Sessions 9, 10, and 11

A Scrolling intro for Session 9, 10, 11 (and probably 12 and 13) can be view here.
Here’s a summary of what’s been going on.
Session 9: (03/22/2002)
Sharess is at the academy in lightsaber practice.
Corvo and Simon are at the senate in the Alderaanian pod with Bail, where there is a discussion about bacta shortages. Investigation is put into committee, since there is disagreement between core and fringe worlds about how to split up the existing bacta.
Distributing the Republic surplus based on Senate representation, few of the Fringe worlds would get supplies since many have traded away direct representation to the Trade Fed. Bail is disturbed about the ‘indirect consequences’ of this shortage, and the fact that no one is investigating why there is a shortage in the first place.
Keema, Dag, and Phin receive a call meant for the Senator to help out Nayda, who has OD’d on deathsticks in a downbelow bar. The three investigate, retrieve Nayda, head for a discreet high-income detox clinic.
Nayda is in bad shape — death sticks are notoriously dangerous and she’s been dosed on several, which both speeds up the reaction (resulting in violent fits that require help from several other people to control) and makes the downsides much more pronounced. It’s unclear if she’ll survive.
Those investigating the deathstick dealer back downbelow end up spotting him; he runs (they always run), but this chase changes it’s face when it turns out the guy has (lots of) friends. A nasty firefight ensues, and everyone (Phin, Simon, Corvo, Keema) think it’d be just swell to get out of there. The wounded rest at Nayda’s clinic.
After several tense hours, Nayda regains (exhausted) consciousness, but doesn’t remember anything about how she got down to downbelow. She denies having taken deathsticks as she’s ‘bored, but not stupid’. Bail personally visits Nayda for a private talk. There is an attempt on Nayda/Bail’s life at the hospital, involving an incendiary device and the high oxygen content of the room. (Probably planted by one of the ‘helpful’ individuals who helped hold Nayda down during the fits.)
The only thing that’s clear is that Nayda’s been targetted because of ‘something she saw’ when she was off-world recently. Problem is, she doesn’t remember anything important that she saw. She actually remembers only a little of the trip, because of the deathsticks, and doesn’t remember how she got back to Coruscant (she was on Malastare).
The Coruscant Opera. Bail had to attend, but this assignment is urgent, so the players are given passes to his V.I.P. berth. Finis Valorum meets the PCs at one point. Palpatine makes a point of speaking to one of the characters (Simon) congratulating them on the “Kashyyk business”, talking about protecting the rights of all sovereign states. Sate Pestage nods to Corvo, knowingly.
Bail explains that he is sending the characters, with Nayda, to backtrack her trip and see what is going on. He believes, based certain information, that what Nayda may have seen is very important.
Leaving Coruscant: ship preparation (Corvo picks up some ‘duty-free’ liquor for trade in the Outer Rim) and travel, final destination of Malastare. Sharess’ master will head off on his own for
Session 10: (04/05/2002)
Opening: Dogfight: Trade Federation bulk freighter “Aurodium Sun” is being attacked by pirates. They are asking for aid. Tne local picket ships are quite far away. The party engages two Z-95’s and two Cloakshapes, backed up by a larger gunship that stays at the edge of long range using a large ion cannon against the TF ship. Simon couldn’t even get an ID on the ship’s transponder code, due to the Knight Errant’s much-abused sensor package.
The heroes manage to hold off the pirates until the locals arrive. The gunship jumps out, and the locals find they are unable to pursue. The TF ship is also unable to jump. Everyone is getting a message from their navcomputer that their destination is invalid. The Knight Errant has no such problem. The ship is somewhat beat up, but the group decides to continue towards Malastare, since there’s ample evidence that some sort of local virus has infected all the ships that’ve docked at this Starport.
The party stops for supplies at a slightly-frozen, swampy, ball-of-mud mining colony. No one’s interested in Corvo’s booze, although a number of dealers approach the ship, looking for any surplus bacta.
The trip continues, and Nayda (bored) tries to teach Dag and Sharess how to play Sabaac. Most everyone on the ship gets involved (Keema just watches), Corva digs into his ‘barter stash’ of alchohol, someone comes up with the idea of “Strip Sabaac” and things spiral madly out of control from there.
The jedi lass leaves the room, clutching her robes to her, about 6 hands in. Simon holds his own with Nayda very respectably, but it’s Dag she wakes up with the next morning.
(If only he’d known: Keema was about to call on Simon in his quarters, but just then the ship was hailed by system-edge pirates outside Malastare space.)
Simon keeps the pirates talking while Phin manuevers through the asteroid field that edges the system. (Meanwhile, Corvo and confused Dag discuss women in the Galley, ignoring the klaxon alarms and the abrupt shifts in momentum.) The crew makes it to Malastare space without a serious firefight and the Malastare authorities drive the pirates off.
Session 11: (04/18/2002)
The group is disembarking on Malastare and runs into Falloon, a twi’lek that apparently ‘knows’ Nayda. He’s being followed, and when the group gets outside, they are accosted by a group of thugs while they’re getting into a waiting aircar. The thugs are dealt with, one of which is collected for questioning, and the group flees the scene.
As they flee, the group question Faloon, who explains that he’s been holding a spaceport locker key for Nayda ever since the day she disappeared a few weeks ago. He was going to the spaceport to see what was in the locker when he realized he was being followed and spotted Nayda. Falloon reveals that he’s part of the RimWorld Consortium, a ‘terrorist’ group that’s pirating Trade Federation ships to liberate supplies of bacta and redistribute it to the Rim Worlds. They hope to get enough attention to force some sort of formal negotiation that will get the Outer Rim more rights if and/or when the Mid- and Outer Rims are officially made Taxed Trade Zones (the motion is currently being debated in the Senate as a way to enforce law in the pirate-heavy region).
The thug they captured says that there’s been a price put on the live return of either Faloon or ‘the girl’. Successful bounty hunters are to bring their captives to Shuttle T_____ (lost my notes)
The group goes to Faloon’s apartment, which is a shambles, but that way normally. They decide to head for the spaceport, gather up the contents of Nayda’s locker, peek on this Bounty Shuttle, and try to locate this ‘secret resort planet’ that Nayda snuck off too a few days before she gave Fal the locker key and disappeared.
Fal’s groundspeeder is much nicer than his appartment, and that’s too bad, because about halfway to the spaceport, the street is blocked by a rapidly descending Shuttle T______. A half-dozen troops are hitting the ground before it hits the ground. In response, Phin increases speed — everyone leaps clear and the landspeeder rams the landing shuttle, ending the fight (and Fal’s nice speeder) very quickly.
The group moves to a parallel street and comcalls a local taxi service to pick them up. The car that shows up isn’t a taxi, however, and the group ends up in ANOTHER fire fight. Grenades fly, Phin gets control the speeder, and the group makes its way to the spaceport (finally!)
At the locker, the group finds the body of an L9-unit, missing its head. It seems to be a match for the Droid head they recovered several months ago (the one whose encrypted data contents have yet to be deciphered). Curiouser and curiouser.
Leaving the planet in search of Nayda’s secret vacation spot, the group spies the ship that Shuttle T_____ belonged to and avoids another firefight with a quick jump to hyperspace. (Their sensors may be screwed up, but their wookie-built Astrogation NavComp is fantastic.)