Okay folks! This next session was wild. It's got everything.
1. Interactions with feature characters? Check
2. Interactions with prominent prequel and sequel characters? Check
3. Shameless fan service linking obscure sequel characters to a player character? Check
4. A lightsaber duel with a hilarious conclusion? Check
5. Humorous critical failures in the heat of battle? Check
6. Unintentional innuendos egged on by immature man-children who act like they're still teenagers who've never had conversations with real actual women. Check.. unfortunately.
7. Overused movie trope that ends in a cliffhanger? Check
This was probably one of the most fun sessions we've ever had. The only (slight) problem was keeping my players on task. Everyone was laughing so hard every 30 seconds that at times they were getting a bit distracted. Certain spots didn't work the way I intended, but that's okay. It was a good session, so good that I need to write it out on the day after we played while this is still in my mind!
So let's begin with the opening crawl!
Session XXVI: Echoes of the Past
The covert Rebel strike force known as DELTA TEAM has thwarted a plot by Captain Hook and his band of space pirates to crash a bomb-laden cruise ship into New Alderaan, a survivors’ colony built on an asteroid containing the doomed planet’s royal palace, and secretly the home base of a rival faction of Rebel-aligned pirates.
Despite the surprise pirate attack, Delta Team was able to complete its mission, to infiltrate a meeting between two Imperial Moffs aboard the cruiser, and even managed to take one of the moffs prisoner.
The REBEL FLEET has sent Rogue Squadron, led by its recently promoted commander Wedge Antilles, to transport the moff back to the fleet where he will be tried for his crimes...
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| "Hooah! That got 'em!" |
Edit: So.. this opening crawl pretty much explains what happened last session for those who weren't present. I mean, they could also read this blog to find out what happened, but ... yeah anyway.
Two weeks after the Kuari Princess incident, the members of Delta Team, along with Cecil, gathered in the hangar of the New Alderaan Casino and Resort to receive the delegation from the Rebellion.
Soan Voan, who had disappeared on the Kuari Princess was also present. She and Maki had taken an escape pod and were picked up by the New Alderaan defense force. Maki was currently healing from her mortal wounds in a bacta tank.
Six X-wings escorting a troop transport flew into the hangar.
Wedge climbed out of his X-wing and removed his helmet. He walked over to where everyone was gathered.
Wedge: This is supposed to be a promotion, but here I am doing prisoner detail. Anyhow, who is in charge here?
Some of the members pointed to Vero, others pointed to Turk.
Wedge: Well it seems that's up for debate. Anyways, Captain Morelock, Captain Turk, we'll be escorting Moff Wolf back to the fleet and he’ll be thrown into the brig and set for trial. Don’t worry. We’ve already transferred his wife to a prison on the Mon Calamari, so they can't work together to escape or anything.
D'Wook did not like the sound of that, not trusting that Delta Team could get him there without incident. He voiced his displeasure.
Wedge chuckled a bit and said in a dismissive tone that D'Wook's rather primitive mind doesn't understand the concept of space travel and fighter escorts. Besides, Rogue squadron is more than capable of making sure everyone gets there in one piece.
D'Wook hates being talked down to as if he is an animal. He wanted to pounce on Wedge and bite his leg.
Turk reached out and held him back, only for the ferocious fangs of the seemingly rabid Ewok to embed themselves in Turk's leg. That happens a lot so nobody thought anything of it. Wedge took a step backward.
Wedge: Rest assured. He will stand trial.
Vero: Great... Wolf is a vile criminal and needs to be dealt with.
Hal stepped forward and interrupted.
Hal: Mr. Wedge sir, I have to tell you that there's another Death Star under construction right now. It's still under construction and it's bigger than the previous one, so you all better prepare for that.
Wedge: Really? Where is it?
Hal: I'm not exactly sure.
Wedge: The Death Star took decades to construct. If what you're saying is true, we won't have to worry about it for another 20 years. But how is it that you know about this new Death Star?
Hal: Well... have you ever heard of Far Far Stinks?
Wedge: ?!??!?!?!
D'Wook did a facepalm.
Hal: Well what I mean is.. See look here. I have a lightsaber.
Wedge: So?
Hal: I am a Jedi.
Wedge: Oh ok sure you are...
Hal: I have a lightsaber.. See? Maybe I can organize a demonstration so that you can understand that the force is real and i'm not lying?
Wedge: Um... no, that won't be necessary. Tell you what. I'll go back and tell my superiors that we should comb the galaxy for another Death Star ... because... Hal Brunchkiller said so... but he doesn't know where it is, and can't explain how the Empire has so far hidden this massive construction project and will be able to finish it soon even though the first one took decades to make and this new one is even bigger...
Just then another X-wing pilot stepped down and walked right to Hal. He removed his helmet to reveal that he was none other than Luke Skywalker.
Wedge: Come on Luke... you were only supposed to quietly observe my first mission as commander.
Luke: Well, I’m sure you’ll be a great commander Wedge. The actual reason I came along is because I wanted to talk to Brunchkiller. It’s good to see you again Hal.
Hal: You too Master Skywalker. I've been thinking about you a lot.
Luke: <awkward pause>
Lo'Sar Tan let out a snicker under his breath...
Wedge looked somewhat relieved that he didn't have to listen to Hal's nonsense anymore.
Luke: Hal Is there somewhere we can talk... in private?
Lo'Sar Tan snickered some more.
Hal: Um. Yeah. We could board the Silverlight. We can lock the door and nobody would bother us there...
D'Wook looked over at Hal...
D'Wook: Now you're purposefully making it awkward.
Luke: Hmm, well, I heard New Alderaan has a museum with a re-creation of the Jedi Council Chamber. Maybe we can go there.
Hal: That'll do just fine. Lead the way.
Luke: Well it's my first time here. Maybe you should lead the way.
Hal: Okay... follow me.
Luke and Hal left the hangar, followed by Golden Wheels.
Wedge: (To Vero and Turk) I bring a message from Mon Mothma. With Moff Gideon still out there, and your (erhm) *wonderful* espionage techniques in trying to find Dagger on Aris, your identities have been compromised and the Empire will know who you are if we were to send you on further missions. She wants to report that you all perished fighting the pirates, and she’ll send you new identities to assume sometime in the coming weeks.
Cecil: Well then how will we report that the pirates were defeated? Who are they going to say were the heroes who took control of the Kuari princess when it was on a collision course with New Alderaan?
D'Wook: Well why don't we say YOU did it, Cecil?
Wedge: Well... it might be a feather in your cap if we were to suggest that New Alderaan and its security force were able to board the Princess. Afterall you all were instrumental in the space battle. It wouldn’t hurt too much in this case to stretch the truth a little.
Cecil: It wouldn’t be right to say that Delta Team did nothing. Perhaps we can report that they led the charge on the bridge valiantly but gave their lives to ensure we could get control.
Wedge: I’ll make a note of that. At any rate, you all are on administrative leave for the time being. Please stay within the confines of the Graveyard of Alderaan until you receive further notice. Any questions? ... If that’s all, we’ll be departing in an hour... Cecil, have the prisoner escorted here.
Cecil: Will do.
Turk: Wait a minute, Wedge? I need some help with my piloting skills. You see, we often encounter these capital ships and they are very hard to drive.
Wedge: Oh, well here, step into this troop transport. It's not a capital ship, but I can show you on the console how it would work if it WERE a capital ship. Maybe once you get your new identities you can fly a captial ship in the fleet.
Turk and Wedge entered the troop transport.
Cecil: By the way, Vero, the prisoner requested to speak with you alone. You can go talk to him in the palace dungeon if you want to. You can ask the guard to leave the two of you alone if you wish. But DO NOT KILL HIM! If he ends up dead, we’ll know it was you.
D'Wook decided to accompany Vero to the dungeon just in case something were to go south.
MEANWHILE
In the Jedi museum, Luke and Hal were observing the exhibit.
Luke: That's Master Windu. There's Ben.. wow he looks so young! This one with the huge head must be Ki Adi Mundi... Wait. Who is that giant green monster?
Hal: Oh.. well that's Yoda isn't it? Didn't you say you met him?
Edit: This is becoming quite a series wherein I have to make notes to previous entries. If you recall from Session 14, when the museum was being set up, they managed to depict most of the Jedi correctly based on available information. Yoda is the stuff of legend, so whomever built the exhibit made him massive like a body builder. I'll insert another picture below.
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| "Skip leg day, you must not!" |
Luke: That's not Yoda. Yoda certainly is wise, but he is tiny and frail!
Hal: How do you know?
Luke: I just spent a few months training with him on Dagobah! And about that, Hal, so when I got back from Cloud City... there was something I wanted to tell you.
Hal: Okay well what's up?
Luke: Yoda, myself, and you may be the only Jedi left in the entire galaxy.
Hal: I was worried about that.
Luke: I’m planning on going to visit Master Yoda again soon to complete my training. I’d like you to come along.
Hal: I would be honored! But that's not really important right now. I think you and I should organize some kind of force demonstration so that we can tell the Rebels that there's a new Death Star under construction. I'm telling you, I've had a vision!
Luke: We can't just frivolously use the force like that Hal. Trust in the force, okay? It works in mysterious ways. If we're meant to know about this new Death Star we'll find out about it soon. Meanwhile I'll keep a look out for it.
Hal: But this could mean the destruction of the entire galaxy!
Luke: I understand, Hal, I do. But a lot of them don't even believe in the force. They think i'm just a skilled pilot who got off a lucky shot. They think I'm some kind of religious nut whenever I talk about being a Jedi.
Hal: That's so unfair! We know the force is real!
Luke: Yes, it is real, and that's why it’s really important I complete my training. Remember how I told you I met my father? Well it turns out. My father is Darth Vader!
Hal: Oh no! Say it isn't so!
Luke: That's how I lost my hand. Vader and I fought at Cloud City. He's so powerful. He cut my hand off and then told me he was my father. It was a lot to take in all at once. I knew I couldn't win, so I ran away. But I need to confront him again.
Hal: I don't know, he's pretty strong. I met him in Echo Base and I almost took him out completely but I decided against it because we were surrounded by snowtroopers.
Luke: You fought my father in Echo Base and lived to tell the tale? You ARE a powerful Jedi! Anyway I thought I’d ask you for advice. I know Master Yoda probably wants me to confront him again. He wants me to kill him... but I know there’s still good in him. What do YOU think I should do?
Hal: Well, maybe you could reconnect with him and show him that he can be redeemed through the force.
Luke: Well, you’ve given me a lot to think about. I should probably get going. I’d ask you to spar with me first, but I lost my lightsaber.
Hal: Well I have a spare.
Luke: You have TWO? Can I borrow one?
Hal gave Luke his pink lightsaber. He readied the yellow one.
Luke ignited the pink saber.
Luke: Cute color!
Hal: It belonged to my master um... Schala.. something or other...
Luke: Heh... surely you haven't forgotten your master's name!
Luke got into a defensive stance.
Hal: En garde!
Hal charged at Luke and swung his saber at him in one of the most graceful and lethal lightsaber strikes he's ever performed. Luke blocked each of them, almost effortlessly.
Edit: According to official WEG stats, Luke at this point has a lightsaber skill of 8D+1, a Control of 10D and a Sense of 8D. That would mean when he's got lightsaber combat up, he's got 16D+1 for attacking and parrying, and 15D for damage. With pentalties for multiple actions, if Luke is just parrying, he rolls 14D+1 (16D+1, -2D for the three actions ... control ... sense.. and using the lightsaber.) In other words, He's freaking amazing. Hal with his 8D attack rolled in the high 30s. Anything above 31 is considered "heroic" difficulty. We can assume that's around what Luke rolled when he shot the proton torpedo down the Death Star's exhaust shaft. It's extremely high skill. But Luke just shrugs it off like it's nothing.
And... you know what? I understand why WEG does this with the feature characters. It's like plot armor. You can't just come along and kill them with your PCs, and a great roll by an evil NPC isn't going to seriously hurt them. After all, these guys have to survive so the movies and books can happen.
But at the same time, it's a bit unrealistic. In this sparring session, Hal SHOULD be Luke's equal. He's had far more training over a much longer period of time But stats being how they are. If this were a basketball game, Luke would be Michael Jordan and Hal would be Napoleon Dynamite.
Anyway Luke decided that after blocking, he'd go in for a few hits. He attacked Hal 5 times, Hal blocked the first four and then failed to block the fifth. Luke's saber stopped just before contact with Hal's body.
Edit: I explained that Luke could have killed Hal there, but he subtracted 5D control from the lightsaber's damage of 5D for a total of 0D.
Luke: You left an opening there... Close that up, alright?
Hal: Right.
They went back and forth attacking and parrying each other... with Luke scoring several hits for no damage and giving some advice, and Hal striking out gracefully but failing to get through Luke's defense.
On his next volley, Hal decided to do a force push on Luke's lightsaber hand to kind of throw him off guard. The distraction left an opening for Hal and he scored his first hit!
Edit: Okay. So here, I told Hal to roll damage for his hit. He did the calculation, adding his 6D control to the lightsaber's 5D damage... Vero's player said to Hal.. are you sure you want to add dice to the damage? Lo'Sar Tan's player gave me a little bit of a concerned look.
Look. I demonstrated how to hit and do no damage with LUKE FREAKING SKYWALKER... but Hal's player still rolled his 11D of damage, rolling somewhere in the high 30s.
Now... as amazing as Luke is... he's still a human being. He has a strength of 3D. The highest Luke would have been able to roll on 3D, not counting a 6 on an exploding die is 17. And that's a good roll. The average would be 10.5. I rolled for Luke below 10.
According to the game rules, if the difference between the damage dealt and the damage absorbed is low, the degree of injury is low. If it is very high, the degree of injury is very high, possibly even instant death. Here's the official chart describing the effects:
- 0-3 Stunned
- 4-8 Wounded
- 9-12 Incapacitated
- 13-15 Mortally Wounded
- 16+ Killed
So with this hit, Hal should have killed Luke. I decided to be a bit more merciful though, because there's one place on Luke that can take a hit and not kill him, thereby allowing him to still be around for Return of the Jedi.
Hal's lightsaber sliced through Luke's mechanical right hand.
Luke: Ahhhhhhhhh! Oh my god! WTF! You cut off my hand! Oww that hurts! What the heck man! We were sparring! Jeez! I just got that hand! What's your problem, man?
Edit: The table erupted into laughter, except for Hal's player of course.
Hal picked up the severed hand.
Hal: Um... here.. maybe we can get it repaired. I'm sure Cecil has someone who can fix it
(More laughter)
Luke: Are you nuts? Give me that!
(Even more laughter)
Luke examined the hand.
Luke: It's totally broken! Now I'll have to go get a new one! You know what? I think I'm gonna complete my training alone...
Hal: I'm sorry ... I didn't mean to...
Luke stuck up his pointer finger on his good hand.
Luke: (angrily) MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!
Luke stormed off in a huff. Dropping his hand and the pink saber in disgust.
Golden Wheels picked up Luke's severed robot hand and attempted to attach it to himself somehow. It didn't work. He then had the idea of trying to sell it as a collector's item.
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| Don't open it or it'll lose its value! |
Hal retrieved his lightsaber, with a forlorn look on his face.
<MEANWHILE>
Vero walked into the dungeon of the Alderaanian royal palace and found Moff Andi Wolf in a cell, with a guard keeping watch.
Vero: You wanted to see me?
Andi: Look, Vero, I know we’ve had our differences and yes, I deserve what’s coming to me for what I did to you ...
Vero: I agree.
Andi: Well, there’s something you really need to know. It’s about something that I arranged to have ... taken from you.
Vero: Yeah, what's that?
Andi: Tell the guard to leave. This has to be between me and you. Look... I don’t have any poison capsules in my teeth or anything, and you can bind my hands if you want. I’m not going to self harm.
Vero: I don't mind if you self-harm. Go ahead.
Andi: Well, can you please just tell the guard to leave and hear me out?
Vero asked the guard if he could take five. The guard said he'd return in exactly five minutes.
Vero: Okay now what is it?
Andi: Our daughter is alive. She’s now about 10 years old. She’s in a boarding school on Coruscant.
Vero: How is that possible? I miscarried.
Andi: Well... I extracted the DNA from the fetus. I wasn’t lying when I said I’d planned at that time to come back for you. I was going to use the DNA to clone our child once you were out. Remember, I put you in prison and had you beaten... for us!
Vero: Spare me the BS. You ended up cloning her anyway... why?
Andi: After Lira and I married, we both saw that having a child would be politically advantageous. We kept trying and couldn’t conceive. Even the IVF route. Turns out... Lira is infertile. She has a genetic disorder that prevents embryos and fetuses with her DNA from implanting. So we decided to look for egg donors...
Vero: And rather than choose a donor you cloned our daughter?
Andi: Yes. Lira carried her to term and birthed her, so in a way, you and Lira are sister-mothers.
Vero: The very thought disgusts me. Why would she agree to such a thing?
Andi: She doesn't know. I never told her.
Vero: And our daughter? Does she think Lira is her mother?
Andi: Well.. Lira's not the child rearing type. That's why Kaydel has been in boarding school since age four.
Vero: Kaydel?
Andi: Lira named her. She’s been using the surname Connix. It’s normal for students at the top schools to publicly hide their connections so they can be truly judged on merit.
Edit: I offered 10 free character points to anyone who recognized the name Kaydel Connix. Nobody knew. Kaydel is a member of the resistance in the sequel films.
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| This is what Kaydel will look like in like 30 years. |
So we've established early on that Vero in this universe is often mistaken for Princess Leia Organa. Vero's player chose Emily Blunt to represent what she looks like, and Emily Blunt and Carrie Fisher look... well not that much alike. But if they did... then it's fathomable that Kaydell could be Vero's daughter, considering she's played by Billie Lourd, the daughter of Carrie Fisher. Meanwhile if she's 10 right after the Battle of Hoth, then the above picture is of her in her 40s. Well... I am assuming as a Coruscanti, she's got a killer skin routine and is really good at exfoliating. Just go with it and don't ask questions. Anyway Andi is telling Vero all this to appeal to her for mercy.
Andi: So this is why you have to let me go, so I can make sure Kaydell, our daughter, is taken care of.
Vero: I'll.. have to think about it. But it's not likely that I'd let you go before this war is over.
Andi: That's understandable.
Vero: You say she's in a boarding school on Coruscant? What's going to happen when her caretakers find out her parents are prisoners of war?
Andi: Well, since Lira and I are going to spend the rest of this war as prisoners... I am certain the empire will spare no expense to ensure Kaydell has a good life, and we will be reunited once we win the war. But... I’ve seen figures on our victory at the Battle of Hoth... and I realize it’s not as decisive a victory as the Imperial HoloNews Feed is suggesting... In fact, some are saying that support for the Rebellion is now picking up all over the galaxy.
Vero: Is that so?
Andi: So, you don’t owe me anything, but I want you to promise me that if the Rebellion wins you’ll find her and take care of her. You’ve always done the right thing. And... Kaydell deserves to have a good life... and, well if something were to happen to me, I shudder to think of Lira being responsible for Kaydell in her teen years.
Vero: I promise nothing. But I will keep an eye on her for now.
WIPE
Later, everyone reconvened in the throne room. Cecil addressed the team.
Cecil: About these asylum seekers. The Kuari princess had already sent out word to Imperial authorities notifying them of their asylum claims. The Galactic Red Cross has agreed to pick them up here, no questions asked. But if we’re going to go with the narrative that Delta Team is dead, you guys should probably be off world when they come along.
D'Wook: That's probably a good idea.
Cecil: I know there’s not much to do in the Graveyard other than float along with the other asteroids, and I’m sorry I’ll have to send you away so soon after what you’ve been through instead of letting you relax.
Hal: That's Okay, Cecil, sir, thank you for your hospitality.
Cecil: No problem! I owe you guys a lot. So what is it you're planning to do out there in the asteroids?
Vero: I dunno, we'll just float around I guess.
Cecil: Sounds really boring. Gee.. if only there was something worth looking for out there.
Hal: ...
Cecil: But no.. it's just a bunch of rocks out there. I mean afterall the whole planet was destroyed.
Hal: ...
Cecil: Alright well safe journeys.
Hal: ...
Jeegn 1 (as NPC): Didn't you get some kind of special Jedi artifact with the Alderaan royal crest on it that you wanted to ask him about?
Hal: Oh yeah! Here check it out! Let me play you something on it!
D'Wook: No wait...
Hal put the double pan flute on his head and tried to play.
Turk: Would it be possible to figure out if any of the asteroids in the graveyard are where this Jedi temple would be.
Cecil: Well, as a matter of fact, it just so happens that one of our projects we’ve been working on here is a map of the asteroids.
He pulled out a datapad.
Cecil: We’ve managed to map most of the larger asteroids here. If one of them were the spot of the old Jedi Temple then I imagine it could still be intact.
Turk: Well how are we going to figure out which asteroid it is?
L1-NK asked for a map of Alderaan pre-destruction and compared it with Cecil's asteroid map. He was able to narrow it down to 10 asteroids on the other side of the star.
Cecil: If you're going out there, be sure you take plenty of supplies. You don't know what you'll be facing, and I'd bet that most of these asteroids do not have a breathable atmosphere.
Edit: I wanted to avoid a situation where they try to get off the ship, but they can't breathe, so they need to go back to New Alderaan to get supplies before coming back. Out of game, I told them that they don't need to get space suits. They can simply get away with the breather masks that Han and Leia used inside the space slug. That is to say that any of the asteroids they are going to have atmospheres, just not enough of one to breathe.
As they were flying around in the Maelstrom, sensors picked up another ship following them. Sensors indicated it wasn't imperial or rebel, but they couldn't really get a clean line of sight on it.
Edit: This one's actually my bad. I skipped ahead instead of telling them they were being followed... so when these people following them caught up with them, they had to tell them they were following them. Even I make mistakes from time to time. Anyway adding it back here just for narrative continuity.
Once they got to the general area, Vero suggested scanning the area and maybe trying to identify if any of the 10 asteroids were more or less likely to contain the temple they were looking for.
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| Nope, this one's too small! |
The sensors narrowed it down to two potential candidates, analyzing that they had parts of their subterra still in tact. The two asteroids were numbered 9882 and 9893. They were about to fly past the first one.
Golden Wheels' player: Let's skip that one and go to 9893, because it's obvious he'll make us go to the wrong one first.
D'Wook's player: Well, if that's what he wants to do then he'll just say that the other one is the wrong one if we're going there first.
As the Silverlight approached asteroid 9882, they flew by a very tall skyscraper-like building that’s been toppled, and theres unfortunately nowhere to land. Sensors indicated that this asteroid had no breathable atmosphere. But there is enough pressure to survive if one had an adequate supply of portable oxygen.
A very faint light could be seen through holes where windows used to be.
Turk magnetized the Silverlight's landing gear and attached it to the side of the felled skyscraper. Everyone repelled downward into the structure.
Almost immediately they noticed it was practically weightless. They descended into the darkness below. It was completely dark, but again there was a faint light turning on and off in the distance.
Turk: Okay.. so what do we see?
Hal: I don't see anything it's kind of dark.
Turk: Yeah it is... Hmm well this is quite a mystery.
Golden Wheels: I will use my X-ray vision. Maybe I'll be able to see what's going on with that faint light.
Turk: Yeah try that!
Golden Wheels: Well, no.. all that I can see is that on the other side of this wall is the surface of this asteroid.
Turk: Hmm.. well maybe we weren't supposed to come inside this building because it appears there's nothing in it.
Hal: Should we maybe climb back up the ropes to our spaceship?
Jeegn: (as NPC) You know.. I bet if we had something that shined light... maybe a kind of magic bright sword... it might illuminate the area and we could see what's down here.
Hal: Nah, I left my legendary sword from the Willow planet back in the New Alderaan museum.
D'Wook facepalmed.
Hal: Oh.. oh yeah.
Hal ignited his ligtsaber. Lo'Sar Tan turned on the lights on his helmet. L1 also turned on his lights. They could all now see that they were in what appeared to be an office building of some kind. Lots of furniture in varying states of disrepair were strewn about. About an inch of space dust covered the floor.
The party decided to go in the direction of the light that kept flickering on and off.
They entered a large lobby with gigantic windows. Faint light from the stars outside illuminated the area much better than the area they repelled into. The ceiling had a huge seal of the Alderaan royal family. The thick dust covered the floor.
Hal: Ooh! I know! There's that seal again! Let me play that Jedi instrument.
D'Wook: No wait.. we're not...
Grundle (as npc) walked over to Hal mid song and snatched the instrument away.
Grundle: I told you to cut that out.
Turk: I wonder what kind of building this was.
Jeegn: (as NPC) you know, sometimes when you're in the lobby of an important building they'll have a company logo on the floor. Or we could just continue and find out what keeps making that flickering light.
D'Wook held his breath, ran and did a spinning belly slide across the floor, turning himself into a living mop.
He uncovered the words "ank of Alder"
The rest of the party began clearing away dust to reveal that they were in the lobby of the Bank of Alderaan.
Golden Wheels grew excited.
Vero: Let's check out that light
They stepped closer and closer to the light and could pick out that it was a laser cutter. They could see an elderly human, wearing a breath mask, cutting into safety deposit boxes and emptying their contents.
Heaps of Alderaan’s domestic currency littered the floor. Beyond the safety deposit boxes were two gigantic vault doors... still in tact.
The elderly scavenger, still concentrating on his work, cut open another box, picked out a piece of jewelry and put it in his pocket, tossing the rest of the contents of the box, mostly more Alderaan domestic currency, onto the floor.
Vero approached the scavenger to try to talk to him.
Vero: Excuse me....
The scavenger looked up and pulled out a small blaster.
Scavenger: Stay back.... Who are you?
Vero pulled out her blaster.
Vero: I was about to say the same to you. What is this place?
The scavenger looked around and saw that that Delta Team did not look like they were threatening his personal safety. He put his blaster away.
Scavenger: Sorry.. You sneaked up on me. Y'all must be way off course if you ended up here. The name’s Porkins. Jed Porkins.
Lo'Sar Tan: Didn't you die at the battle of Yavin?
Jed: Naw, that was my brother. Hey wait how do you know that? Are y'all with the rebellion?
Hal: We might be. Anyway, have you seen any Jedi temples around here?
Jed: The only thing on this asteroid is this here bank.
Hal: Okay so what are you doing?
Jed: What does it look like I’m doing? I’m a treasure hunter!
He continued cutting into the next safety deposit box.
Vero: Well why are you going after the safety deposit boxes and not those giant vaults over there?
Jed: The vaults? Impossible. There aren’t any cutters that big that can break through those doors. But if we could get in there we’d be set for life. This is the Bank of Alderaan, and that’s where they held all their reserve currency ... several trillion Imperial credits. But there ain’t no way anyone gettin’ in there. You need someone from the Royal Family to open it. And guess what? You know Leia? That princess who escaped the Death Star? Turns out she’s adopted. So there ain’t no one left who can open this here vault.
GW did some computations, estimating that if indeed the vaults were filled to the brim with Imperial credits, the Silverlight would need to make approximately 52 trips to haul them all away.
D'Wook: Well we know someone that could use that. We should just go tell him.
Golden Wheels didn't like that idea. Delta Team debated what to do.
Jeegn 1: (as NPC) If the Rebellion could get their hands on this, they could rebuild the fleet several times over. But Cecil, as “King of Alderaan” might want to try to claim it for himself. Do we trust Cecil’s loyalty to the rebellion? I mean right now he’s Rebel-aligned because it’s his best play, but who knows what this sum of money would do to his loyalty? We need to tell the Rebellion without alerting Cecil. But then Cecil might think we’re doublecrossing him.
Jeegn 2:The Rebellion is already telling us we’re supposed to play dead. They’re not being loyal to us! Why should we be loyal to them? I say we make a deal with Cecil, And anyway, he’s the only one who can open it!
One of the members of Delta Team muttered out loud that they didn't like Jeegn 2.
Jeegn 1: Leia was a member of the Royal family and she was Alderaan’s senator, and they say if not for the king and queen, she’d be the head of state. Certainly they would have enabled Leia to open this vault.
Jeegn 2: Well wait a minute... what about Hal? He can open it can’t he? We can open it... load up the Silverlight, and just disappear.
Golden Wheels looked at Hal.
Golden Wheels: Open it!
D'Wook: Nah, guys. I think we should just leave well enough alone. We can go back and tell both Cecil and Leia about it, let THEM sort it out and just go on our merry way.
Hal: I don't know, man, I think we should try to open it. Maybe what we're looking for is in the vaults.
Just then, several heavily armed no-goodnik scavengers with jetpacks entered the bank lobby.
One of the scavengers: Aha! So this is what they were after!
Edit: I had to throw in extra lines to say that these scavengers had been following them, because I skipped past that part before.
Another scavenger: (awkwardly) Good thing we tailed them as soon as we saw they were headed somewhere... and kept ourselves hidden so well that they didn't even detect us at all!
Scavenger leader: Alright... y’all in the bank. I’ve got 20 scavengers here. We’re armed to the teeth. Y’all better just leave the scavenging to us. Leave now and there will be no bloodshed. Y'all have 10 seconds to comply.
Jed dropped his cutter and called out to the other scavengers.
Jed: That you Ace? It's me Jed.
Ace: Jed! You with these losers?
Jed: No we just met. You're going to be really disappointed if you do this, Ace. The vaults are locked and you need an Alderaanian Royal to open them. But I’m gonna step aside and stay out of this one. I’m tellin’ you there ain’t enough in these here safety deposit boxes to split 20 shares.
Ace: Well alright Jed step aside. I’ll take my chances with vault doors. Now you other losers need to follow Jed’s lead and get to steppin’!
D'Wook: There's only 20 of you? I can take on 20 of you in my sleep.
Ace: Okay well you folks asked for it! ATAAAAAACK!
The scavengers all began shooting as the players dived for cover behind desks.
Edit: I cannot give you a round for round recap of what happened, but I will hit you with the highlights.
In this low gravity situation, D'Wook and Soan leapt up and took out a pair of the scavengers. D'Wook's unlucky foe got stuck on his trident, and when some of the scavengers began shooting at him, he turned and used this poor soul as a shield. Soan meanwhile did several wall bounces and flips and hit one of the scavengers blade first, causing a rain of blood below.
Turk shot a few of them out of the sky, as did Lo'Sar Tan. But Turk was shot and fell to the ground.
On her next attack, Soan pushed off the ceiling, dispatched of another one and landed next to Turk.
Golden Wheels brought some ball bearings with him and decided to use his magnetism power to make the bbies go through one of the scavengers. Vero also sliced at several of them with her axe.
Hal hesitated, wondering what he should do, eventually settling on this sweet move where he threw his lightsaber up into the sky, and used telekenesis to hit some scavengers with it. He then recalled the saber and used it to deflect blaster bolts of scavengers shooting at him, and redirecting the shots at other scavengers.
With Turk on the ground and unable to move, Soan thought of pulling him to safety behind a desk. But it was at this moment that the blood from her blood shower caught up with her and she slipped and fell next to Turk.
At one point, one of the scavengers got distracted, and shot his blaster at another. This caused that scavenger to shoot another, who ended up shooting another. They all died.
The battle went on and on the next turn, a wounded Turk pulled Soan to safety. Vero was also injured in the battle, but the scavengers were whittled down to only five remaining, they tried to make their escape.
Hal armed a several thermal detonators and threw them up at the escaping scavengers.
Golden Wheels used magnetism to pull them down and prevent them from escaping. But his magnetic powers ALSO pulled down the armed detonators.
Everyone instinctively dove for cover.
KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!
Singed piles of currency fluttered about. Jed ... or what was left of him ... lie about 20 meters from where he had been standing. Everyone in Delta Team were more or less unharmed, having moved far enough away or hidden behind sturdier materials to not have been killed. The vault doors remained unscathed.
D'Wook: Now, can we finally be on our way?
Hal: No.. I really want to try to open this vault.
D'Wook: Sigh.
Hal pulled out the double pan flute.
D'Wook facepalmed...
Grundle (as NPC) grabbed it away.
Grundle: I think... like this instrument is supposed to have to do something with the force, not with the Alderaan royal family.
Hal: Okay well then I whip out my lightsaber and I'm going to cut the vault door open.
Hal plunged his lightsaber into the vault door. It was a lot thicker than he expected. He asked L1 what the rate of destruction vs. the lightsaber was, and after a few beeps and boops, L1 said that at this rate, he'd be able to cut through the door in about a month, give or take a week or two.
Hal: Well I don't have a month. Alright, i'm doing this.
Hal sensed that maybe the vault doors could be crushed. If he was strong enough.
Edit: I told Hal's player that he's going to need a 45 on his telekenesis roll to crush a single vault door. Hal has an alter ability of 4D. The maximum he could get with 4D without exploding is 23. He could use the concentration power, which would give him an extra 4D to any action. An 8D roll without exploding could get you as high as 47, but the average is 28. It was clear that Hal would need to burn a force point to accomplish this. He only had one, and thought better of the idea, considering he wants to save that one for sometime when he is in big trouble. Golden Wheels's player told Hal's player he'd give him his force point if he would open it. I've never even thought about the possibility of transferrable force points, but I quickly ruled that yes, I'd allow it. D'Wook's player was convinced at this point that everyone would be very disappointed if they went through with this.
I played some overly dramatic music
Light began to fluctuate around one of the vault doors.
 |
| Open sesame! |
Sparks flew as cracks formed on its surface. The vault door broke into several large pieces and fell to the side. The way into the vault was open.
The inside of the vault was totally dark.
Hal: Hmm I guess there's nothing in there.
D'Wook smacked his forehead, grabbed Hal's lightsaber, marched into the vault, and ignited it.
The vault was totally empty and there was a handwritten note. D'Wook marched out of the vault and handed the note to Golden Wheels.
Golden Wheels was overcome with laughter and couldn't read the note in an intelligible way without laughing. He passed it on to Lo'Sar Tan, who read it aloud.
“Dear greedy Imperials. Turns out Alderraan’s economy has been based on a lie! Thanks for indirectly funding the rebellion! Hope all the losses you incurred in your invasion of Alderaan were worth it! -Baal Organa.”
D'Wook: Now can we leave and go look at the other asteroid? Jeez!
D'Wook walked down the hallway, back to the repelling rope and back into the Silverlight. Everyone could tell he was quite miffed.
Edit: I think D'Wook's player simply knows me too well, that I wouldn't allow them to get their hands on an incomprehensible amount of money that would jeopardize the larger narrative. The way I planned this out was that if they forced the vault open, it would have nothing inside. If they simply noted the location and were to tell the Rebellion or Cecil later, then the vaults would have been full, and used to either fund the rebellion or make more improvements to New Alderaan, or both. Kind of mean of me, but this whole section was still fun to play.
The Silverlight took off and headed to Asteroid 9893.
As they flew by, sensors told them that the asteroid was completely barren and did not have a breathable atmosphere.
After a few minutes, the scan on the asteroid was complete. It was only MOSTLY barren. There was a small smooth tile about 10 meters beyond a flat area that looked like a perfect place for the ship to land
Turk: Okay, let's land on the tile.
Vero: Hmm... maybe we should land next to the tile.
Turk: Next to it?
Vero: Yeah.. like that flat part that looks perfect to land a ship.
Turk: Oh.. I didn't see that.
They landed the ship.
Immediately D'Wook and Hal sensed that they'd be totally fine if the stepped out onto the surface. D'Wook opened the cargo ramp and air begin whooshing out of the Silverlight. Lo'Sar Tan had his armor on so he was totally fine, as were the droids, but everyone else were immediately gasping for breath. Hal and D'Wook stepped out onto the surface and Lo'Sar Tan closed the ramp. The ship repressurized.
Hal stepped over to the tile. It had a human handprint on it. Above that was seal of the Alderaan royal family.
Hal pulled out the musical instrument and tried to wear it on his head.
D'Wook grabbed it and slapped him across the back of the head with it and pointed at the human handprint.
Hal: Oh yeah.... Duh.
 |
| It's kind of difficult to tell AI what to draw. D'Wook isn't that short and he has black fur. Close enough though... |
Hal touched it. He felt as if it was just a matter of making it rise.. somehow.
Edit: That sentence in game was worded "You touch it. You feel as if it is just a matter of making it rise... somehow." What followed were immature giggles akin to what we used to laugh about in 7th grade. We then resorted to describing what was going on as a series of dick jokes. Sigh... I love these players.
I will write the next few descriptions as they were read in game, with italics being things players said.
It’s hard to describe (huh huh you said hard)
Sigh... I mean the feeling you get from the force is hard to describe but you have the feeling that if maybe you had three hands you could hold everything you need to…. If that makes sense.
Huhuhuhhhhuhhhuh that's what she said.
D'Wook put his paw on the tile and Hal used telekenesis.
A rock hard structure, I mean a sort of pillar, I mean... um.. a building.. an old building emerges from the rocky surface. It is the entrance to the temple… you think. A strong wind blows from the entrance indicating there is more pressure on the inside.
Huhuhuhhuhuhuhuh you said pressure and inside.
Sensors in the Silverlight now have changed to say that there is a breathable atmosphere. The rest of Delta Team joined D'Wook and Hal outside.
You enter
Huhhhuhhhhuhuh you said enter.
to find a very long corridor.
Huhuhhuh are the walls slippery?
As a matter of fact yes, they are slippery and wet.
Huhhhuhhhuhuhh
You also hear the flow of wetness I mean water off in the distance. As the last member of the team steps in, the door closes behind you with a loud bang.
Hhuuuhhuhuhuhh you said bang!
Everything goes dark.
Hal ignited his lightsaber.
The walls are overgrown with vines.
Huhhhuhhuhuh you mean veins.
Sigh... okay so moving forward you come to a somewhat large room with a broken fountain in it.
Hhhuhhhuhuhuh we passed through the cervix.
Okay so I'll stop with the innuendoes here.
There was a stone door up ahead. Hal tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. He noticed there were some characters that appeared to be an archaic language.
Hal called Golden Wheels over to see what he could make of it. It was not any language he recognized.
Hal tried to use the force to see what he wasn't seeing. Using his super Jedi recall (he concentrated and rolled really high) he remembered back in the days when he was a young lad zooming all over the universe in search of Jedi, he stepped into a bar on open mic night in an obscure planet in the Mynos cluster. The musician was playing off sheet music that looked somewhat similar to the writing on the door, giving Hal the strong suspicion that this might be musical notation.
Hal: Okay guys. It's just musical notation. Who wants to give me a force point so I can crush this door?
D'Wook facepalmed.
D'Wook: Really? REALLY? Grundle, get your ass over here and play your damn flute. Honestly!
Knowing that it was musical notation, Golden Wheels was able to transcribe it to something more recognizable. Grundle played the pipes
It sounded like this:
The door opens and there was a very blinding light on the other side.
Stepping out of the light was a force ghost, he was very tall with black wavy hair. He had a scar on his face.
Ghost: ah, Master Brunchkiller. So good to see you again.
Hal: Master Skywalker, I presume?
GM: WHAT?
Hal: It's Anakin right? You said he had scars.
GM: I said a scar.
Ghost: My name is Ben Solo. You haven’t met me yet. In fact from your point of view I haven’t been born yet.
 |
| I think you have me confused for someone else. |
Hal: Oh...
Ben: Well I suppose there isn’t any harm in telling you. One day you will help my uncle Luke Skywalker restore the Jedi order. You will train new Jedi together.
Hal: Far out!
Ben: wait a minute… I sense a gap in your memories. Has your mind been blocked by the force?
Hal: Yes, I think so.
Ben: Let me remove that for you.
Hal regained his memories that Cherlindria removed and the affect mind power... He also gained the Jedi Lore skill at 2D, learning the history of the order up until this point in time from Ben.
Ben: I suppose you’ve figured it out by now that I am from what may be a possible future. Ahead of you lies a window into the multiverse.
Hal: Wow! Gee!
Ben: This universe is but one of many. There are other universes very much like it. But also very different. Let’s take a look at the closest one...
The window begins flashing....
Hal… in this Universe, it wasn’t you who began traveling the galaxy in search of a Jedi Master. It was your friend Lance Cortana.
An image of Lance appears in the window.
Knowledge: in your memory, Lance was your close friend you both felt different from everyone else. But when you were around 9 years old, Lance was killed when stormtroopers raided your village.
Ben: in this other universe it was you who were killed, and Lance survived.
Edit: This was a throwback for Turk and D'Wook mostly, to explain that their first two sessions were in a different universe. Lance's player isn't with us so Hal's player took his place as the resident aspiring Jedi.
Ben: Meanwhile, Jeegn, Grundle and Vero. You also also exist in this other universe, but the arms dealing assignment went to Arnette and Lisette.
Arnette and Lisette appear in the window.
Vero, Jeegns and Grundle remembered them from spy school. They had perfected a cover, wherein she’s playing a spoiled rich daddy’s girl and he’s her butler. Around the time before the battle of Yavin, they were assigned to Scarif to observe an imperial outpost. It was later destroyed by the Death Star.
Ben: In this other universe it was you two and Jeegn assigned to Scarif.
The window goes dark... it grows into a large door and began flashing again.
Ben: Hal, you and your friends are called upon to change the course of history in another universe... you will be the hero that ends the galaxy’s endless conflict and sets it into a prosperous golden age. Most universes do not have this chance… but the one you are going to could set off a chain reaction for good in other adjacent universes. Unfortunately whatever you do there will not affect anything in this universe. Do not worry about breaking any kind of continuity. When you’ve set things on the best possible path you’ll return here. Farewell Hal and May the force be with you.
The window ahead of them expanded into a door.
As they stepped through, lights began flashing, and suddenly the word around you began to fill in. They were standing in the Jedi Temple at the chambers of the high council.
It’s was not as beautiful or grandiose as the approximation of the council at the museum in New Alderaan... but they got most of the details right. A glaring discrepancy is Yoda. He’s not huge and muscular. He’s frail and old.
They observed the following:
Mace Windu: May the force be with us all
At that moment, the window expanded in front of Delta Team. They were now standing in front of the council. Only Hal was visible to the Jedi, and the rest could observe but not interact with the council.
Several of the Jedi stood up and drew their lightsabers. Yoda and Mace did not
Obiwan: Hello There!
Hal: Hello, Master Kenobi. My name is Hal Brunchkiller.
Edit: Okay this section did not run as smoothly as I had hoped. I had each of the players playing one of the Jedi on the council, and they were all surprised to see Hal suddenly appear before them. I had originally written an entire script of their dialogue and was going to have them read parts, but D'Wook's player suggested I just hand out guidelines for how each Jedi would react.
Mace Windu (played by D'Wook's character): I don't remember no Master Brunchkiller coming through this got dam temple.
Hal: What?
Mace: Identify yourself mfer!
Hal: I told you my name is Hal Brunchkiller.
Mace: Say that again, I dare you, I double dog dare you!
Mace Windu proceeded to run through the whole scene as Jules from Pulp Fiction, and everyone was so busy laughing that it completely fell apart. And yes, Jules Windu asked for his lightsaber that said Bad MFer on it.
Ki Adi Mundi, played by Lo'Sar Tan's player, I had suggested to keep pressing him for more information about who he trained under. He kept repeating "Who ARE YOU" and Hal was struggling on how to answer.
I was trying my best as Yoda to kind of steer the conversation where I wanted it to go, but my Yoda voice just made everyone laugh more.
At one point, when they were talking about the Clone Wars, Hal talked about the battle droids as "Clankers."
Kit Fisto, played by Golden Wheels' player took exception to that.
Kit Fisto: Oh man. Hard R... really?
Hal: Okay I meant Clankas.
Windu: Not cool man... not cool.
Anakin, played by Vero's player wasn't whiny enough to be Anakin, and Obiwan, played by Turk's character spent more time calming Mace Windu down than holding Anakin in check.
The point of this exercise was to tell the council that they were being played by Palpatine and what would happen when Palpatine called order 66. They got through it, but rather than remember every absurd moment and write it out, I will instead post here the script that I wrote. We'll just say this is what happened in an adjacent universe. I will leave Hal's responses blank, as they were in the script. You the reader can fill them in with what you might say if you were Hal.
Windu: Identify yourself!... Master...
Hal:
Windu: I don’t recall a Master Brunchkiller coming through our ranks.
Yoda: Indeed. Unknown you are. Tell us more, you must.
Hal:
Anakin: It’s obvious he is an impostor. He and his friends might be working for the separatists. Look, they are dressed like some sort of military unit.
Yoda: Sense the truth I do in Master Brunchkiller. Listen to him, at least, we must.
Shak Ti: If Yoda believes in you, I’ll listen. Tell me, future boy... who was your master? Maybe one of our Padawans?
Annakin: Hahaha! Well at least I know it wasn’t snips. She’s no longer in the order...
Hal:
Ki Adi Mundi’s hologram, still seated: Schala? A fine Jedi she is... but how far in the future did you say you were from?
Hal:
Ki Adi Mundi: This lacks credibility. You would be about 10 years old right now and surely we would know who you are. Your younger self would be training at the temple.
Plo Kloon ignites his lightsaber.
Mace Windu reaches for his but does not activate it.
Yoda closes his eyes and points his hands at Hal. I sense another familiar influence... did you have a second master?
Hal:
Kit Fisto: Cherlindria is no longer with us! She and Master Syfo Dyas disappeared many years ago. On top of that. She was a padawan not a Master. That’s impossible.
Hal:
Yoda: Another I sense... not your master, but a friend!!!! Sky... walker?
Anakin: Oh... so are we friends in the future then? Am I still handsome in 20 years?
Yoda: No, not Anakin Skywalker... but.. His children. Surprising this is.
Obiwan glares at Anakin as if in surprise.
Anakin: gulp....
Kenobi: Well friend of the family eh...
Windu: glares at Anakin, then at Hal… yes… let’s hear what he has to say. … Who sits on the Jedi council in your time?
Hal:
Yoda: No Jedi council? Troubling this is. Tell us more you must.
Obiwan: How long will it be before the Republic wins the war over the separatists? One year? Five years?
Anakin: A week? That’s great!
Hal:
Windu: Palpatine a Sith Lord? Are you certain?
Anakin: How could I have not seen it? Palpatine is playing both sides. He’s been influencing me... trying to make me turn against all those I hold dear. But wait... my son lives in the future. Tell me... did ... his mother... Senator Amidala survive childbirth?
Windu glares at Anakin. Yoda shakes his head.
Hal:
Anakin: So I couldn’t save her. Tell me about my future then. If you know my son, surely you must know me.
Hal:
Anakin: ME? A Sith? Palpatine’s apprentice? THAT’s my future?
Yoda: Worry not, young Skywalker. Set in stone, the future is not.
Obiwan: It all makes sense now. The clone army takes decades to make, yet Palpatine authorizes its use just as they are being completed. How could we have been so stupid?
Yoda: The Dark Side... common sense it can obscure. Fooled we all were.
Obiwan: The clone army may be Palpatine’s strength, but they are programmed to be loyal to the Jedi. They would sacrifice themselves to protect us. How could he possibly use them against us?
Hal:
Yoda: Know that we did not. Alarming this Order 66 is.
Windu: We must arrest Palpatine at once... we must also gather evidence that he is manipulating both sides of this conflict.
Obiwan: This could take forever. Meanwhile Grievous' Separatists will gain an upper hand while we search for new leadership.
Anakin: No.... the separatists are reeling after the battle we just fought. Senator Amidala can reach out to Nute Gunray and negotiate a ceasefire. We can then share with them that the Sith Lord that promised them power if they try to secede, was the Chancellor himself.
Yoda: Unsure we are. Wisdom from the future we must seek.
Windu: Tell me time travelers. We seek your advice on what to do with the Separatists after we have new leadership. Should we crush them once and for all? Should we just let them back in the Republic? Maybe we should let them go their own way? I am afraid that we as Jedi are only guardians of peace and justice. We don’t know much in the way of statecraft. Could you advise us of a plan to end this war?
Obiwan: Please, use these chambers to discuss your recommendations for what we should do. Meanwhile, we have a job to do.
Mace Windu, Obiwan Kenobi, Yoda, Anakin Skywalker and Shak Tii depart to go arrest the Chancellor.
Remember though, that's not how it went during the game, and Jules Windu led the entire council to go arrest Palpatine.
 |
| "Does he look like a Sith?" |
So the group discussed what might be the best plan, there wasn't much debate though. They simply decided to tell everyone that all the separatist leaders were on Mustafar and if they were to go there, they could kill them all and put an end to the war.
I was hoping there'd be back and forth with some of them saying that maybe they should give the Separatist worlds an olive branch... but they didn't seem very interested in the activity. I guess not everything we plan is as fun as we think it is. A lot of us are old enough that we don't have great feelings about the prequels, so maybe that is why we weren't so enthusiastic.
Still, it was fun to put Hal in front of the Jedi Council and he seemed to appreciate it.
About 30 minutes later, Obiwan, Yoda, Anakin and Mace returned.
Mace: Palpatine will stand trial.
Obiwan: Meanwhile... what is your recommendation to end this war?
Hal: Go to Mustafar where the separatist leaders are gathered and arrest them too.
Yoda: a wise plan that is. Make arrangements we shall...
Hal: Master Yoda, will you in the future train me in the ways of the force?
Yoda: Mhmmm.. I sense you must be going soon. Thank you we must. Survive the Jedi of this Universe will.
Hal: But....
D'Wook raised his hand as if to hold Hal back.
Anakin: But you all will return to that horrible future. Hal, please tell my son that I love him... and that I am sorry. Tell him he has my permission to kill my evil self if necessary. I will try to raise him right with Padme as best as I can on my end.... But in your world, he will need all the friends he can get.
Reality zoomed away from them and the portal began to glow.
Everyone stepped through the portal one by one. As Hal stepped in the portal began to close. D'Wook was still on the outside. A heavy wind began to blow from the portal as D'Wook was struggling to stand. Hal reached out his hand and told D'Wook to grab on. D'Wook also reached out his hand and tried to grab, but it was as if there was a wall between them. He could not reach. His body was slowly moving backward, away from the portal and farther from Hal's outstretched hand.
Hal: Grab my hand!
D'Wook: Use the force!!!!!!!
Hal felt as if he could pull D'Wook into the portal, but it didn't quite feel as if he was pulling him physically... but rather pulling his essence.
From D'Wook's perspective, he suddenly felt very light... it was as if he merely had to jump through a hoop and he'd be home free. He jumped.
Hal closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them, he saw himself with his outstretched hand.
He grabbed his own hand.
MEANWHILE
Back in the cave with the broken fountain, everyone EXCEPT Hal and D'Wook were there. The portal was closing.
Turk: We should help them!
Suddenly Hal and D'Wook's bodies were shot through the portal at high speed. They flew across the room, slammed against the wall and were knocked out.
Golden Wheels thought he might try to go loot Hal's pockets.
D'Wook awoke and instinctively grabbed his lightsaber, batting Golden Wheels away.
Something wasn't right. Here he was holding a lightsaber. He looked around the room. He thought he was a lot taller. He stared at his hands. They were hairless. He was wearing weird clothes. And.. he was more in tune... with the force...
He ran over to the broken fountain and peered into the pool of water... and saw Hal Brunchkiller staring back at him...
D'Wook: (in Hal's body) Dammit Hal, what did you do? (He was surprised at how fluent in basic he sounded.)
Hal awoke... something wasn't quite right. He was less connected with the force... and he could smell adrenaline... coming from.... Hal?
He stood up and stared at his furry hands. He looked around the room at everyone, who still didn't quite figure out what was going on.
Hal: (In Ewokese) Oh no. D'Wook and I have switched bodies. (He was surprised to be speaking a language he did not previously understand. For the benefit of the doubt of the rest of the group, he tried to speak basic.
Hal: He is me! Me is he!
A terrible fright came over Hal as he waved his furry hands to and fro, trying to put a coherent sentence together.
<to be continued>
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