Massive ramble-o
Not to sound extremely, unbelievably cliche- but I hate not having money.
And it is cliche. Because almost everyone hates not having money. And people without money more often than not have friends who don't have much money, either. So when you say it, someone else says ``tell me about it.''
Getting back into work is pretty tough as well. At first I was pumped but it died down pretty quick when preparing the paper. I can't wait for the day I actually move to the larger paper and my deadlines become more immediate. The less I have to rely on my organisational skills and more on my writing and inquiring the better.
Star Wars Campaign is going pretty nuts. To be terribly cliche again the PCs blew up the third Death Star. I hate cliche, so there were several differences and justifications before I even put a third one in. It's been part of the plan for a very /very/ long time to have them do it, so I'm pleased it's happened.
Long story short of campaign (and it's a long story); clone troopers rebelled from Empire and dissapeared, only to mysterously appear over a decade later to take over the galaxy. No one as of yet knows why, but for all intents and purposes claiming to be the next Mandalorians. A three way battle between the clone troopers, Republic and Imperials started. The latter two are loosing, there's far more clones than the ones who defected. What's going on?
The Imperials made a bio-weapon to kill them off, the Republic stole it. The senate is now debating the ethics of mass genocide or destruction. To use the weapon or not? The Imperials had a back up plan, a new Death Star, meant for the Republic. Fun ensues. Who will win?
This Death Star had no external shielding site like on Endor- it generated it's own rendering it autonomous. It only had a few sections of plating missing in final stages and the superlaser was completely active. Along with that, there was no 'magic hole' to shoot. And it was surrounded by the best and largest chunk of the Imperial Fleet available.
So, really, there were no weaknesses unless you somehow got aboard the Death Star and shut down the laser, and a small craft flew under the outer hull and navigated the tight space- flew down a shaft into the core- and blew it up.
Sounds easy. But to get enough starfighters to stand a chance you need ships to carry the squadrons. To protect carrier ships from the Imperial fleet you need /lots/ of ships and guard ships.
But wait, the superlaser is active. Can't they destroy all the Republic fleet?
Yes, that's why someone has to disable the superlaser as well as the shields. And the Republic don't want to gamble all they have on one team, but a lot will get noticed. So two teams were sent by different routes; one to sabotage the superlaser, the other to disable the shield. The latter can only be done at the time, or else it will be immediately noticed.
So the PCs were in the second group, but how to get aboard? Well, the Imperials need to fill the Death Star with a massive amount of hyperspace fuel to be able to propel it across the galaxy. But if they constantly refuel it's not autonomous. The Black Ice, a tanker with enough fuel capacity to fuel the entire Imperial Fleet for a year- or a Death Star- is the answer. Naturally almost as well protected as the Death Star itself. The only way in or out in the last stages of construction.
So how do they get on board? Well, the Moffs and Grand Moffs are gathering at the Death Star. A Moff turncoat who is running a project to recreate the bio-weapon informs the Republic that his portion will be travelling aboard the Black Ice. He is currently being protected by Imperial Guards, who will escort him to the Death Star upon it's completion.
Of course it's not a 'nice' escort, because if he fails to complete the Bio-weapon before the Death Star is finished he's a complete failure. His planet is also currently on the edge of Mandalorian controlled space. If it's taken over, the Death Star will be used on it. Instant depromotion.
So the PCs train to imitate Imperial Guards, take them out in an ambush set up by the Moff and escort him to the Black Ice. They then board the Death Star. Mission; sabotage the shielding.
They set up a bomb on a vital conduit over the course of a few days using their bizzare super-hacking highly modified protocol droid A2, proficient in 200,000 different forms of `mischief'. They plant it, then wait.
.... .... Time for the Republic fleet to show up, they're ordered to the command bridge. There stands Darth Invictus, Lord of the Sith, and Grand Moff Kadir. Both long term nemesis of the PC (Invictus is Sarun Ke). The bomb doesn't go off, but the laser is deactivated.
Suddenly, a laser starts firing from out in space. From the blackness, decimating the Republic's capital ships. Invictus turns to the PCs. The Death Star was never the real project.
A cloaked experimental Super Star Destroyer with 1/8th the power of the Death Star was in it's shadow. A superlaser runs across the bow (Wookiepedia; see `Eclipse'). The shields are up, the Republic fleet can't leave, and they're outshipped and outgunned. Shit hits the fan.
Invictus uses the force to knock one of the PCs out of the room and proceeds to decimate the rest. The lone PC heads to reactivate the bomb. On the way he runs across a bridge suspended over an unprecedented drop. There is his former apprentice turned to the Dark side. Both of them have almost completely cybernetic parts after the PC tried to kill Invictus once with a bomb in a previous encounter. The massive chasm is collecting ionisation and occasional waves of it course upwards. Either of them are hit and they're dead.
Invictus threw him out to face his apprentice. His death is part of her training, and the PC is surprisingly being outmatched by her.
There are other bridges and cables, so it's a pretty epic fight. He ends up throwing his lightsaber and suddenly cutting away her footing, the only way to defeat her, and she plummets. He manages to activate the bomb after sadly killing his apprentice.
Meanwhile, all the PCS are felled by Darth Invictus. There is a PC who has been having strange visions where he lives 4000 years ago as a legendary human Jedi Master (his PC is Trandoshan). He interacts with them and lives there when he has the visions, and plays out being there (He thinks he's somehow 'spirit time travelling'). At that moment he realises by some wierd fluke that he is actually the individual he has been having visions of. He doesn't know why or how, but feels it to be true. Drawing on a strength and ability far beyond his, he rises and fells Invictus.
But the Eclipse is still there. But A2 has amazingly sliced himself into the Death Star's supercomputer. If they fix the sabotage by the first team, they can use the bridge to fire the Death Star at the Eclipse. So they do, and then go to escape. But then the pilot of the group realises there's only one way to ensure the destruction of the Death Star, and steals a Tie Defender- flying it outside and into the heart of the death star to blow it up.
All is epic and well with the world. No? Invictus planned the whole thing using his ability to percieve events and his force skills to fake his death. He wanted to be 'killed' along with his apprentice and have the Empire fall. Escaping he is now in hiding, not to return for another five years in the campaign. Why is that? All part of the mystery. Fun!
And it is cliche. Because almost everyone hates not having money. And people without money more often than not have friends who don't have much money, either. So when you say it, someone else says ``tell me about it.''
Getting back into work is pretty tough as well. At first I was pumped but it died down pretty quick when preparing the paper. I can't wait for the day I actually move to the larger paper and my deadlines become more immediate. The less I have to rely on my organisational skills and more on my writing and inquiring the better.
Star Wars Campaign is going pretty nuts. To be terribly cliche again the PCs blew up the third Death Star. I hate cliche, so there were several differences and justifications before I even put a third one in. It's been part of the plan for a very /very/ long time to have them do it, so I'm pleased it's happened.
Long story short of campaign (and it's a long story); clone troopers rebelled from Empire and dissapeared, only to mysterously appear over a decade later to take over the galaxy. No one as of yet knows why, but for all intents and purposes claiming to be the next Mandalorians. A three way battle between the clone troopers, Republic and Imperials started. The latter two are loosing, there's far more clones than the ones who defected. What's going on?
The Imperials made a bio-weapon to kill them off, the Republic stole it. The senate is now debating the ethics of mass genocide or destruction. To use the weapon or not? The Imperials had a back up plan, a new Death Star, meant for the Republic. Fun ensues. Who will win?
This Death Star had no external shielding site like on Endor- it generated it's own rendering it autonomous. It only had a few sections of plating missing in final stages and the superlaser was completely active. Along with that, there was no 'magic hole' to shoot. And it was surrounded by the best and largest chunk of the Imperial Fleet available.
So, really, there were no weaknesses unless you somehow got aboard the Death Star and shut down the laser, and a small craft flew under the outer hull and navigated the tight space- flew down a shaft into the core- and blew it up.
Sounds easy. But to get enough starfighters to stand a chance you need ships to carry the squadrons. To protect carrier ships from the Imperial fleet you need /lots/ of ships and guard ships.
But wait, the superlaser is active. Can't they destroy all the Republic fleet?
Yes, that's why someone has to disable the superlaser as well as the shields. And the Republic don't want to gamble all they have on one team, but a lot will get noticed. So two teams were sent by different routes; one to sabotage the superlaser, the other to disable the shield. The latter can only be done at the time, or else it will be immediately noticed.
So the PCs were in the second group, but how to get aboard? Well, the Imperials need to fill the Death Star with a massive amount of hyperspace fuel to be able to propel it across the galaxy. But if they constantly refuel it's not autonomous. The Black Ice, a tanker with enough fuel capacity to fuel the entire Imperial Fleet for a year- or a Death Star- is the answer. Naturally almost as well protected as the Death Star itself. The only way in or out in the last stages of construction.
So how do they get on board? Well, the Moffs and Grand Moffs are gathering at the Death Star. A Moff turncoat who is running a project to recreate the bio-weapon informs the Republic that his portion will be travelling aboard the Black Ice. He is currently being protected by Imperial Guards, who will escort him to the Death Star upon it's completion.
Of course it's not a 'nice' escort, because if he fails to complete the Bio-weapon before the Death Star is finished he's a complete failure. His planet is also currently on the edge of Mandalorian controlled space. If it's taken over, the Death Star will be used on it. Instant depromotion.
So the PCs train to imitate Imperial Guards, take them out in an ambush set up by the Moff and escort him to the Black Ice. They then board the Death Star. Mission; sabotage the shielding.
They set up a bomb on a vital conduit over the course of a few days using their bizzare super-hacking highly modified protocol droid A2, proficient in 200,000 different forms of `mischief'. They plant it, then wait.
.... .... Time for the Republic fleet to show up, they're ordered to the command bridge. There stands Darth Invictus, Lord of the Sith, and Grand Moff Kadir. Both long term nemesis of the PC (Invictus is Sarun Ke). The bomb doesn't go off, but the laser is deactivated.
Suddenly, a laser starts firing from out in space. From the blackness, decimating the Republic's capital ships. Invictus turns to the PCs. The Death Star was never the real project.
A cloaked experimental Super Star Destroyer with 1/8th the power of the Death Star was in it's shadow. A superlaser runs across the bow (Wookiepedia; see `Eclipse'). The shields are up, the Republic fleet can't leave, and they're outshipped and outgunned. Shit hits the fan.
Invictus uses the force to knock one of the PCs out of the room and proceeds to decimate the rest. The lone PC heads to reactivate the bomb. On the way he runs across a bridge suspended over an unprecedented drop. There is his former apprentice turned to the Dark side. Both of them have almost completely cybernetic parts after the PC tried to kill Invictus once with a bomb in a previous encounter. The massive chasm is collecting ionisation and occasional waves of it course upwards. Either of them are hit and they're dead.
Invictus threw him out to face his apprentice. His death is part of her training, and the PC is surprisingly being outmatched by her.
There are other bridges and cables, so it's a pretty epic fight. He ends up throwing his lightsaber and suddenly cutting away her footing, the only way to defeat her, and she plummets. He manages to activate the bomb after sadly killing his apprentice.
Meanwhile, all the PCS are felled by Darth Invictus. There is a PC who has been having strange visions where he lives 4000 years ago as a legendary human Jedi Master (his PC is Trandoshan). He interacts with them and lives there when he has the visions, and plays out being there (He thinks he's somehow 'spirit time travelling'). At that moment he realises by some wierd fluke that he is actually the individual he has been having visions of. He doesn't know why or how, but feels it to be true. Drawing on a strength and ability far beyond his, he rises and fells Invictus.
But the Eclipse is still there. But A2 has amazingly sliced himself into the Death Star's supercomputer. If they fix the sabotage by the first team, they can use the bridge to fire the Death Star at the Eclipse. So they do, and then go to escape. But then the pilot of the group realises there's only one way to ensure the destruction of the Death Star, and steals a Tie Defender- flying it outside and into the heart of the death star to blow it up.
All is epic and well with the world. No? Invictus planned the whole thing using his ability to percieve events and his force skills to fake his death. He wanted to be 'killed' along with his apprentice and have the Empire fall. Escaping he is now in hiding, not to return for another five years in the campaign. Why is that? All part of the mystery. Fun!