Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic RPG

Recap the Seventeenth

15 July 2012

Recap of the previous adventure.

The Game and the Gate

Caring for a sick Gungan wasn't on the group's timetable; there was a Celestial Gate to find and lock down. So they travelled back to Lannik, where they handed over Breaker and all the data they currently had on Gungan physiology to the most reputable hospital they could find. Shagaar forgot that most of his information had been on the Oonta Goonta, rather than Breaker's Loss, but there was enough data available for the doctors to keep him stable.

Analyzing the logs of the Sarlaac-consumed mercenary, Zeka was able to identify several airless moons that he had visited. Using the Force, Kistra pointed to one location in particular: the moon of Azure, deep inside Sith space.

Fortunately, Shagaar knew how to travel through hyperspace subtly, and it wasn't too difficult to slip past Sith patrols and weave their way to their destination. On the moon of Azure were many holonet broadcast towers, some of them centuries old. To someone not accustomed to high technology, they could appear to be trees. But where was the key located?

Again, Kistra called upon the Force to locate the pit of hate that signified the key. They landed the Loss a couple of kilometers away, donned spacesuits, and proceeded to the key's position as stealthily as they could. As they traveled, Ish hacked into the local comm network and monitored.

Sure enough, some eagle-eyed systems operator saw four unidentified lifesigns, and called in backup. The local Sith Lord, Darth Psion, was also alerted, and began making his way to the CIC. Our heroes ducked into a nearby crater and waited until the patrol was satisfied before moving on.

All was going relatively smoothly until they dug up the key and opened the box. A wave of dark Force energy was released, positively identifying the key, but also alerting Darth Psion. The party high-tailed it back to their ship, and managed to avoid or destroy the small wing of fighters sent to intercept them. Fortunately, they never encountered Darth Psion.

All of this time, the party had kept a watchful eye on Kaname Song. They had negotiated a deal with the Exchange to pirate a broadcast of the Key Games, and watched the progress of each team in the pursuit of the keys. Some groups were completely annihilated, and were replaced. Others were successful, but had their keys stolen by Kaname.

After her second acquisition, Kaname spent a full week in quiet meditation over the keys. Then, she launched her ship towards an unknown star, found a Celestial, and subjected him to harsh interrogation. Once she was done, she decapitated him, took his still-twitching head, and punched in new coordinates - which Shagaar observed.

Back on Lannik, the group had a long conversation with the Jedi there, as the local council examined the key. They learned of an ancient tale about a fallen Jedi who sought out a terrible power. His quest led him to a key that would unlock this power, but when he attempted to use the key, he dropped dead. His lifeforce was then used to operate a great machine that wreaked havoc upon the galaxy, until it was stopped by another Jedi.

From this story and other tales, the group gathered that the keys were not important. Six keys or one, none of them were really used in the unlocking of the Celestial Gate.

On a hunch, Shagaar punched in the coordinates he had seen Kaname use. Before long, they had reached the Celestial Gate.

The Gate mostly resembled a gigantic donut - the hole in the middle appeared to stretch to infinity, but the outer ring was only a kilometer thick. The middle section could fit a fleet of battleships quite easily, with room to spare, and dark energies spiraled in the void.

The Loss was parked in the nearest available docking bay, which looked large enough to dry-dock a Republic carrier. In the same bay was a ship that had appeared in the brodacasts of the Key Games - it was Kaname Song's.

Vindictive or mischevious, Shagaar headed there almost immediately, only to discover that Kaname was almost as protective of her ship as he was of his. She had placed mines to deter those who wished her ship ill, as well as electified the hull and positioned defensive automatic blaster turrets. Stymied from so much as entering her ship, Shagaar marched back to the Loss without telling the rest of the party what he was doing, spun up the guns, and fired several shots.

At these kinds of distances, with ships as large as the Loss, this is virtually point-blank range. Kaname's ship was reduced to scrap.

Thus satisfied, Shagaar encouraged the rest of the party to explore the rest of the Celestial Gate.

The Adventure Continues ...