Mission 4 - "A Chilling Discovery"

Mission Brief 03.0517

Following the interrogation of Savor Kibbs, the Phantom Hunters received a message from Governor Creed informing them that he had information for them. He invited them to come to Darga Prime, and they left at once in the Phoenix Moon. After stopping briefly on Coruscant they arrived in Tican Oosta. They took a cab to the governor's manor, but the cab suddenly swerved into an alley where a bunch of thugs attacked. Suddenly, Satchal disappeared, and to him everyone else did. To Satchal the Dark Jedi appeared and attacked him. Satchal fled only to run into a Gran with a vehicle who helped him escape. Satchal then went to the governor's manor to meet up with the others.

Meanwhile the others saw the Dark Jedi as well, but he fled from them into an escape vehicle. The team commandeered the cab and pursued him straight to the governor's manor. When they arrived they found Satchal up in the governor's personal chambers standing over the dead governor. To Satchal he had arrived and found everyone dead. When he went upstairs to investigate, following a trail of blood, he found the Dark Jedi waiting for him. He went to strike the Dark Jedi, and dueled with him. However, when he struck the Dark Jedi dead he suddenly turned into the governor.

The authorities suddenly arrived and arrested them, but Geldar sensed for the Dark Jedi and realized he was still in the area. He convinced the authorities that a Dark Jedi had set them up, and they tried pursuing. However, the Dark Jedi managed to give them the slip, so the authorities had no choice but to arrest the team until they could sort out the mess.

At this point, before the heroes are questioned, Tianti, Senator Prin Ay’laya’s newest chief aid (who took Brin'tac's place), arrives with his entourage. Vlagari, is one of the entourage. Tianti, one of Vlagari’s race, declares that Senator Prin Ay’laya demands that the heroes be set free. Brin’tac (and his friends) is an honorable person, and he would never commit such a crime. Tianti is then to take them to Senator Ay’laya’s suite on Kothlis to discuss this situation further.


Anomid Entourage

Once the task force is free and taken to Tianti’s ship (a transport shuttle), Tianti then shows the evidence they have acquired from Creed’s mansion. Particularly of interest is that the security video of the murder shows a man that looks very much like Satchal. Although the murderer obviously has six fingers on each hand, his face is a striking resemblance to Satchal.

Their second clue is that of a holo-message left in Creed’s office next to Master Lo’s carbonite lightsaber. The message was left by Master Jin Tai Lo in case he didn’t survive the encounter with Wraith. Creed had found the message and hid it so that it wouldn’t reveal any of what Master Lo had received from the Bothan. The message also details how Master Lo discovered that the Dark Jedi’s name was Wraith, and he was on Darga Prime to kill Governor Creed. He was sent to have Creed killed because he was talking too much about Wraith’s master. Master Lo also indicates how he believes that Wraith and his men were going to frame Tso as the prime suspect in the crime as they framed him for the deaths of his fellow shipmates. He, however, still has no idea where Brin’tac’s family might be.

During this time, Kradlo, also one of Tianti's assistants, pulls Geldar aside and begins speaking to him about his suspicions about Satchal. (It is later learned that Vlagari set him up to do this.) He wonders why Satchal wasn’t around when Jin Tai Lo was killed. He was alone on an unknown planet without anyone around supposedly atoning for his use of the Dark Side. It would have been easy for him to slip offworld and go to Darga Prime. Not only that, but Satchal was on Kothlis with his master when Brin’tac’s family was kidnapped. Supposedly they were there for matters of the Council, but now Vlagari wonders just why Satchal was truly there. Perhaps it had something to do with the kidnappings.

Geldar refused to believe Kradlo, and began to grow suspicious of the six-fingered alien. (Kradlo, Vlagari, and Tianti were all six-fingered aliens who wore synthesizor masks so they could talk. Their race has no vocal cords so the synthesizor masks allow them to speak.)

While this is happening, the shuttle is attacked by a group of mercenaries over the planet Hoth. In order to survive, the team is forced to crash land on Hoth. The mercenaries then hunt them across the frozen slopes of the planet in order to complete their mission. All the while, Vlagari, Tianti, and his other aids remain with them. Vlagari secretly leads the mercenaries to the heroes with a tracking device as they flee into a mountain cave. At last, as the team approach a series of caverns, they suddenly discover that Vlagari is really Wraith, the Dark Side Jedi that kidnapped Brin’tac’s family and killed Creed and Jin Tai Lo. The mercenaries chase them into a Wampa’s den where they are trapped between a wampa and the mercenaries that Vlagari hired. At the same time, Vlagari pulls out his own lightsaber and kills Tianti, his usefulness being at an end, as the other aides also pull out weapons and fire upon the Phantom Hunters. Only Kradlo survives Vlagari's massacre of the aides.

A fierce battle ensues, and while the mercenaries pin the heroes inside the caverns Wraith escapes and uses the Force to set off explosives to create an avalanche to trap them all inside. Wraith then decides to leave them all for dead, including the mercenaries and the senator’s surviving aide. (He does this so there are no survivors or witnesses to his deeds.) He must return to Coruscant and inform Senator Ay’laya that the heroes killed his chief aide, Tianti, and that Satchal really is the Dark Jedi that has killed Master Lo, Creed, and kidnapped Brin’tac’s family.

As Wraith escapes, the Phantom Hunters unite with the mercenaries and the surviving member of Tianti’s staff to fight their way through the caverns against wampas until at last they find their way out. They hurry as fast as they can to follow the trail of Vlagari, but by the time they arrive at the mercenary landing site they find that Wraith has taken one of the mercenaries’ ships. As they arrive at the site, Wraith destroys all of the remaining mercenary ships and flees the system.




Epilogue - "Trapped on Hoth!"

“All right, men. Spread out. Look for any other entrances out of the caves.” Gariss, the Barabel leader of the mercenary unit known as Daragald’s Blight, stood in the frozen passage with his fellow mercenaries, a scowl imbedded on his large, toothy maw. All right, he thought, I’ve done my part of the job. Where is that blasted signal?

Although he’d called out the command his troops had already been told not to obey the command. He wanted to make the enemy think that he’d spread his troops thin in hopes of luring them back in his direction. According to Wraith, the Jedi who’d hired his unit, they were only supposed to keep the enemy from escaping back out the cave entrance. There was a Wampa nest inside the cave, and Wraith had hoped to trap the enemy between the mercenaries and the Wampa. The trap was working perfectly. Gariss’ man who had piloted the transport carrying their prey had faked the crash well right into the predetermined coordinates. So now all that remained was for the Jedi to give the signal.

As if in answer the snap hiss of a lightsaber echoed down the passage forcing all of the mercenaries to momentarily pause. “That’s it!” Gariss shouted. “Move!” Obeying his command, all twenty mercenaries surged down the passage at top speeds.

A second later they came to a jarring halt as up the passage came the Jedi who’d hired them. “Hurry!” cried the synthesized voice of the Anomid warrior. “They’re right behind me.”

Daragald’s Blight responded instantly as the first of their prey came rounding the corner. Jarith and Marks fired simultaneously, narrowly missing the young Jedi that had rounded the corner. A moment later, Borgis, For’og, and Chik’a’timin fired a series of shots just as the Jedi bounced back around the corner. All of their shots struck the icy walls of the cavern.

“Go back!” the voice of the enemy Jedi cried. “There’s too many of them.”

“Don’t let them get away,” Wraith snapped from beside Gariss. “The Wampa are on top of them now. They’ll have no where to run.”

Gariss turned to Wraith and sneered. “I thought you were supposed to keep them distracted long enough for us to join in the combat. You didn’t even stay in combat more than a few seconds.”

Wraith glared at him with dark eyes. “Just do as you’re told unless you wish not to get paid.”

Gariss considered just killing the Jedi right then and there, but the money was far too important to him. He and his unit had suffered many losses after the fiasco on Beemoss VI. They needed this job. It paid too well. “Fine,” he growled in disgust. “Everyone move!”

But his words were cut off a moment later when a raging Wampa rounded the corner with a vengeance. Instantly Wraith vanished from sight as Gariss and his entire unit leveled their weapons to fire. The Wampa charged into the midst of the unit and began flailing about wildly as if it were starving to death. Most of his men were able to dodge away from it as they fired desperately. For’og, however, was not so lucky.

A moment later and the beast was lying at their feet, but before they could continue their charge into the cave another sound froze them in their tracks. A deep rumbling sound echoed through the tunnels sounding as if the entire mountain was coming down around them. Instantly, Gariss spun around to see Wraith standing at the entrance of the cave, a sadistic and triumphant look on his face. “Enjoy your icy tomb, dog!” he hissed, and vanished just as an avalanche of snow and rock buried the entranceway.

Gariss was instantly furious. “Blasted Jedi!” he cursed. “Double-crossing, backstabbing gutter-snipe!” And for several moments afterward he and his men could only choke and gag as debris filtered through the air.

When the air cleared his men looked to him for guidance. “We’ve been had, men! We’ve got to get back to the ship before he takes it over and leaves us stranded here.” He turned to his communications officer on his left. “Hodge. Get on the communicator and warn Margo to move the ship away from the caves. We’ll notify him when we’re out of here or far enough in so he can blast us out of here.”

Hodge, a weasel-like human with all sorts of gear all over him and a heavy pack, saluted and pulled his communicator out of one of his many pockets. “Margo, this is Hodge. Do you copy!”

Only static returned as Jarith and Marks returned from scouting around the next corner. “Sir, the enemy has taken out the other Wampa and is moving deeper into the caves. We think we heard a couple of them talking about side passages that they think will lead out of the caves.”

“No reply, Sir,” Hodge informed Gariss immediately after the Jarith had spoken. “The mountain must be blocking our signal.”

Gariss swore violently. “Our prey has now become our ally, boys. Move forward with weapons ready but not aimed at them. Make sure to keep announcing our intended truce.” Then after a pause he added, “And make sure you hurry. If Margo’s dead we’re as good as dead.”

Not needing to be told twice, Jarith and Marks, the unit’s two scouts, shot off down the passage shouting for their opponents to lower their weapons. Gariss then turned to the others and ordered them to hurry after. Hopefully they’d be able to make it out of the caves before that traitorous Jedi managed to reach the ship.





The female Wampa slumped to the ground, and none of the members of the Supreme Chancellor’s Special Task Force needed to be prodded into motion. Charging down the passage in the opposite direction of the mercenaries they knew were right behind, Geldar, Satchal, Brin’tac, Tarrsk, Tso, Nyarchagga, Gnat, and Lialla plunged further into the pitch blackness of the icy cavern. If not for the bright light that Gnat was shining ahead of them and the glowing lightsabers of Geldar and Satchal they would have been completely blind. Behind them, only one other person remained alive after the blood bath of the Dark Jedi and the two Wampas. Kradlo, one of Tianti’s Anomid aides stood frozen in place as he stared at the dead body of his former employer.

“No time for sorrows!” Geldar shouted as sympathetic as he could as he grabbed the Anomid and shoved him down the narrow corridor. He and Satchal had attempted to chase after the Dark Jedi, and so they were forced to pass the stunned alien on their way to escape. Kradlo moved without feeling as the two Jedi herded him earnestly along.

The group made their way through the dark passages as they wound for about twenty meters deeper into the caves. Then, all at once, they came upon the lair of the Wampa where two juveniles stood ready to pounce. However, with a fierce growl and a shot from his blaster rifle from Tarrsk above their heads, the Wampa pups cowered away deeper into the lair to escape from this unknown terror.

The group didn’t hesitate at the lair. Finding a side passage with the guidance of Gnat, all of them charged off to their right and up a steeply ascending slope. The passage was much narrower than the first, and it was obvious once inside that the Wampa used it very infrequently. It was rugged and hard to traverse, but due to the fact that after only about twelve meters they saw sunlight they knew that the path was a quicker route to the surface. Brin’tac guessed that either the passage was used to allow the male Wampa to leave the passage and therefore trap any unsuspecting creature within the cave between himself and his mate, or it was probably used to reach higher up on the mountain to catch prey that existed higher up.

They reached the entrance only a short five minutes later and rushed into the bright light of the afternoon sun. Glancing about to get their bearings they spotted the downed transport shuttle still smoldering off to the south of the entrance. Next to it, the mercenary ship still sat unmoving as if it were a predator protecting its most recent kill.

Before anyone could speak, the ship suddenly fired up its engines, and as each of their stomachs leapt into their throats they watched it ascend into the air. Their only hope of escape lay in that one starship, and there it went soaring into the sky above their transport ship. As if to make sure they would not repair the damaged transport, the ship fired several more times on the wreckage before it blasted off through the sky towards space. As the biting wind whipped around them and threatened to freeze them all where they stood, each of them felt hope slip away as they realized that they were probably all standing in their own tombs.





Gariss and his men arrived shortly after the ship vanished into the cloud-covered sky, and each of his men dropped their weapons to their sides as they watched in disbelief. “That’s it,” remarked Hodge. “We’re all dead.”

“Shut up, Hodge,” Gariss snapped. “We’re not dead until we stop breathing, and even then I’m sure we can find a way around it.”

At that moment the people who he’d been paid to kill turned to face him with weapons partially ready for a fight. Gariss instantly stepped forward to avoid any disaster. “Who’s the leader of this outfit?” he asked with palms open to indicate he came to offer a truce.

The Bothan diplomat stepped forward. “I am Brin’tac Kyen’tir from Kothlis. Although we have no real leader I have many times been the spokesperson. You must be the leader of this band of mercenaries.” Brin’tac’s voice was obviously cool and collected, though it was obvious to those that knew him that he was not happy with the idea of having to try to make a truce with a group of mercenaries that had just been trying to kill them.

“We are Daragald’s Blight, a mercenary unit that works in the Outer Rim,” said Gariss as he motioned his men to lower their weapons. “We were hired by a Jedi named Wraith to kill all of you, but since the Krayt’s-@#$ decided to break contract we have no reason to fight with you. In fact it seems best if we work together to try to get out of this mess.”

“Agreed,” said Brin’tac matter-of-factly. “Do you have any ideas?”

Gariss only stared at the Bothan for a moment as if trying to size him up. “I’ve always got an idea,” he said as he spat in the snow out of the side of his mouth. “Par’kiss,” he called without looking. “Take ten men and get to that transport ship to see if anything works. We’ll be there as soon as we’ve skinned these blasted snow beasts and cooked them.” He then spoke to Brin’tac again, though he did not even indicate it with a nod. “Any of you know how to repair a ship?”

“We have some technical skills,” remarked the Bothan, “but none of us is very proficient in it.”

“Fine,” said Gariss. “Then why don’t you go with the team back to the ship and scrounge up something to keep yourselves warm and then go out hunting for something. You can do that, can’t you?”

Tarrsk gave out a low growl, but Geldar clutched his friend’s shoulder to calm him. “We can do that without any difficulties,” the young Padawan remarked, though he really wasn’t sure what they might use to protect them from the terrible cold. “If there is anything out here to eat we will find it.”

Gariss regarded him for a moment and smiled. “Fine. Make sure you find plenty to go around. We’ve got about twenty-four mouths to feed and clothe before the night comes and we freeze to death.” He then turned towards Par’kiss, and his team which were just setting out. “And Par’kiss!” he called. “See if you can get that transport’s heaters working. If nothing else can be fixed at least get that up and running.”

Par’kiss acknowledged his leader with a nod of his head and started off down the low slopes of the mountain towards the ship. As he left, Gariss turned back towards the cave without another word to the others, and he and his mercenaries descended back into the hole leaving Geldar, Brin’tac, and the others standing there still in shock and disbelief.






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