Dawn of Defiance gets Savaged...

[Lysander]

Morning dawns upon our heroes and they begin preparations for travel to ‘The Dark Place’ (as the Felucians call it); the Imperial Prison Facility. But then a low whine coming from the outskirts of the village is heard, as though a repulsor engine were passing around its edges. Upon further investigation, the heroes spot a scout trooper on a speeder bike zooming away from the village, headed into the deep jungle. They catch only a glimpse of him before he speeds out of view, but it seems certain that the scout trooper saw them.

Vazus Mandrake urges the heroes to give chase, as he knows the scout trooper will report the hidden Felucian village—and the presence of the heroes—to his superiors, and soon after, stormtroopers will descend upon them. He tells the group that the mushrooms in the area have chemicals in their stalks that block long-range communications, so there is little chance that the scout trooper could report his findings before reaching his base. He urges the heroes to take his kybucks and catch the Imperial scout before it’s too late.

The heroes mount their kybucks, and the chase begins! The kybucks move very, very quickly, and as the beasts lurch forward, the heroes realize that they’ll have no trouble keeping up with a speeder bike. Large mushrooms and other huge fungi streak by faster than the eye can see, and the ground whips by at an incredible pace. The kybucks provide a relatively smooth ride, and it is clear that the animals know the terrain far better than any of the heroes might. Each kybuck leaps, turns, twists, and dodges between the massive growths of the fungal forest.

The heroes streak out of the village and into an area of sparse growth. But soon, they have all entered a massive fungal swamp. Shallow pools of water litter the landscape, and the kybucks send up huge splashes as their hoofed feet pass through the puddles. Large, multicolored fungi droop low over the landscape, and huge birds swoop down to scoop up prey. The fungal swamp is so thick that the heroes can hardly see in front of them, but the kybucks have no difficulty navigating the swampy terrain. Izza even manages to maneuver her Kybuck into a relatively clear area and gains considerable ground on the fleeing bike trooper.

Soon the chase leads into a thick area of undergrowth and the scout attempts to lose the heroes by entering a hollowed out trunk of a massive deceased mushroom tree. Izza, Gonzo and Morder manage to follow, but Neth and their Felucian scout loose the trail and enter into the thickened terrain and fall behind even more. Izza and the scout exit the massive trunk almost even, with Morder not far behind, however Gonzo is slowed as he gets entangled by a grasping set of roots that hang down into the tunnel like tentacles. He manages to get untangled but he loses considerable ground, exiting and linking up with Neth and the Felucian guide than had to take the long way around.

Izza is able to move ahead of the Imperial scout, and prepares to put her new blaster carbine scope to good use to line up a shot on the fleeing scout. The scout veers, but before Izza can take a shot, the ground in front of him erupts. An aged and dying rancor had buried itself under the dirt and undergrowth, and now it rises up and swipes at the scout and his speeder bike. The rancor is sluggish, but as it rises to its full height, pieces of debris and detritus fall off its body, creating a rain of soil and plants that spatters the area. The rancor connects on the speeder bike, causing the scout to lose control and crash into a tall mushroom nearby. He is thrown clear but is stunned by the event. The heroes close in, and Morder removes the scouts helmet and rifle butts him into deep unconsciousness.

“XR-14, XR-14, respond. Relay last message,” crackles the helmet mic.

Izza takes the helmet, alters her voice to a male register and responds. “I’m stranded and need retrieval. Bike is wrecked. I am not injured.”

“Activate locator beacon on the bike and prepare for retrieval.”

Izza complies, and the heroes agree to allow her to don the trooper armor and try to infiltrate the Imperials, while the rest of the group follows on their kybucks. Izza is soon picked up, and tells her rescuers that she was being chased by 2 unknown parties, but then points to the thrashing rancor, advising they have met an untimely end. The scouts accept her report and begin to take her back. The heroes follow at a safe distance.

Izza is diverted to a communication outpost, which is nothing more than a huge antenna with a moderate power generator. Several huge mushrooms tower over this area, nearly obscuring the Imperial outpost that stands across a narrow stream. The stream winds through the middle of a forest clearing, splitting around both sides of a humongous mushroom whose cap hangs like an awning over much of the area. The outpost consists of little more than a few small barracks and a computer system with a rotating satellite dish at its top. There are 4 troopers stationed there, as well as the two bike troopers. Izza manages to bluff her way through her report and is told to hole up at the outpost and they’ll call for a retrieval team for ‘her’ and her speeder bike in the morning. She then takes the time to scout out the station and think of what to do next.

The rest of our heroes start to stalk into the area, except for the felucian scout, who is left to tend the kybucks. Gonzo begins to sneak across the stream, with Neth not too far behind, while Morder stays back to provide cover fire. Izza sees her companions moving up (even though the imperial scouts don’t) and quietly slips off under the guise of having to take a latrine break and finds a defensible location for the impending shootout. She fixates on a speeder bike trooper closest to her teammates and waits for the fireworks to begin.

Sure enough, Neth encounters debris in the stream and splashes enough to draw the attention of the Bike Troopers, who kick into gear. However, Izza opens fire, succeeding in a head shot one of the bike scouts. The other swoops around a large mushroom and returns fire, pinning down Neth as he tries to swim across, and the troopers split up to try to pin down Izza and the others. Morder manages to put down the other bike trooper, allowing Neth to get across and boost his speed to join the rest of the battle. One by one, the troopers are gunned down by Izza, Gonzo and Morder, and Neth finishes off the last one with a wave of his padawan lightsaber.

Plans are conferred on how best to take out the communication tower when it is finally determined that they can hack the computer systems and reset the communications array to the same frequency as the interference generated by the Felucian plant life. This would essentially broadcast white noise across the entire Imperial communications spectrum. Doing so would also scramble the navigational arrays built into scout trooper armor, which prevents reinforcements from arriving, so this course of action is taken. Finally, the group is able to cobble together enough trooper armor suits to possibly disguise themselves, although the large Feeorin Morder and the small Rodian Gonzo might have problems up close, as they do not fit the standard clone trooper physical profile. The group then prepares for their trek to the imperial prison facility…

[Lysander]

Authors Note:

This campaign has been a blast to run so far! I must give kudo's to Rodney Thompson, the author of the Dawn of Defiance Campaign. It's originally written in the SAGA d20 format, so I've had to take liberties with the 'conversion' of sorts. But I've done my best to retain the cinematic feel of the movies, and I think Savage Worlds is a great system in which to do that. It's unfortunate that 'Magicians of the Beach' have ended their involvement with Star Wars...

Secondly, my players have been a blast, so I am giving a shout out to them as well. (Philth, Gianmh, Terrell, VarnFury, and hopefully we'll get Barftoast back in the near future...)

Lastly, I give props to Fantasy Grounds (Version 2) for the Virtual Table Top platform. My investment in this has paid off in spades over the past 3+ years, and Skype for free chat has helped tremendously.

I enjoy writing the recaps, as it helps me and my players remember what happened previously, and if/when we pick up new players, there's a campaign history they can read. I hope you enjoy reading them, and any questions and comments are encouraged.