Star Wars Missions 001 - Asault on Yavin Four (3 page)

“You disobeyed an order from General Dodonna, Captain Solo!” Leia was furious. “If you’re going to be a soldier, you have to play by our rules!”

Chewbacca growled at Solo.

“What’re you blaming
me
for?!” Solo asked the giant Wookiee. “
You
know I’m no good at following orders!”

Chewbacca snorted.

“All right, so I’ll try harder,” Solo agreed. Then Han caught Luke’s gaze. Luke looked more angry than Solo could have imagined. Solo realized that he had disappointed Luke. All of a sudden, he felt ashamed.

“You’re right, Princess,” Solo admitted. “I shouldn’t have taken off like that.” He turned to General Dodonna “I’m sorry, sir.”

“We’ll talk later, Solo,” said Dodonna “What happened to the cruiser?”

“We destroyed the sensor array and the three TIE fighters before they made a run for it. It looked like they crash-landed about eight kilometers from here, near some other ruins.”

“If there are any survivors,” said Dodonna, “we have to stop them from sending a distress signal to the Empire.”

“We’ll have to find the ship’s captain, too,” Leia added. “He may be the only one who can tell us the purpose of their mission here.”

“Then we’d better get moving,” scowled Luke, “if we’re going to finish what Han started!”

The Rebels ran for the hangar. There wasn’t a moment to lose.

Before you proceed, you must consult the Mission Guide for the rules of the STAR WARS MISSIONS. You must follow these rules at all times.

This is a Rebel mission.

The Imperial ship crashed eight kilometers east of the Rebel base on Yavin Four. If any Imperial stormtroopers survived the crash of their ship, they will attempt to contact the Empire. If a message reaches the Empire, more Imperial forces will be sent to Yavin Four. The Rebel base would not survive an attack so soon after the Death Star battle.

There are many ancient towers and pyramids on Yavin Four, and the stormtroopers may try to hide in these ruins. They might also prepare an attack on the Rebel base.

You have to act fast. You do not want more stormtroopers to come to Yavin Four, and you do not want any of your friends to be attacked by stormtroopers.

Your goal is to prevent the stormtroopers from launching an emergency distress beacon and from attacking the Rebel base on Yavin Four. You must also attempt to capture the Imperial captain of the crashed ship.

You start this mission with one thousand Mission Points (1,000 MP).

Choose your character. You can take no more than four weapons (including a blaster rifle and a blaster pistol) and three vehicles (including a speeder bike). You can use your Powers twice in this Mission.

May the Force be with you.

There isn’t enough time for General Dodonna to give anyone a full briefing, but the orders are clear. Search and destroy. Rebels are running all over the hangar deck, grabbing their gear and preparing for the mission. You try to remain calm, but it isn’t easy.

General Dodonna pulls you aside. “Do you think you can lead the mission to the crash site, and scout for any signs of stormtrooper activity?” he asks.

“I’ll do my best, General,” you reply.

Dodonna nods. “The Rebellion is counting on you.”

You are issued a speeder bike to travel the eight kilometers to the ruins. The speeder bike is equipped with a navicomputer, so you’ll know whether you are traveling in the right direction. The jungles are dense on Yavin Four, and it’s easy to get lost.

You are also issued a small comlink that straps to your shoulder; you will use this unit to communicate with General Dodonna.

As an added precaution, you are given a pair of infrared goggles. These goggles will allow you to see in the dark. The jungle is thick with shadows, and you might not be able to see without infrared vision.

Finally, you are issued a blaster pistol and a blaster rifle. You may already have your own weapon, but you need these two extra ones just in case. You are familiar with both the pistol and the rifle, and you are not afraid to use them. You put both weapons in a compartment on your speeder bike.

As you climb onto the bike, you look back at your friends. They know you have been chosen to lead the way to the Imperial crash site. Some of your friends look worried. After all, they might never see you again. You try not to think about it, and instead concentrate on getting your job done. You hit the throttle and the bike rockets out of the hangar and into the dense jungle forest of Yavin Four.

The navicomputer confirms that you’re going in the right direction. You fly between the trees at high speed. You can’t afford to waste any time.

The trees are so tall and their branches are so thick that they have cast the jungle floor into a great darkness. You are barely one kilometer away from the Rebel base when you have to slow to a stop. Out of reflex, you almost turn on the bike’s headlight. Then it occurs to you: bad idea! If you turn on your headlight the Imperials will see you approach.

Fortunately, you have your infrared goggles. You pull them over your eyes and touch a button on the side. The jungle suddenly becomes clearly visible.

You speak into the comlink that’s strapped to your shoulder. “General Dodonna?” you say. “Warn the others that it’s really dark out here. Unless everyone wears infrared goggles, they might not be able to make it through this jungle!”

You rev the engine and take off.

Five kilometers later, you reach a clearing in the jungle. You’ve discovered another set of ruins. Little is known about the ancient builders of the fortresses on this moon. No one knew how they were able to cut and transport huge stone blocks from the crust of Yavin Four, or how those blocks were transformed into huge towers.

In the clearing you’ve discovered, trees can’t grow because of the large rocky walls and foundations that spread out around the area. There are old stone stairways, pillars, and some high walls. With all the rocks lying around, it looks like the roof must have caved in a long, long time ago. You have another two kilometers to travel before you reach the Imperial cruiser. These are not the ruins you have to worry about, but you call back to the base.

“General Dodonna? I’ve arrived at some ruins. No sign of any Imperial activity yet.”

“Keep moving,” Dodonna insists. “And stay on your guard!”

You are about to speed away when you see a flash of light on the far side of the ruins. Perhaps it’s the sunlight, reflecting off a piece of glass or metal.

Or maybe it’s something else…

Without any warning, a branch swings in front of you and hits you in the chest. You are knocked off your bike, onto the ground.

Two stormtroopers emerge from behind some nearby trees. The first one carries the branch that hit you. The second one has a blaster rifle aimed at your head. You realize that they must be scouts from the crashed Imperial ship.

The first stormtrooper tosses the branch aside and steps over to you. You are still lying on the ground. He unholsters his rifle and aims it. He takes away your standard weapon, and tells you to take off your goggles. You take off your goggles and he gets a good look at your face. You hope he doesn’t recognize you.

“Are you a member of the Rebel Alliance?!” demands the stormtrooper.

“No,” you reply. “I’m a history student from the Academy. I’m studying the ancient ruins of Yavin Four so I can get a good grade in alien history.”

“Prove it!” the stormtrooper orders.

“I have some research papers in a compartment on my speeder bike,” you say. “I can show them to you.”

The stormtroopers let you step over to your bike. They keep their guns leveled.

You open the compartment that contains the blaster pistol and the blaster rifle. The stormtroopers are standing behind you, and they can’t see these weapons.

The blaster pistol is easier to pick up, but you will have to take aim and fire twice (once for each stormtrooper); the blaster rifle is heavier, but one pull on the trigger will spray laser bolts at both stormtroopers.

These two stormtroopers must be neutralized. You have to move very fast.

Choose one weapon, either the blaster pistol or the blaster rifle. (If you have questions about how to fight this confront, please consult page 20 of your Mission Guide.)

For the blaster pistol:
Add your weaponry# to your weapon’s midrange# for your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to combat the first stormtrooper.

If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#
, add the difference to your Mission Points (MP) total and proceed to combat the second stormtrooper, 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 have defeated the first stormtrooper, repeat this confront for the second stormtrooper, using the same confront equation. Once you have defeated the second stormtrooper, you may proceed.

For the blaster rifle:
Add your weaponry# to your weapon’s midrange# +1 for your confront#. Roll the 12-dice to combat both stormtroopers.

If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#
, add the difference to your MP total and proceed.

If your confront# is lower than your roll#
, subtract the difference from your MP total. Now double your confront# for your new confront#. Roll the 12-dice again to continue to battle the stormtroopers.

If your new confront# is equal to or more than your roll#,
you may proceed.

If your new confront# is lower than your roll#
, subtract the difference from your MP total. Repeat this confront with the same new confront# until you have defeated the stormtroopers. Then you may proceed.

Both stormtroopers have now been neutralized. You feel foolish for not having been more cautious. Did you really think that the stormtroopers were going to sit around their crashed ship? You were lucky this time. You’ll have to be more careful.

You are almost afraid to tell General Dodonna what happened. After all, he asked
you
to be the scout, and you practically walked into the hands of stormtroopers. But it’s your duty to tell him so he can warn the other Rebels. From now on, stormtroopers could be anywhere.

Unfortunately, your comlink is broken. Something must have happened to it when you were knocked off your speeder bike.

You drag the stormtroopers to a stone wall and lay them over the top. This way, anyone who comes by can see them. If the Rebels see the stormtroopers, your friends will know you are alive and doing a fine job. If other stormtroopers find their fallen comrades, they’ll think twice before they attack you.

The sunlight reflects off the stormtroopers’ armor. You remember the flash of light that distracted you earlier, just before you were knocked off your speeder bike. You wonder whether the light might have reflected off the armor of
another
stormtrooper.

After putting both the blaster pistol and the blaster rifle back in the bike’s storage compartment you climb onto your bike, and speed to the area where you saw the flash of light.

You park your speeder bike beside some rocks and walk quietly forward. Pushing aside some branches, you see three stormtroopers. They do not see you.

The stormtroopers are busy assembling a small rocket launcher. Now you know why they came to this clearing. The dense jungle trees must have gotten in the way of a rocket launch. They needed an open space to launch their distress beacon.

The stormtroopers are standing near a landspeeder. You can try to neutralize the stormtroopers (one at a time or all at once). But if you miss one shot, a stormtrooper might escape in the landspeeder.

You want to deactivate the Imperial distress beacon. You do not want to shoot the beacon. If you do, you might be injured by the accidental explosion.

Note:
You must defeat all three stormtroopers before you can deactivate the Imperial distress beacon. If you roll the 12-dice and your roll# equals your confront# minus 1, you have accidentally shot the Imperial distress beacon and caused it to explode. You suffer a minor injury, and must subtract 10MP from your MP total.