The God of Hyperspace

Events led to an exciting and action-packed climax this week in The God of Hyperspace!

Last week, we had our heroes Kira Chan (Twi-Lek Jedi), Mok Rebus (Homicide Investigator), Ensign Crona Gock (Republic Starship Pilot), and Agent Seven (Shadow Jedi), infiltrating the secret Volcano base of the Doloun Terrorists, and barely escaping a devious death trap before the planet is transported through Hyperspace to the center of the Galaxy by Dolok using the ancient artifact called the Dollophon.

This week, they find that the transport used up 25% of the planet's core heat energy, and that they are currently building up power for the Hyperspace Inversion, which will require the following 75% of the planet's core heat energy, leaving the planet a dead world. They've got 10 minutes to get to the top floor of the base and stop Dolok before he destroys the Galaxy.

They force open the Turbolift door and climb the 50 meters. The turbolift car is parked at the top floor, so they are forced to exit into the second level. As they do so, they sabotage the lift door's mechanism, just in time too, for the turbolift begins descending! After a moment of indecision, Kira senses that Dolok is coming down accompanied by a dozen Doloun, and that Sone is coming to meet them. They team is wounded and not ready for a head-on fight, so they run down the hall and hide in Dolok's chambers! Outside the door, they hear an exchange between Dolok and Sone. Dolok accuses Sone of incompetence for allowing his prisioners to escape when Dolok had his killed (he believes the Death Trap worked). Sone bitterly requests to speak in private, and they enter Dolok's chambers. While the team hides, they witness Sone use the Force to choke Dolok, then pull the Dollophon out of his chest, then reach into his chest and pull out his heart! Sone proceeds to eat the heart like an animal and convulse. Afterwards, Sone has BECOME Dolok, and to everyone's horror, looks just like Crona Gock! Sone proceeds to dress in Dolok's clothes and don his helmet, revealing that Dolok does indeed look exactly like Crona. He is Crona's twin brother Kasshan! Sone then leaves Dolok's body. Rejoining his men in the hall, he tells them that Sone will present no further problems, and that the mission should continue as planned.

Lying on the floor, rasping, Dolok/Kasshan calls out for Crona. Crona comes to him. Kasshan tells him that he is the only one who can stop Sone, and that their mother is safe, then he dies.

Kira, enraged, chases after Sone, who is down the hall and entering the turbolift. Sone/Dolok leaves two Doloun to deal with them, then makes his escape. Kira runs down the hall as Mok provides cover fire. Mok takes down one of the terrorists, but Kira is shot and falls. After the last terrorist is dispatched, they rush to Kira's aid. She is dying. The team picks her up and takes her to Sone's laboratory, performing First Aid and saving her. Once returned to consciousness, Kira calls on the Force to fortify her and ignore her pain.

The team then devises a plan. They dress themselves as the Doloun terrorists, and pretend to have captured Kira. They take her to the control room before Sone, seated on a 5m tall dias in the center of the room. Sone is pleased with their work, for now Kira can watch as Sone becomes Master of the Galaxy!

The team springs into action, shooting at Terrorists, but careful not to hit any of the controls or the three large focusing projectors on the ceiling, they'll need them to get home. Kira uses her grapple line to climb up the Dias to fight Sone. She loses her footing and almost falls but Sone grabs her with his left hand and begins to reach for her heart. In desperation, Kira cuts off his hand and falls.

Meanwhile, Agent Seven cuts a swath of destruction to the left, only to encounter the last suit of Power Armor behind the dias. In a blur, Seven cuts down the Doloun in his way, deflects the blaster fire from the suit, and buries his saber deep within the metal monster! On the right, Mok opens fire on the Doloun and is wounded when his gun runs out of ammo. He picks up another gun and continues blasting! Crona begins climbing the steps to the top of the dias.

Kira gets up and uses the Force to leap to the top of the dias and joins battle with Sone, Lightsaber to Lightsaber. After a furious battle, Sone gets an opening and uses the power of Dolok to create a glowing Hyperspace Field around himself! Kira is flung away, hitting the far wall and landing on the floor, unconscious.

Crona sneaks up behind Sone, and remembering his brother's dying words, leaps into the flashing swirling field and grabs Sone from behind! He wrestles Sone, working around to his front and holding both arms. Sone, seeing the dead Kasshan and not Crona (he hasn't seen Crona yet), is shocked and suprised! He staggers back, teetering on the edge of the dias. Crona holds the lightsaber arm away, and with the other arm, grabs the Dollophon on Sone's chest. Sone falls backward, as the Dollophon is ripped from his chest, leaving long trailing wires. The wires let go, and Sone falls to the floor, which buckles and cracks under him.

Agent Seven and Mok rush up to Sone. Sone begins to get up, clutching his lightsaber, as Seven severs his lightsaber hand and Mok steps on him while pointing a blaster rifle at him. Mok informs Sone he's under arrest for the murders of Dyet Nayal, Senator Kalok Donaes, and Kasshan Gock. He then uses an elelctro-stunner to keep Sone sedated.

After the battle, the team faces some decisions and the chores of cleaning up. Crona reluctantly uses the Dollophon to return the planet Allooine to it's proper orbit, but the planet is now dead and geologically unstable. It has lost all the heat from it's core and will begin to break up in time. There is also the matter of the population believing Dolok to be their living God. After painful contemplation, Crona decides to impersonate Dolok and lead his people to a new home. He gathers them together and uses the power of the Dollophon to transport his people through Hyperspace to a new world, an uninhabited world on the Outer Rim named Naboo.

He then takes off his mask, telling his people that he is just a man, and that he shouldn't be worshipped. He tells them that he's leaving them now, and will they will never see him again. They must make a life for themselves here, and no longer depend on Gods to protect them or punish them. He then leaves them, rejoining the team. The team then destroy the Dollophon by throwing it into a sun. Agent Seven reports to his superiors that the Dollophon was destroyed in the fighting.

Days later, the Rara Avis returns to Allooine, along with the Triumphant, to help in the evacuation of the Republic installation, space station, and colonists. Ensign Gock is met and congratulated by Commander Pentu, who informs him that the Rara Avis' recall was bogus and was a part of a cover up. He tells Crona that he's made some powerful friends and some powerful enemies in the Senate. He also gives him a package containing a datadisk.

On Coruscant, Inspector Mok Rebus returns to his dreary flat to find all his belongings have been repossessed in order to pay his ex-wife's alimony. Sone has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on a penal asteroid. In his flat, he finds a package containing a datadisk.

At Master Roshi's Praxeum, Padawan apprentice Kira Chan returns from her first solo mission only to get a bucket of glitter dumped on her head. Laughing hysterically, Master Roshi accepts his tacky tourist-shop gift from Kira. He then holds out two closed hands and tells Kira to choose. "Oops! Too bad, that one's empty! If you had chosen THIS hand, you'd have graduated your apprenticeship and become a full Jedi. (pause) JUST KIDDING! Congratulations, you are no longer a Padawan. You are a full Jedi! Oh but you should have seen your FACE! HO HO HO! So, now that you are no longer my pupil, how about a kiss, hmm?" (slap!) In her quarters, she finds a package containing a datadisk.

The datadisk is from Senator Beltaine. He congratulates them on their recent victory and informs them that the following information is top secret, punishable by the Republic's only Death Penalty. He tells them that with the death of Senator Donaes, he is the new civilian director of the Military Intelligence Bureae. He then tells them that their recent actions have demonstrated a level of competency and discretion that could be useful to the Bureau, and that they may be contacted in the future to act as civilian contract agents. He informs them that upon viewing this message, it will erase itself, but the datadisk will serve as a passkey in the future should their assistance be required. After the message, the datadisk reads as an empty datadisk. And everyone's lives return to normal.

This game went really well and I was happy with how it turned out. The final battle was indeed very desperate, and the PC's were near death, and they knew it! Force Points and Character Points were being spent like mad! I'd have to say that each character lost 10-15 Character Points as a result of this adventure. But it was worth it.

Only once did I have to use GM fiat to propel the story, that was during the confrontation between Sone and Dolok. The players were SO desperate to attack them then, but I had to tell them that this had to happen for the story and that if anyone attacks right now, I'd dock them 10 Character Points. They were happy to let it slide, and the results were appropriately dramatic.

Crona's final speech to his people was a little flat. It was partly my fault and partly the player's fault. It was late, the major battle was finally over, the player was tired, and he just couldn't think anymore. By this time he could care less about the stupid planet and the people and their religion. I wanted some final closure, but he was just too out of it by that point. I should have just written the closure in to give him a break. I can certainly understand his apathy at this point, especially after such a major climax.

As for the climax itself, it really made me feel good after the battle to hear Kira's player explain that after each of these lightsaber duels with Sone, he feels physically exhausted. That really made me feel like I did my job.

As for Jedi lightsaber duels, there were a LOT of dice being thrown around!! Let's put it this way..

Kira's lightsaber skill = 5D
Lightsaber Combat power = +4D
Boosted Dexterity = +1D
= 10D
Force Point = 20D
Combat Sense = +2D
= 22D
Lightsaber Combat actions = -2D
Boosted Dex Action = -1D
Control Pain = -1D
= 18D - any further actions.

Of course, Sone had the same thing going, but he had 26D before further actions, and he always took further actions (Lesser Force Shield for one). Sone also had 3 more Force Points than Kira did. Agent Seven was no pansy either. He kicked major booty in one Round with his Force Point too.

It was a LOT of math, and a LOT of dice rolling. The other non-Jedi PC's felt a little inadequate when they rolled their 3-5D compared to the Jedi's 20 or more dice. We had to explain that Jedi were like D&D Wizards, they start out weaker than the others, but quickly become more powerful. They accepted that analogy, and were pleased to learn that the Jedi had to sacrifice normal skills to get those Force Skills.

Anyway, the resulting major battle was great fun, even if it technically only took 4 Rounds (20 seconds). There were so many Force Points spent that 4 rounds became 20 actions or more.