Star Wars Missions 005 - The Hunt for Han Solo Read online

  But in the far corner of the chapel, along the walkway at your level, something large and dark scurries past the far door. It looks like a giant spider, as big as you!

  You lower yourself from the walkway and drop down to the back seats of the ancient amphitheater, then walk down the stone steps to where the altar sits.

  There must be a door nearby. You hope…

  You stand near the altar. There are seats behind you, and ahead is a semicircle that may have once held viewing seats above and around the altar. But no seats remain, only a dozen large holes, each about half the height of a man. They look like service tunnels.

  You search for another door, but the back of the chapel is in complete shadow. If there’s a door back there, you can’t see it.

  You hear a scraping sound above you and look above the altar. A large spiderlike droid issues from one of the service tunnels. You know it is a droid because of the red running lights shining beneath its metal body. The droid sits ominously silent.

  “Greetings, devoted one,” a voice says. You look up and notice an old rusted speaker above the altar, along with a camera. Someone is watching you from another room. You don’t know where this person might be. “Lay your head upon the altar, and we shall free you from this earthly realm. A monk shall be here soon to perform the surgery, but the droid will help you prepare.”

  The droid raises a laser scalpel and flips it on. A flickering stream of light issues from it.

  You gulp. “Uh, not today, thank you.” You step back and look up. Above you, another spider droid is blocking the door you entered. It, too, carries a laser scalpel.

  As it comes through the doorway, the doors behind it slide closed with a hiss. The room is suddenly dark, except for the dim light shining through the stained-glass windows, and the evil red running lights of the droids themselves.

  The spider droid stares at you with dull electronic eyes. Behind you, you hear the scrabbling of metal legs scraping stone. Echoing from some dark passage, you hear a mad giggling noise. The monk is coming!

  To escape, you must either lie to the speaker or fight the droids.

  To lie (without Power): You say that you represent SoroSuub Computerized Home Maintenance Corporation, and you only stopped here to seek shelter from the storm. You remind them that SoroSuub is able to handle all of their maintenance needs. Your charm# +1 is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to deceive the speaker.

  If your confront # is equal to or more than your roll#, add 10 MP to your MP total. The voice tells you that his entertainment system has been broken for a very long time. He can no longer pick up the ballet and musicals from Mos Eisley. He asks you to go downstairs. This makes you nervous, because you know that you will be in the presence of the monks.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. The voice doesn’t believe you. He orders the droids to restrain you. You must combat them (below).

  To lie (using Power)*: Choose your Persuasion or Deception Power. Your stealth# + your Power# + your Power’s low-resist# is your confront#. You say that you are a specialist in home repairs for SoroSuub, and you only stopped here seeking shelter from the storm. Roll the 6-dice to deceive the voice.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add 10 MP to your MP total. The voice tells you that his entertainment system has been broken for a very long time. He can no longer pick up the ballet and musicals from Mos Eisley. He asks you to go downstairs. This makes you nervous, because you know that you will be in the presence of the monks.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. The voice doesn’t believe you, and orders the droids to restrain you. You must combat the droids (below).

  *Note: This counts as one of two Power uses you are allowed on this Mission.

  To combat the droids (one at a time): Add your weaponry# +1 to your weapon’s close-range# for your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to combat the first droid.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total, and proceed to combat the second droid, and then the third, using the same confront equation.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total and repeat this confront. Once you defeat the first droid, repeat this confront to battle the second droid, and then the third, using the same confront equation.

  Once you have defeated all the droids, add 30MP to your total. (50MP for Advanced Level players). If you fought the droids, you may add a laser scalpel to your personal arsenal.

  At the back of the room, you find a doorway. You head down into the depths, following a winding stairwell that goes deep into the earth.

  Soon the stone walls become dark and damp, and the air feels cool and moist. You realize that by Tatooine’s standards, there must be a fortune’s worth of water in this air.

  When you reach the bottom of the stairs, you find a locked door. The locking mechanism is old and rusted together. You want to open it silently, in case there are more droids around.

  You can either use Power to open the lock, use your laser scalpel to open the lock, or force it open physically.

  To open the lock (using Power)*: Choose your Object Movement Power. Your skill# + your Power’s low-resist# + your Power# is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to open the lock.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. The door swings open easily. You may now proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Repeat this confront until you have opened the door, and then proceed.

  *Note: This counts as one of two Power uses you are allowed on this Mission.

  To open the lock using the laser scalpel: Add your weaponry# to your weapon’s short-range# for your confront#. Roll a 6-dice to open the door silently.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. The door silently swings open.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Repeat this confront using the same confront# until you have opened the door, and then proceed.

  To open the door with physical force: Your strength# +3 is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to open the door.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. The door swings open.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Repeat this confront using the same confront# until you have opened the door.

  A grisly sight awaits you.

  The door opens onto a vast room filled with dozens of spider droids, overturned on tables like dead bugs. These droids are in need of repair, and some have been robbed of spare parts.

  Beyond the droids you see something even more disturbing: Along one wall is a shelf, and on it are glowing jars, lit from beneath. Within each jar is a brain, floating in a greenish liquid. Some jars are dim, no longer functioning. The brains within these jars are brown and dry.

  A huge vat of green nutrient solution is pumped through clear pipes to each brain, from a container at the bottom of the far wall.

  Not all of the brains are human. You see some alien brains, with neural webs that look like root systems. Some of these brains are quite small, which doesn’t surprise you, since you quickly deduce that only a pinhead would allow some monk to remove his brain — if he had a choice.

  However, one of the brains must be from some very large creature, for it is floating in a huge container the size of a large barrel. The other still-living brains are clustered around it, like planets circling a sun. You wonder what kind of monster such a brain would have come from.

  “Greetings, oh bounty hunter,” the largest brain says.

  “Greetings to you, oh floating brain,” you answer. Suddenly, you realize that the brain is not speaking with a mouth. You do not hear its voice, only its thoug
hts.

  You hear the scraping of metal feet coming from the stairwell above and behind you. Several giant spider droids climb downstairs, looking at you. From a back room come five monks in dark hooded robes. One of them giggles insanely as they draw near you. They stand with folded arms.

  “My name is K’vin,” the brain says to you. “You are probably wondering why I herded you here, oh bounty hunter.”

  “You herded me?” you ask. “I thought I came of my own accord.”

  “I herded you,” the brain of K’vin says. “Do you know where you are?”

  “I’ve heard that Jabba the Hutt built his palace in an old B’omarr monastery. Is this one of their monasteries?” This thought terrifies you. The B’omarr were a secretive sect, and though you know little about them, you’ve heard dark rumors about their vicious practices.

  “No,” K’vin says. “The B’omarr are a splinter group that does not follow the true path to enlightenment.”

  “And you know all about the true path?” you add.

  “Indeed,” K’vin answers. “In an effort to make the way easy, we of the Most Perfect Order of K’vin choose to shed our bodies so that we may contemplate the cosmos. The time has come for me to shed my flesh completely. I can see some of the future, and I know many things. But my mind cannot roam free so long as I am bound to this jar.”

  “I see…” you say, trying to sound wise, though in reality you have no idea what he is talking about.

  “No, little bounty hunter, you do not,” K’vin says quite rightly, and you wonder how much he really knows. If he can really read your thoughts… then maybe he can read Han Solo’s thoughts — and tell you where he is.

  “You want to know if you will catch Solo,” K’vin says. “The answer is, yes, if you are persistent. You may catch him, though holding him is a more difficult matter.”

  “You know what I’m after then,” you say. “Is Han Solo near here?”

  “Very close,” K’vin answers. “His ship is almost directly above me. He plans to leave soon.”

  You look back up the stairwell. Your only exit seems to be blocked by the spider droids. Plus, one of the monks moves to prevent you from exiting. You wonder if you can get past them, so that you can go after Han Solo.

  K’vin says, “I would appreciate it if you stay.”

  “Okay, you’re all brain, and I’m all ears,” you reply. “You want something from me. What is it?”

  “One small act of service,” K’vin says. “Break the jar that houses my brain.”

  Suddenly the room rings with the sound of the five monks shouting in surprise. “No, K’vin! Don’t leave us! Our training is not complete! Please, no!”

  “I must leave you,” K’vin answers the monks. “I who have led you so far, must now show you the way. You have sought to keep me here, but in doing so you hinder my growth.”

  The monks shout at you, “No, don’t help him, bounty hunter. We don’t want him to leave!”

  You ask K’vin, “Why don’t you just break the glass yourself?”

  “I cannot,” K’vin says. “As you see, my monks refuse to assist me, and though the spider droids are under my control, they are not programmed to destroy living creatures — only to help with conversions.”

  You wonder. These droids with their laser scalpels seem pretty dangerous, but according to K’vin, they won’t kill you — they’ll just help remove your brain.

  “Look, K’vin,” you say. “I don’t know about this. Certainly you could get someone else to break the glass that houses your brain.”

  “But you are a bounty hunter,” K’vin says. “Cold, passionless, and cruel. That which you must do, do quickly.”

  If you don’t help K’vin, you are afraid that the spider droids will remove your brain. On the other hand, if you try to help him, you may have to fight the monks. There are only five monks, but at least a dozen spider droids. You decide that maybe if you help K’vin, his droids will restrain the monks. Since you can’t see any other way out of this, you draw a weapon.

  Suddenly, there is a hiss from the stairwell behind you. “Get him!” a monk yells.

  A monk leaps at you!

  He hits your arm and spoils your aim. Your weapon discharges, hitting a bottle of brains, which shatters and falls to the floor.

  “Get him!” the monk shouts.

  Behind you, you hear laser scalpels charging up, like the sound of dozens of miniature lightsabers turned on at once. The spider droids move to your side, weapons in hand.

  From the folds of their robes, the monks also produce laser scalpels, and wave them threateningly.

  You raise your weapon and aim at K’vin’s brain. It’s a Corellian standoff.

  “Stay back,” you warn the monks.

  “Shoot me,” K’vin says. “Shoot me, and the monks will not retaliate. I forbid them.”

  You are afraid to lie or bluff your way out of this, since K’vin can read your mind. You also don’t trust the monks to obey K’vin.

  You have two options. You can shoot K’vin, and hope that the monks don’t retaliate. Or you can shoot the spider droids and leave K’vin and his followers alive.

  Choose your action now, and then proceed.

  To shoot K’vin: You pull the trigger, destroying the great case where his brain is housed. As you do, three monks charge to retaliate, scalpels swinging. The others hold back. Choose your weapon. Add your weaponry# to your weapon’s close-range# +1 for your confront#. Roll the 12-dice.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. The monk is now ready to have his brain encased with the others. Proceed to fight the next monk, until all three monks are neutralized. If you defeat all three monks without using a new confront#, add 33 MP to your MP total.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Add +3 to your confront# for your new confront#.

  If your new confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, you may proceed to fight the next monk, until all three monks are neutralized.

  If your new confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total and continue this confront with your new confront# until you have defeated all three monks.

  To fight the spider droids: Only two spider droids charge, scalpels swinging. The others are held back by the monks. Choose your weapon. Add your weaponry# to your weapon’s close-range# +5 for your confront#. Roll the 12-dice.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. That droid will never swing a laser scalpel again. Proceed to fight the second droid. Once you defeat both droids, add 20MP to your MP total.

  If your confront# is lower than you roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total and repeat this confront until you have defeated the first spider droid. Once you defeat the first spider droid,you must fight the second, using the same confront equation.

  You climb back up the stairs of the monastery and find a door at the back of the chapel. You had not seen it before.

  This door also is shut and locked, rusted with age. You know that Solo’s ship is not far off, on the other side of this door, so you can’t blast the door open. You must open it quietly.

  You can either use Power to open the lock, use your laser scalpel to open the lock, or kick open the door.

  To open the lock (using Power)*: Choose your Object Movement Power. Your skill# + your Power’s low-resist# + your Power# is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to open the lock.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. The door swings open easily. You may now proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Repeat this confront until you have opened the door, and then proceed.

  *Note: This counts as one of two Power uses you are allowed on this Mission.

  To open the lock using the laser scalpel: Add your skill# + weaponry#
+ your weapon’s short-range#. This is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to open the door silently.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. The door silently swings open.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Repeat this confront using the same confront# until you have opened the door, and then proceed.

  To kick open the door: Your strength# +2 is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to open the door.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. The door swings open.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Repeat this confront using the same confront# until you have opened the door.

  You break the lock and the door falls inward. A huge pile of sand pushes through, falling on you.

  As you thrash about in the sand, your movement attracts a young dune worm, a small one (only ten feet long). It is the color of sand, and has enormous crystalline teeth and small beady eyes.

  Since you are still trying to be quiet, you can seek to evade the worm, you can fight the dune worm with your fists, or you can fight the worm with your laser scalpel.

  To evade the dune worm: You must motion in circles with your fist, hypnotizing the worm briefly, as you step back into the chapel. Add your skill#, your strength#, and your charm# for your confront#. Roll the 12-dice.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add 10 MP to your MP total. This is one charmed worm. It is momentarily dazed, and when you retreat into the chapel it slithers after you. When it is no longer blocking your path, you continue to make circular motions for a moment, putting the worm to sleep. You then quietly proceed.