Prelude

Adventure 88: Dangerous Refuge, or A Fixer-Upper Job
Characters Involved: Toril, Zolar, Tu'ebb, and some Ramses cameos
Overview: With a barely functional ship, the Crew finally limps into Starforge Nebula in search of the infamous shadowport Starforge Station, where they hope to find refuge and repair for the M4. After gaining access, they realize a vital fact - the station owner, Chidee Na Mak, will throw them out if he realizes that the Imperial are chasing him. Resolving to keep it a secret, they go about their business, Zolar talking with Chidee about repairs (and the resultant costs), Torill contacting Sprax with their situation and getting orders, Tu'ebb setting up shop, and Saalia contacting the Rebels with her situation in regards to Moff Zolar. However, disaster soon strikes on several fronts - Chidee estimates a cost in the millions for the repairs of the M4, Torill learns of a worker for Chidee who knows their secret, and Tu'ebb spots Hobbes lurking around the Station! Fortunately, Chidee offers Zolar a proposal - if he helps pick up a friend of Chidee's who is in trouble, Chidee will reduce the cost to something within Zolar's bank account, provided that Chidee gets to examine Zolar's plans for the M4. In addition, Torill manages to quiet the worker with a huge 64,000 credit bribe - money which (convieniently) they don't have (Zolar's reaction to this situation is amusingly over-the-top). When Sprax can't help him, he turns to Saalia and her Rebel contact, who agree to provide him the money. Unfortunately, as Zolar leaves, he finds the station under attack by the Penetrator, its support fleet, and Avvin Darrst in his TIE Defender. Torill and Tu'ebb have their own problems, as they find themselves confronted by Hobbes in the bowels of Starforge! Zolar manages to outfly the Imperials despite a confrontation with Avvin, allowing Starforge to escape to hyperspace, and Torill manages to flee and injure Hobbes.
Interesting Moments:
-Chidee is aware of Torill and Zolar's record, and is quite friendly with them, his tech instinct being especially interested in the custom design of the M4.
-Saalia plays the professional through much of the adventure, contrasting with Torill's fumbling.
-Saalia's Rebel contact is a scruffy, one-armed Wookie who has a setup in the bowels of Starforge. Sean: "SW33T!!"
-Torill contacts Sprax through a holonet phonebooth, with Sprax starting the conversation with the new catchphrase "I presume this line is secure?"
-Avvin had his sights on Zolar for quite some time as Zolar made his way back to Starforge, keeping him sweating with a nasty conversation. As Avvin fired, Zolar just made it into the hangar bay and Starforge blasted into hyperspace.

Adventure 89: The Favor, or Odd Jobs at Odd Times
Characters Involved: Torill, Zolar, Tu'ebb
Overview: Zolar returns to Starforge and is immediately called into Chidee's office. The Imperial attack has made Chidee suspicous as to the real background of Zolar, and he is about ready to throw him off the station. However, he is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and lets their former deal stand - though he wants the M4 repaired and away from Starforge as quickly as possible. Since this situation is also favorable to Zolar, he quickly blasts off to Mrissi, where a friend of Chidee has been trapped by a recent Imperial blockade. Upon evading the Blockade and landing, Zolar locates his charge - and is surprised to find that it's Dex! Dex, who is transporting a piece of valuable cargo in a duffle bag, was trapped on Mrissi supposedly while visiting Leda. However, he was really there trying to rescue her from an Imperial research project that was developing the deadly Krytos Virus. The bag contained evidence the Rebels needed to rescue other kidnapped scientists who were being forced to work on the plague. Dex contacts Leda and gets her to Zolar's ship, and they take off being pursued by a small Imperial army. After once again evading the blockade, Zolar blasts off back to Starforge. Meanwhile, while repairs progress on the M4, and with the threat of Hobbes receded, Torill takes it upon himself to recruit a crew. He puts out a call around Starforge for hiring interested crewmen. The results of his search include most of the Rabble. In addition, Saalia announces that the Rebels have decided to accept the Rameseum Crew as "criminal allies" to the Rebellion, a controversial position not unlike privateers, with her as the crew's Rebellion contact. This is confirmed by Sprax, who is continuing to ally himself with the Rebellion.
Interesting Moments:
-Zolar uses the Overdrive booster to blast through a sensor blindspot in the blockade, then orbits the planet at low altitude a few times to reduce his speed.
Quotes:
"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS BRINGING ON MY SHIP??" -Zolar, upon seeing the Imperial army that's chasing Dex and Leda
"Can you operate or repair vital ship functions?"
"Urrrr....."
"If you were on a desert island, and the only things there were janitor tools, what would you do?"
"Oogh!" ::thumbs up::
"You're hired."
-Tu'ebb, interviewing Squisher and Ortugg for a position on the M4

Apocalypse Part One: Vicious Affairs

Adventure 90: A Dubious Ally, or Vekker Goin' Down
Characters Involved: Torill, Tu'ebb
Overview: With the M4 all fixed up, Chidee kicks the Crew off of his station, and they fly back into duty to Black Sun. After a couple obligatory expeditor duties, Sprax contacts them with a special mission. One of Vekker's expeditors, a bat-like alien named Vicious, is plotting betrayal. Sprax wants the Crew to infiltrate and aid Vicious in whatever his plans are to overthrow Vekker. Torill follows through, and tracks Vicious down to a bar on Tarshon. There he meets the rival expeditor, who lives up to his name - a thin, wiry, and mean looking bat-alien with shades covering his red eyes. He is also extremely surly and violent, and nearly eviscerates Torill merely for disrupting his drink. However, Torill manages to get his point across the edge of a double-bladed vibroblade, and Vicious "accepts" him as a temporary ally. However, a bar fight breaks out when Tu'ebb "reacts badly" to a stormtrooper search, combined with some of Leanna's troublemakers in the bar. They escape, having made a new (dubious) ally.
Interesting Moments:
-Upon sitting down with Vicious, Torill stammers away while Vicious shows smoldering anger. Torill finds a double-bladed vibroblade on the back of his knee when he mentions Black Sun.

-Vicious explains that the reason he wants to betray Vekker is because Vekker is weak. He is losing his prolonged fight with Leanna, and hardly even controls the police force on his base world. Vicious thinks a Vigo should be a more reign-of-terror type, who is strong through other's fear of him.
-Saalia shows up at the bar with Tu'ebb while he's keeping an eye out for Torill. She explains to Tu'ebb that Vicious was a member of the Minos Twelve, an infamous group of fugitives that had been captured a while back.
-Torill flips a charging Leana agent over his back, only to have him be impaled by Vicious's blade (yes, Torill IS horrified). Later in the brawl, Torill ducks a swing, allowing Tu'ebb to smack the perp and proceed to body-slam him.

Quotes: "He pissed me off." -Tu'ebb, responding to why he started the fight

Adventure 91: Breaking In, or Something Completely Different
Characters Involved: Zolar, Ramses
Overview: While Torill and Tu'ebb contact Vicious, Zolar (being himself) abandons Torill on Tarshon, and heads out on a quest to break in the new crew of the M4. Deciding that it would be a good idea to make a name for himself early on, he decides to head out to Kessel and raid a shipment of valuable glitterstim spice. After consulting Durandal and cross-referencing the timing of prison ships leaving Kessel and influxes of spice in the black market, he determines the ship he should raid. In order to catch it, he has to make the Kessel Run, skirting dangerously close to the deadly black hole cluster known as the Maw. Working carefully with his crew, he manages to cross the Maw in record time for a ship of its size, and manages to save a foolhardy shipper who almost got caught in the gravity waves.

Keeping up speed, they manage to catch up with the prison ship before it clears the Maw for hyperspace, and after bluffing their way close to it release Ramses and a security team made up of Nom Anor, Squisher and Ortugg, and several crewmembers to board the ship and search for their smuggled glitterstim. After having to deal with automated defenses, security teams, and criminals escaping in the chaos of the attack, Ramses manages to fight his way to the bridge, then to the kitchen where after some searching finds the smuggled spice. However, they have to quickly escape, as the Penetrator and a fellow VSD have showed up to crash the pirating party! After some slick manuvering and close work with the crew, they manage to get both Star Destroyers to crash into each other, causing the other VSD to drift into the Maw! With the crew now closely bonded and celebrating, Zolar gets a round of beer on the house and blasts off back to Tarshon.
Interesting Moments:
-The M4 makes the Kessel run in 5.4 parsecs, which was a record for a capital ship.
-On doing the run, many crewmembers were plastered on the window of the observation lounge, screaming as they got close to the black holes.
-Ramses entered the rioting cafeteria, preparing for a fight with the unruly escaped prisoners, only to be greeted with an uncomfortable silence. Turns out that the prisoners were only level-two prisoners, not nearly mean (or stupid) enough to consider confronting a pissed-off assassin droid.

-Ramses found the glitterstim in a couple of coffee packets. The glitterstim was later sold at Sprax's profit, hurting Neomen (who got a good share of profit from spice sales).

Interim: Zolar returns to Tarshon, and finds Torill, Tu'ebb and Saalia, who have been hanging around waiting for him to show up again. With the crew reunited, they arrange a meeting with Vicious in a local pool hall.  In the dark, smoky room, Vicious lays out his two part plan. The first part relies on a terrorist attack on a local Vekker-controlled casino, which should affect all of Vekker's stake in the entertainment industry. The second relies on the assassination of another of Vekker's expeditors. Vicious has a put-up-or-shut-up attitude through this, and his plan show his particularly brutal modus operendi. However, since Sprax has ordered that Vicious has the final say, the Crew reluctantly agrees to the plan.

Adventure 92: The Casino Hit, or Yet Another Demolished Building
Characters Involved: All
Overview: In accordance with Vicious' plan, the Crew (plus Saalia) retreats to Zolar's trailer-park base and plan a hit on the casino over bowls of Ramen noodles. In order to kill two birds with one stone, Zolar and Ramses will start the hit on the casino, while Torill and Tu'ebb go to the police chief (who is unwittingly under Leanna's payroll) and tip him off to the attack - and try to blame it on Marlus, Vekker's other expeditor. The first part of the plan goes without a hitch, with Zolar infiltrating the Lucky Money casino and bluffing his way into the back, analyzing and sabotaging their camera system, lights, and exits, while Ramses positions himself on the roof. Meanwhile, Torill and Tu'ebb make themselves an unexpected appointment at the police commisioner's office, and on Saalia's advice let him know about the imminent attack, hinting that Marlus (who the commisioner thinks is just a local crime lord) is behind it, though like any good anonymous source they don't reveal their sources. The comminsioner agrees to investigate, as he hates Marlus but couldn't pin anything on him beforehand.

The plan is started, as Zolar shuts down the lights and locks the doors, and Ramses comes crashing through the skylight to hold the casinogoers at gunpoint. However, things soon go wrong, as several cloaked members suddenly throw off their cloaks and reveal themselves to be Imperial Storm Commandoes, and Avvin Darrst shows up on the top balcony! He explains to Ramses that they had been tracking the renegade Zolar and interrogates Ramses at gunpoint, eventually pumping several shots into his head when the droid fails to cooperate. This obviously has less of an effect than desired, however, and Ramses escapes and calls for backup. As Zolar confronts Avvin, Ramses busts a move and a fight erupts. Torill and Tu'ebb cut their meeting short and show up late to join the fray, as Ramses uses improvised molotov cocktails to set the entire place on fire. In the (literally) blazing firefight, Ramses is nearly knocked out of commision, and Zolar is left reeling from a duel with Avvin. Torill and Tu'ebb take out the remaining troopers, and though Torill is downed by Avvin, Tu'ebb manages to prevent Avvin from cutting off their escape. Finally, Umino crashes the Moonshine though the roof of the burning building, and picks them up and blasts off as the cops try to chase them down.
Interesting Moments:
-Avvin does his dangerously cool/insane gig against Ramses, asking where Zolar and Torill were.
-Torill makes a fool of himself by first trying to blackmail the chief into helping them, before he realized that the chief wanted to help.

-Avvin throws a bottle of alcohol in between Torill and Tu'ebb and their escape route (the ship) in order to surround them with fire, but Tu'ebb shoots the bottle in midair.
Quotes:
"THAT attack." Torill, as the news comes in that the casino is under attack, after the chief asks which attack Marlus was responsible for

"Uhh, it's his mother. She died." Torill, explaining to the police chief why Tu'ebb was getting flustered at news of Avvin's appearance

"Waaah, boo hoo, boo hoo." Tu'ebb, playing along

Th Backstory: With this particularly violent terrorist attack, tourists galaxywide suddenly feel threatend when going to casinos, resorts, and other pleasure area, a feeling which is helped by a series of copycat attacks around the galaxy. The pleasure trade falters considerably with this lack of income, and Vekker's organization (which relies on that income) reels, as do many other crimelords who make their money off similar pursuits.

Adventure 93: Rebel Sympathizing, or Zolar Dissapears AGAIN
Characters Involved: Zolar, Ramses
Overview: With Zolar now the hunted fugitive for the sector's most infamous terrorist attack in years, he decides that it might be a good idea to get offplanet for a while (no shit, Skywalker.) Once again leaving Torill, Tu'ebb and Saalia in hiding, the M4 heads off, this time with a new goal: Zolar wants to use his privateer status in the Rebellion to help in an attack (and hopefully get some reward for it, preferably in ship parts for the M4). Heading off to the Rebel front line, his former planet of Brentaal, he meets up with the massed fleet and gets a meeting together.  Zolar's idea: The M4 leads an attack on the nearby Imperial supply depot Station LC-Blue. The M4's payment will be in captured cargo from the station's surrounding cargo containers. The vice-admiral (an underling of Ackbar) agrees, and assigns the frigate Gatsby and two Corellian Corvettes to aid in the attack. After carefully constructing a battle plan, the strike force heads off on the attack.

As Zolar and Ramses duel with the elite TIE fighter defenses and the corvettes clear the minefields, the M4 and the Gatsby assault the station itself. The M4 also manages to pick up several cargo containers, despite the appearance of a retaliatory fleet including an Imperial Star Destroyer and the Penetrator! (this guy is EVERYWHERE.) Zolar also manages to permenantly cripple the station with a targeted Proton Torpedo assault. Escaping the retaliatory Imperial fleet, the fleet makes it back at the loss of only two fighters, a tug, and a severly damaged corvette.  While inspecting the captured cargo containers, Zolar finds them to be chock-full of TIE fighters...and one has a partially completed TIE Advanced! This is a perfect haul for Zolar, who was looking for a fighter fleet. He hires some pilots from the Rebels, and heads off to the Outer Rim to pick up some parts for a secret project...
Interesting Moments:
-Zolar, with Valentine as his away second-in-command, does a flyby of his old palace as a tour and gets a front-row seat for its demolition by the Rebels.
-When Zolar is discussing his plan with the Vice-Admiral, the famous Ackbar shows up behind Zolar to remind the VA of a meeting. Zolar turns around to see, but is too late.
-The retaliatory fleet that attacked was actually an Imperial flanking movement to attack the Rebels at Brentaal. Zolar alerts the Rebels to this. The Rebels quite like Zolar now, for his good strategies and his abilities...
-The "secret project" of Zolar's is a personal fighter for Ramses...a miniature fighter with spartan living conditions (it's for a droid, after all), incredible manueverability, and heavy weapons (both for the ship and carried for Ramses...it includes a drop-bay for the Ram-Tank).

Note: While it may seem a bit weird that Warren had Zolar running off on personal business so close to the end of the campaign, it actually served a very good purpose: it got him really in touch with the crew of the M4. Without these two "Zolar runs off" adventures, our connection with the M4 crew would have been tenuous at best. As it was, it really served to reinforce a fact: that Zolar, though he may be moff no longer, was still in a position of leadership. How could we have ended the campaign with anything less? Thank god for Warren's whims... the campaign as a whole just wouldn't be the same without them.

Interim: The M4 stops by an Outer Rim junkyard and grabs some parts for the Ram-Fighter, dealing with an eccentric Squib merchant and helping him out in the end. For the next month or two, the M4 stays out in space, as Zolar works on the Ram-Fighter and they lay low from the law.

Adventure 94: The Assassination, or A Hastily Constructed Excuse
Characters Involved: Torill, Tu'ebb
Overview: Torill, on the other hand, is not so lucky. He can't leave planet, as he has to keep up the ruse of the attack being designed by Marlus. The police chief needs answers, and Torill is the only man that "has them." In the midst of this, he has to follow through with Vicious's plan of assassinating Marlus, something the bat-alien will eviscerate Torill for if he fails. With the ethical problem in a volatile situation, will Torill and Tu'ebb be able to ride it through? Will Vicious's plan succeed? Will Torill and Saalia realize their secret love? WILL TU'EBB GET OVER HIS HEARTBURN?? Well, we don't know yet; we ran out of time together before we had time to play this single-person adventure. Whatever happened, though, the answer was "yes" to all but that last one.

Adventure 95: Vigo Apocalypse, or The End, Really
Characters Involved: All
Overview: A month later, Zolar returns to Tarshon, confident that the authorities have given up. Torill, Tu'ebb, and Saalia meet him back at the M4, where Zolar is busy putting the finishing touches on the hastily-constructed (but Ramses-approved) Ram-fighter. Vicious contacts them, informing them of an extremely important opportunity that they can't afford to miss. In the briefing room, he explains his complicated plan. Vekker is going to be visiting one of his hideouts on Tarshon, a multi-tiered 40 story office building hiding a durasteel fortress core (kind of like an architectural Twinkie, with two lower-tier "wings"). Vekker's office is in the penthouse, which is separated from the durasteel core. Vicious' plan is to plant a bomb right under Vekker's office. The advanced scanning equipment in the building, however, prevents the bomb from being activated yet. Vicious will get Torill and Zolar into the building, in an unscheduled meeting with Vekker in which they will say that they are defecting. However, they will be carrying transmitters that activate once they exit the room. This will arm the bomb, and cause it to start a two minute timer. Meanwhile, Tu'ebb, also in the building will use a special system set up to reroute the scanning data, as well as gain control of camera surveillance. Ramses will have been hidden in the basement armory, and while Vicious orders a drill, Ramses will bust loose and take out the unsuspecting security team, allowing the escape of the crew. Two minutes later, the bomb will go off, and Vekker will be killed. Vicious denies any alterations to this complicated assassination plot, saying that he knows best when dealing in Vekker's lair (being one of Vekker's men).

Though Torill expresses his doubts about the mission, philisophically musing over his past and future with Saalia over a beer, Zolar begins preparing with relish, designing a personal wheelchair- both to hide his abilities and to conceal weaponary. The infiltration takes place without a hitch, with them proceeding through open areas with plenty of glass outside the durasteel core, passing through a checkpoint (Torill is forced to surrender his Sentinel), and then through the claustrophobic, military halls of the base (with mercenaries swarming). However, the plans go horribly awry when Torill and Zolar enter Vekker's office. Inside, they see Vekker, Neomen, Wumdi, and several Black Sun guards ready for them! In addition, Imperial director Ysanne Isard, Avvin Darrst, and a squad of stormtroopers is here for a mysterious reason, and (worst of all) Clezo, Leanna, and Sprax are being held in bonds by the Imperials! Reasons become clear as Vekker talks to Isard...Savan had approached Isard with information about the Vigo Confederacy, and in exchange for immunity for the members of Black Nebula, Savan would turn over the criminals and Rebel sympathizers, as well as exclusively supply the Imperials with more useful information. Vekker had learned of certain aspects of Vicious' plan (being not as stupid as the Expeditor would like to believe), and was prepared to also turn over a defected Moff and Savan's personal enemy (Zolar and Torill)! Isard decides to take her leave, with a stern threat that if Black Nebula gets up to no good, she (proverbially) knew where they lived. Leaving her agent Avvin in charge of tagging the prisoners, she leaves.

Ramses, getting word from Zolar's comlink that trouble has started, breaks out of the locker he was stashed in...and finds an ambush! Vekker had also learned of Ramses' location, and had set up a large ambush to demolish the droid! Ramses has to muster all of his endurance and fighting skills as he blows his way out of the armory, facing a hail of fire, a smart fighting retreat from the guards, several traps, and a foreshadowing appearance by one of Guraquay's faithful. Tu'ebb also busts loose, knowing that Torill and Zolar can't escape the room without blowing up either each other or Sprax, and that the bomb needs to be disarmed. Fighting his way past the checkpoint with fists and blades flying, he runs into Vicious outside the core...and Vicious is pissed that the Crew has "ruined his chance to kill Vekker!" Ignoring reason and saying that the more Vigos dead the better, he pulls his double-bladed vibroblade on Tu'ebb...before Tu'ebb bypasses him by leaping through a window to a nearby window cleaner's gurney. Vicious follows, and a nasty fight ensues on a small platform 40 stories up, ending with Vicious plummeting to his doom. Meanwhile, Ramses blasts his way out of the basement and manages to destroy some generators in the building's basement. Also meanwhile, Savan herself appears via holoscreen, as she is arriving in system.  After a final explanation, Torill and Sprax get into an argument with her about her actions and the future of Black Sun. Avvin, meanwhile, finally gets to Torill in the tagging of prisoners, which is when Zolar (who had been assembling his blaster behind his back while the people were distracted by the argument) decides to make his move.

In the ensuing fight, Vigo Clezo is killed when he tries to attack a stormtrooper, Torill has to fight with his hands bound behind his back, and Zolar and Avvin get in a Face-Off/Matrix esque duel that results in Zolar being wounded and Avvin being badly hurt and retreating from the field of battle. Meanwhile, Tu'ebb and Ramses meet up on the roof, and while Tu'ebb defuses the bomb Ramses flies into the penthouse to check with the guys. He is soon joined by Tu'ebb, and after a brief discussion with Sprax they decide to flee. before Savan's ship, the Virago II, shows up outside the penthouse and tries to blast them into smoking dust.  They escape the office right before her bolts demolish it, but are soon faced with hordes of mercenaries inside the building. Sprax is severly wounded in an ambush, and while Torill and Leanna carry him, Zolar and Torill take point and Ramses holds off the mercenary hordes with amazing firepower. They are ambushed by Hobbes and his plasma rifle, who was with Black Nebula, and Torill is severly injured in the leg before they manage to make a killing shot, finally finishing the 9th life of this bounty hunter (though he makes Torill promise to tell his son that "he was sorry" before passing away). Making it to the checkpoint, they find the blast door closing...with no way to open it enough for them to get through. Zolar jams it, but it is not enough to escape. The Crew ends up trapped between a rock and a hard place, with only Ramses and their own quickly-emptying guns to hold off the armies of Nebula goons being thrown at them. Things look grim for our tired, wounded and trapped Crew... until Leanna's expeditor and her agents bust through the door and help the guys retreat.

While making for their escape ship, Ramses (who was keeping up the rear) is ambushed by none other than Guraquay! In a fiery, climactic battle, Guraquay uses the dark side of the Force and his own skills and stamina to wear the weakened droid down, finally defeating the formerly-undefeated Ramses 3000 in a duel! As Guraquay gives the "coup de gras," however, he pierces Ramses's WST-M pack- causing a massive explosion that both incinerates Guraquay and blows Ramses to bits. Zolar, hearing this, runs back in a panic to pick up the pieces of his dear friend. However, Torill and Tu'ebb have their own problems...on the landing pad, the Virago II shows up and drops off Guri to deal with the pests. Though injured and with only one shot in his Sentinel V left, Torill manages to incapacitate the dangerous HRD with one shot (yes, he uses a character point). Meanwhile, Zolar manages to find Ramses' head, the only remaining bit of his chassis. Escaping the unstable and collapsing building in Leanna's ship, they escape to orbit.

The entire crew is worn down- Zolar by the apparent death of his closest friend, Torill by the death and carnage around him ("This wasn't supposed to happen... not today...") and Tu'ebb by his wounds sustained in the battle with Vicious and the caring for the quickly-declining Sprax. However, more bad news awaits the crew as they part company with Leanna and board the Dauphern for home. The M4 had not been responding hails, and soon they find why; it was disabled, with a stormtrooper transport attached to its boarding dock. Fortunately, the Penetrator (from whence it issued) was several klicks away escorting Isard out of system... giving the Crew (hopefully) enough time to reboard and escape. On boarding, the darkened M4 appears abandoned. However, they find Avvin and the troopers holding the entire crew hostage in the bar, with Avvin holding a gun to Saalia's head. While Zolar steals away to reconnect the disabled Durandal, Torill faces off with Avvin and manages to wound him (with help from Saalia). The ensuing "bar fight" with the crew overpowers the troops, though Avvin once again escapes to the cargo hold.

As Durandal comes back online and the crew of the M4 begins to frantically repair and de-ionize the ship, TIE fighters from the Penetrator roar in, intent on annihalating the Crew once and for all. Tu'ebb in the VT2 and the M4's own TIEs scramble to intercept, but the ship takes a beating anyway. However, as the M4 roars to life piece by piece, Durandal takes the initiative and downloads Ramses' personality matrix from his salvaged head, and after some changes programs him right into the Ram-Fighter's system...reincarnating Ramses as a starfighter. (Sean: "SW33T!!")  As Ramses joins the fight outside, and the Penetrator closes in, the M4 (with Zolar at helm) tries to make an atmospheric escape. Meanwhile, Saalia and a badly-limping Torill track Avvin to the cargo bay. A deadly game of cat-and-mouse ensues, and during the final face-off Avvin manages to wound Torill even more and expresses (now totally insane) his sheer hatred for the former smuggler's innate luck and ability to live, compared to the hell that Avvin had to go through to earn the same skills. Torill, against all odds, manages to stand, and affirms to Avvin what this entire adventure had seemingly torn down inside of Torill: that he just lives, no matter what. He flips his Sentinel to a hiding Saalia, and she shoots Avvin before he can kill Torill.

Back on the bridge, Zolar uses precision piloting to guide the M4 on an escape path, but the Penetrator intercepts them in the atmosphere. With good flying and a volley of torpedoes, Zolar manages to destroy the Penetrator's atmospheric stabilizer wings and sends it spiraling to the ground, scuttling it. However, they are once again intercepted on their flight path, this time by the Virago II. Savan has finally lost her Falleen patience, and with her organization and deal crumbling to the ground (Isard had called off the deal because of the violence, essentially killing Black Sun), she only wants vengeance. Tu'ebb in the VT2 and Ramses, however, team up and destroy her ship, killing the ambitious leader once and for all. The M4 escapes to hyperspace, finally free of conflict.

After fleeing back to Sriluur and reopening the original Rameseum as a hiding place, the crew reflects over its new position. Sprax survived his injury, but was in no shape to continue ruling a criminal organization, especially while also on the run from Isard. Instead, Sprax retires, and gives the Crew a final farewell, releasing them from service to him. With each member of the Crew deciding to go their separate ways (see the Aftermath section for more details), a poignant ending was in place after a career like no other. The criminal life was behind them, and now they walked into a changed world...with no Black Sun, and no boundaries to where they go next. After a beer, of course.
Interesting Moments:

Torill, with his hands bound behind his back, is forced to fight with only his feet, while surrounded by armed guards. Despite having never seen a Jackie Chan movie, he somehow manages to pull this off in an amazing series of rolls...

In the same fight, Zolar and Avvin play Matrix in a (literally) running gunfight. They smash into each other in the end, guns at each other's head- "You're empty..."

Tu'ebb's escape is an interesting moment all of its own, starting from his badass-cool entrance (walk out in slow mo, guards turn the corner, glasses on, knife out, and just a flash of a vicious smile...) First, he makes it past a heavily-guarded checkpoint by suddenly dentonating a fire extinguisher with his thrown knife, then jumps Super Mario-style off one of the incapacitated guards and vaults the metal detector. Later, to bypass an enraged Vicious, he leaps through a window and onto a window-cleaner repulsor gantry. Vicious follows, and a brutal high-wire fight ensues, forty stories above the ground on a shaky and small platform. Tu'ebb, close to defeat, kills the repulsors on one side of the gantry, dropping the wounded (and un-flightworthy) Vicious to the ground below and suffering a badly dislocated shoulder from his own close save.

Sprax walks off the elevator, already discussing what happens next. Suddenly, totally against the accepted reality of the Big Easy, a blaster bolt comes from down the hall and guns the old Nalroni down...

Ramses, escaping the basement, runs into a Shadow Talon who claims to be there to rid the world of Urretch-Ramsev. Ramses cuts him in half with his vibroblades, one dice roll, no bullshit.

The running fight where the Crew escapes the building, carrying Sprax, being harried and harassed and wounded by Hobbes and Guraquay, running out of ammo on the way, is so cool it just can't be described.

A tired and disillusioned Torill, with one shot left in his gun, is presented with a charging Guri. He waits until the last moment... and then downs her with one shot. Her charge falters, and she flies just past him and collapses.

The confrontation between Torill and Avvin in the bar: Torill: ::unloads his gun, holds up one shell:: "An agreement. I've got one shot. Let Saalia alone, and it'll be just us two, and we'll have one shot each." Avvin (laughing): "No, Torill, I've got a better idea! How about... how about if you can load that gun and shoot me before I slit her throat, we'll all call it fair! That sounds MUCH more fun, don't you think?" Torill (clicking his ALREADY LOADED gun into position): "Deal." ::FIRES::

Torill's leg takes a beating the whole adventure. It's first wounded by Hobbes with his plasma rifle. Besides having to hobble around the rest of the adventure, he runs on it immediately following the previous interesting moment (charges Avvin), and the wound is intentionally shot by Avvin during his final confrontation. He somehow manages to stand for just long enough to live...

The frantic repair and defense of the M4, under Zolar's command, was exciting as hell... especially when the M4 was taken down into the atmosphere, literally skimming the tops of mountains as it tried to avoid the Penetrator.

Ramses' rebirth as the Ram-Fighter was so unexpected and so well-played that it made everything worthwhile.

And finally... the last scenes with Sprax, Umino and the crew, and the final parting between Torill and Zolar were very bittersweet, very touching... not saccharine or anything, just quiet and contemplative and very, very final. "Party on, Torill." "Party on, Zolar."

Quotes:
"Nyehh... I don't think he's being taken care of." -Moff Neomen, after Ramses makes his presence known to the building

"Is dat resisdunce?"
"....no."
"Good. 'Cuz if it was, it'd be futile." -An exceptionally stupid guard and Zolar, as the latter quietly assembles a weapon

"You're empty." 
"So are you." 
"Oh, I'm afraid you're wrong there!" -Zolar and Avvin facing off

"You got out."
"I noticed. ::pause:: Vicious is dead."
<resets his shoulder with a loud 'crack'>"....I noticed." -Tu'ebb and Ramses, in the closest the two could ever come to complimenting each other

"BAD kitty!" -Torill, to Hobbes

"You FOOLS! Black Sun could never live without me!"
"Maybe not... but we're just giving it a chance to try."
::screams of rage as the Virago blows up::
"Nothing personal."
"WEE!!" -Savan and Tu'ebb, with an afterthought by Ramses

"I just live... it's what I'm good at." -Torill's final words to Avvin

"By the way, you guys alright down there?" 
"NO!!"
"Oh, sorry. Was my flying that bad?"
-Zolar,Torill and Saalia, as Zolar comes in a bit late to the final battle with Avvin

"Party on, Torill."
 "Party on, Zolar."
-The Final Words

Note: As should be expected by the final adventure, there was tons of great, long conversations, cool moments and atmosphere that just couldn't make it into this writeup. Maybe someday I'll write it as a short story. Maybe...