to survive a second hit.

Since the GAT-12h "Skipray" has the best weapons of all ships in the patrol, it focuses its fire on any opponents that look to be tougher, be larger, or have more shields than others. For the most part, the "Skipray" won't waste its time with the Ion Cannons, preferring to use missiles and torpedoes for their reliability.

#### **Conclusion**

Once the heroes have taken out the patrol, their path to the Golan Defense Platform is clear. However, if they allowed the fight to get too close to the station- say, in an attempt to blow right by the patrol- the Droids on the platform will know that the heroes were the targets of an Imperial patrol, which will make it impossible for them to sneak on board.

*Continued in Part 2: Aboard the Golan*