Atrivis Sector

[GM Craig]

Once her housekeeping and personal stuff is sorted out, and Nim indicates her readiness to enter active duty, she quickly receives a message from General Vernan asking her to come alone. You catch a shuttle to an orbiting Corellian Corvette, and are brought into the command centre deep in the middle of the ship.

He looks up as the doors open. "Ah, Agent Naga. Come in. I'm pleased you're ready for duty. We have a lot on our plate, so let's get started."

Since he is obviously not one for formalities or social graces, you take a place at the circular console. You note several others come to the console as well.

A section of the Galatic Map comes up - your implant immediately identifies the Atrivis Sector.

"The declaration of Rebellion has been broadcast all over the galaxy, and several worlds are now in open rebellion - far more than we thought. Our resources are suddenly spread very thing, and we still do not have 'boots on the ground' types to back up the planetary revoltss. Of particular interest is the Atrivis Sector. The planets Mantooine and Fest had so far succeeded in overthrowing the Empire. However, they cannot hold for long against any sizable reinforcements. We are weeks away from having resources available, so I want to send you to Atrivis to see what you can do you help. If the planets can join forces, they might be able to coordinate their defence and hold until we can get reinforcements to them."

He pauses, and you can tell there is a downside.

"Fest and Mantooine have a history of war. Neither planet loves the other, but they also deeply mistrust each other and thay have no existing lines of communication. My hope is that you can find common ground. We expect an Imperial response within the sector within the month, but not before a week, so you will not have much time. We've secured transport. You'll leave as soon as you're ready - just let us know what you need. I understand you have an, uh, additional asset you'll want with you, and that's fine. You are looking to make contact with the Mantooine Liberators and the Fest Resistance Group - they should be easy to find, as they hold their respective planets."

He pauses to let all that sink in. "Any questions?"

[Nim Naja]

"Usually diplomacy of that caliber requires significant terms of agreement. Is there anything I can bring to the table? And on whose authority?"

[GM Craig]

He blows a sigh.

"We're hoping that self-preservation, combined with your skills and information you can provide, will show them the wisdom of joining forces with the Rebel Alliance. Right now we cannot offer much - advisors and intelligence in the short term - you're an example of that. Supplies and weapons as we get them. Troops once we've rounded them up. The biggest thing we can give them right now is a defensive shield - it'll hold through any bombardment up to fleet strength. They sign on with us and accept joining the alliance, and we can have it set up and operating in a key location within 72 hours. It'll come with techs and operators, if they need them. Other than that, you'll have full authority to negotiate, subject to ratification by Alliance Command. We can't promise much right now.

"These people have kicked the Empire off their planets. What we need is for them to hold their worlds against the counter-attack that is certainly coming, until we can give them supplies and reinforcement."

He pauses.

"This is a test run, Agent Naja. If they can hold these worlds and keep the Empire off, it will show others than we are a serious option. If this works, we'll gain momentum. There's a dozen worlds on the brink of open rebellion, and they're watching what happens with the planets that have crossed that line. We win this, 20 more worlds fall. We loose these worlds, and we may be reduced to guerrilla warfare for the rest of the rebellion."

[Nim Naja]

Nim was quiet a moment as she processed the information. "What leads the expectation that it will be as soon as a week?" She powered up her wristcomp to bring up whatever she had on the planets and sector, including a map. "I'll need whatever intel and contacts you may have on the planets and sector along with a good history lesson. I'll send a list of personal items. What type of transport, public or a ship and pilot?"

[GM Craig]

"We don't have time for public transport - ship and pilot. You'll have a dossier to review en-route, with everything we know about them. We've identified the leaders of the two factions, and their important deputies."

[Nim Naja]

Nim still studied the map. "Horuz appears to be nestled nice and cozy in the middle of the trade route between them. Do you suspect a response will come from there?"

She turned to the General with the actual concern.

"Every time we've taken the Imps head-on we've limped away from their dark jedi with missing body parts, holes in our guts and our own dead Jedi. Do we have any anti-Jedi resource in case they send one?"

[GM Craig]

He shrugs. "The Empire seems more concerned about keeping Horuz quiet that anything else. I do not expect they'll launch something from there. Another fleet, from somewhere else, sure. But the assets in Horuz, if they are still there, are defending that station. They're not going to weaken that defence to put down a planetary rebellion.

"And, frankly, if a Jedi shows up on their side, this is going to be trouble. In the Republic days, one Jedi could turn the tide in a battle. But there's a lot less Jedi than there used to be. The Empire only has so many - the best estimate we have is 10 - and there's a dozen worlds in open rebellion right now. Apart from that, some Jedi are going to be guarding important assets, others will be hunting those who escaped from Horuz. Some are hunting down other Jedi that escaped Order 66. We like our chances. Long-term, we have plans on the drawing board to counter a Jedi, but there's nothing ready to go now. If one shows up, cut-and-run.

"And to clarify, we're not trying to face the Empire head on - we're trying to hunker down under a shield, and hold until we can get some reinforcements in place. Defence, not offence. We're trying to make a statement, to show the Galaxy that they can resist - use this to build support and weaken the Empire. A lot is riding on this mission, Agent Naja. You have very little to work with, I know. Are you up to this?"

[Nim Naja]

Nim shut down her holo display and smiled. "Yes, I am."

[GM Craig]

He nods. "You'll depart in six hours. Get your team ready. I'll have your equipment on board when you leave."

[GM Craig]

Several hours later, you are on board a shuttle with a small team of technicians, and a few thousand kilos of equipment.

Accessing her network, Nim finds notes on three private contacts on Fest, but none on Mantooine.

[OOC: Recall, you get to place those contacts where you like, and can "burn" them for a favour or aid.]

Other than for a couple of Imperial security flybys during navigation stops, the trip is uneventful. After several days, you eventually revert in the Fest system. You see it there out the cockpit viewport, a dirty snowball floating in space. You are approaching from the night side, so you can see numerous large swaths of lights that appear to follow geological patterns of valleys in mountain ranges. It is a heavily populated world, despite the climate.

[Initial plans? Land at the capitol? Establish comlink contact? Something else?]

[Nim Naja]

Ooc: We'll land at the capitol and try to establish contact with the leading faction leaders.

[GM Craig]

The Empire has been kicked off Fest, but there is an orbital station that is still held by them. Primarily a trade hub with only defensive armaments, the Imperials there are not much of a threat. The space around the planet is devoid of ships, so your atmospheric entry goes unchallenged. Dropping below the clouds, you see the capitol city below, nestled in the arms of a mountain valley. You still are unchallenged, until you near one of the valley ridges when traffic control hails you. You talk your way through traffic control fairly easily - you have the feeling anything that doesn't have Imperial markings would be allowed to land. They seems pretty lax, and the mood of the controllers is pretty jubilant.

As the shuttle comes in, you see what looks like mobs in the streets. Closer inspection reveals that they appear to be celebrating rather than rioting. Anything with an Imperial slant to it - statues, checkpoints, guard towers - has been torn down or defaced.

You reach a landing pad near the centre of the city. As the shuttle goes through the final approach, you see the symbol of the faction that controls the capitol on graffiti and on crude banners all over the city.

The shuttle lands, and some smiling technicians come out of a nearby doorway. Your pilot goes to make arrangements for fuel and supplies. Otherwise, you seem unchallenged. You can hear celebratory sounds from the city carrying over the walls of the small spaceport where you landed.

As the two of you walk down the boarding ramp, the chill breeze reminds you why you packed cold weather gear. You are clearly going to need it. Glancing around, the architechture and colours, combined with the damage and vandalism, reveal that this was one an Imperial facility, obviously reclaimed by the rebels.

As you consider the wisdom of living in a place where the air hurts your face, a scruffy looking human male crunches through the show towards you. "Welcome to the freeport of Fest. I'm dockmaster for this facility. Name's Atonai Takan." He offers a thickly gloved hand.

[Trax]

Trax shivered slightly when the boarding ramp opened.  He'd thought about putting his armor on prior to landing but they were supposed to be here on friendly terms, a message his new armor was unlikely to convey.

When the dockmaster reached forward with his hand the man stepped forward, partially blocking the dockmaster from reaching Nim before taking the offered hand.

"Trax." he replied.

"Quite the celebration you've got going on, nice to know we didn't miss it."

[Nim Naja]

Even in warm civilian clothes the woman could feel the cold sting of the freezing planet and her breath catching in her lungs. It reminded her of the snowtop mountain on Corellia, a place she'd rather forget. At least she wasn't in just a short jacket and shorts this time. Though she did miss her Allie hat.

Instinctively Nim reached out to grasp the man’s hand but was momentarily blindsided by Trax’s abrupt interruption. She however continued on after as if nothing had happened at all, shaking it after he was finished. (Is he shaking his hand or just partially blocking them?)

“Nim,” she smiled, awaiting a reply about the celebration.
 
Ooc: haven't decided on where Buzz will be yet, ie present, stealth, pocketed. She's foregoing the Alliance uniform for now to purposely give a more civilian/rebel appearance.

[GM Craig]

Nim gently-not-gently shoulders Trax aside and shakes Dockmaster Taiken's hand in turn.

Taiken smiles warmly. "We're a freeport now. No Imperial presence on planet, so if you got any goods to trade, no taxes or tarrifs." he beems proudly at that. "You folks need fuel or supplies? The imps left a lot behind when they turned tail. Reasonable rates. And if you got anything in your hold to trade, there's lotsa folks would be willing to buy."