A Princess's Pride

*Homebrew Reference Book: Eve of Destruction*

The heroes somehow find themselves attempting to gain favor with a local Coruscanti crime lord, Girza the Hutt, either they are mercenaries down on their luck, or Jedi commissioned by the Jedi Council to investigate the criminal underworld. The heroes gather on the Hutt's pleasure cruiser, The *Sonic Boom*, which is also a multileveled cantina and casino, to petition her for work. Unimpressed, Girza challenges the heroes to run a labyrinth of traps and hostile antique Droids that she has installed on her ship, both for credits and to impress and amuse her.

Succeed or fail, the heroes have impressed Girza with their courage and tenacity. She explains that the mission she has is quite important. The heroes are to board a pirate ship and rescue their hostage, a young Human female. Girza supplies a transport and a number of Droids to aid in the heroes efforts. The heroes find the ship where it should be, in orbit around the planet Saleucami. With little effort the heroes board the pirate vessel.

They are met with a fraction of the crew throughout the boarding effort, since most of the pirates are on shore leave on the planet. After a few knots of hostilities, the heroes' run leads them to the command bridge, where the pirate captain and his mates are. After a confrontation, the heroes interrogate the pirate captain to the whereabouts of their captive. Eventually the pirate confesses he had filled a bounty on that individual with a powerful crime syndicate called Black Sun. The pirate had only recently delivered the woman to a Black Sun hideout on this very planet, and he promptly provides coordinates. One other piece of information the pirate divulges is that the captive is a royal, the youngest of the Emperor's children, Princess Tiffa Fel.

The heroes land near a cliff face, which houses an old and dilapidated Droid factory from the Clone Wars. They then must embark on an infiltration mission through the factory, avoiding patrols of reactivated Droids, defeating gangs of Black Sun Thugs, and finally encounter the Black Sun gang leader. Along the way, the heroes discover that the royal captive is undergoing her own escape attempt, and may not be as helpless as she seems. Princess Tiffa aggressively interrogates the gang leader for information on Coruscant's Vigo crime lord, who provides her with a contact in a Coruscanti cantina. With that information, Tiffa thanks the heroes and escapes in the gangs transport. The heroes are left to return to the Hutt with whatever story they wish, and another proposition concerning the information they had received...

### Opening Crawl

For Gamemasters who wish to have an opening crawl before their first adventure, consider the boxed text below to introduce the *Eve of Destruction* campaign:

**STAR WARS: EVE OF DESTRUCTION**
**Episode I**

**A PRINCESS'S PRIDE**

***It is a time of peace in the galaxy. The benevolent GALACTIC EMPIRE defends the galaxy, from The Deep Core to The Outer Rim, and everywhere the Empire's protection can be felt.***

***However, all is not well within the galaxy. Crime, piracy, and smuggling are still prime concerns for the Empire and the Jedi Council. Agents tasked with infiltrating these organizations do not survive long, and the authorities are powerless to assist.***

***In the hopes of making some progress, the Empire has sent its agents to infiltrate a local Coruscanti crime lord GIRZA THE HUTT. Along with whatever other miscreants or mercenaries they join paths with, this new group of heroes must accomplish an almost impossible goal...***

## Part 1: Favor of a Hutt

*Main Article: Favor of a Hutt*

The *Eve of Destruction* campaign opens on a Hutt's pleasure cruiser in shallow orbit around Coruscant. The Sonic Boom is little more than a stripped and modified old Sabaoth Destroyer, a ship just like the hundreds and thousands of different craft in various orbits around the city planet. However, it does stand out from a crowd of ships, especially at night, with luminescent multicolored lights and laser shows.

The ship is also home not only to the Hutt and her hundreds of patrons, staff, and droids, but also the beginnings of a group destined for greatness- that of your heroes. In part 1 of *A Princess's Pride*, the heroes arrive on The *Sonic Boom* to find that a very bored Hutt has a surprise in store for them, in the form of a labyrinth of traps and droids meant to test, punish, and entertain, called the Cybergauntlet.