In the final days of Clone Wars, a great battle took place over the Outer Rim planet – Beta Rhama. The Separatist forces, under command of Commodore Gozare, engaged elements of the Republic’s 43rd Fleet, led by Jedi General Maz’no Karos. Half of Gozare’s forces drew in General Karos’s fleet into orbit over Beta Rhama. When the other half of the Separatist fleet jumped in behind the 43rd, the Republic forces were trapped. Gozare expected the Jedi General to surrender, or at least crumble under the pincer attack, but Karos was a skilled tactician and a stubborn Jedi. He tried to fight his way out of the trap, failed, and resolved to take as much of the Separatist fleet with him. A torpedo barrage from a flight of bombers destroyed the bridge of Gozare’s flagship, killing him. The remaining forces, most under droid command, stuck with their plan and continued to fight when a more sensible (and organic) commander would have run. The two fleets fought to the last, and thousands died in orbit over an ultimately unimportant planet.
The details of the battle were lost in the shuffle during the reorganization of the Galactic Empire, and there were few survivors from the Separatists who even knew the battle took place. The wrecked hulks of warships orbited Beta Rhama for two decades until an Alliance Scout Team discovered the massive debris field. Searching the wreckage for useful material, the scout team discovered that a Trade Federation Battleship was left mostly intact. A turbo-laser barrage had knocked out the ship’s propulsion systems, and the port “arm” had blown free two bulkheads away from the central core and engineering, but for the most part the remaining hull of the battleship was intact and functional. The power reactors were repairable, life support could be restored, and even defensive systems could be brought back on-line with enough resources. Most importantly, the starboard hanger was completely intact and could house and support an entire squadron of Alliance snubfighters.
The scout team gave their reports and recommendation to their superiors and advocated for the creation of an outpost on the ruined battleship. After some examination and rehabilitation from the Alliance Corps of Engineers, the remnants of the Separatist warship Hostile Takeover had been converted into a stationary outpost renamed Takeover Station.
Takeover Station is an example of what a PC party could do with the Base Construction rules presented in the Age of Rebellion career book for Diplomats, Desperate Allies. Utilizing a similar creation system as Homesteads and Businesses from the Edge of the Empire book, Far Horizons, the Base Construction rules go in a slightly different direction, giving the PCs a safe haven to rest and recuperate between missions, or to strike out at the Empire.
The idea to make Takeover Station came out of our two-part episode on the Order 66 Podcast that dealt with Homesteads, Businesses, and Bases. GM Chris, GM Dave, and I had a build off at the end of Episode 60 where we each took one of the three properties and built a cohesive story behind it to see who could make the most creative, useful, and inspiring resource.
The rules state the base can take the form of a space station. Going off on that idea, I wanted a base that could be used for a fighter squadron (I’m a fanatic for the X-Wing novels and games, after all), but I wanted something different. I thought about using a derelict ship as a stationary location, perhaps one where the power plant was operational but the engines were inoperative. A ruined hulk from the Clone Wars would be a perfect base; they tended to be large craft that could afford to have a large portion of its hull destroyed and still serve as a small outpost. I’d already used a Venator Star Destroyer as a crashed Alliance Base in one of my campaigns, so I elected to use a Separatist ship this time. This also gave me an excellent excuse to have a Separatist Tactical Droid act as the base administrator; a survivor from the battle that disabled the warship in the first place.
So how does this work? The Alliance Scout Team (i.e. The PCs) finds the wreckage of the Hostile Takeover during a scouting mission, or maybe during the course of their adventure. They come to Beta Rhama for some reason or another (or to whatever isolated system you decide to have this meaningless Clone Wars engagement). The party spends their first Contribution Rank reward to establish the base, or perhaps they start with the base as their Party reward, knowing that they’ll be stuck in-system for the first adventure or two. As a GM, I’d give them in-system ships that they could use; fighters with no hyperdrive rating. Maybe they’ve salvaged some Jedi Starfighters or V-Wings from elsewhere in the system. With their initial buy-in they get the operational space station, Takeover Station. They first select the base’s Core Focus, or what the facility is meant to provide and what it’s purpose is.
Core Focus – the Focus of Takeover Station is that of a secret base that the Alliance can launch strikes throughout the Dalchon Sector, as well as other targets of opportunity along the “southeast” end of the Corellian Run. Per the rules, this is a “Core Base” that’s effectively a Space Station.
Included are basic facilities to support the PCs and their operations, a hanger big enough for their ships, and an NPC administrator who watches over the base. This is where TV-38 comes in, also known as “Traight.”
TV-38 “Traight” – a red and grey Separatist Tactical Command Droid serves as Takeover Station’s administrator and tactical advisor. Traight was found inert but still functional on the bridge of the Hostile Takeover when the Alliance Scouts found the wreck. The scouts reactivated the droid, and brought Traight up to speed on the galactic happenings since the Clone Wars. Traight eagerly wished to assist the Alliance in their war against the Empire.
Traight is a cold and calculating droid, often recommending the most expedient means to victory no matter the cost of life. With patience and urging, the droid learns to refrain from such suggestions and takes a different line of thinking; find the best solutions at the lowest cost. One point to remember is that Traight is still a Separatist droid, one that does not wish to see the Republic restored, but does work to damage and destroy the Empire that it became.
After some adventures and missions for the Alliance, the group earns their second Contribution Rank. The rules state the party can purchase one upgrade from the list in Desperate Allies per Contribution Rank. So for Rank 2, they take two upgrades. Since they really want to use Takeover Station as a starfighter base, we take two selections of “Hanger and Repair Bay.”
Upgrade: Hanger and Repair Bay – Taking this upgrade the first time gives Takeover Station the capacity to hold 30 Silhouettes’ worth of vehicles, no one vehicle larger than Silhouette 5. Taking the selection a second time gives the bay an additional 15 Silhouettes’ worth of ships. That’s a hanger big enough to house twelve Silhouette 3 Starfighters with space left over for three more (or two Silhouette 4 freighters). It also includes a complete repair and maintenance bay with a droid oil-bath unit. Any repairs made while in this bay restore extra Hull Trauma and System Strain to the vehicle being worked on.
With the renovations done to Takeover Station, the battleship can now house and operate an entire fighter squadron. Alliance Command ships a squadron of X-Wings out to Takeover Station, naming them Graveyard Squadron. Combat sorties are now launched from that system against surrounding Imperial interests. After more adventures and more missions, the PCs achieve their third Contribution Rank increase. Wanting to expand the scope and usefulness of the base, they choose to add three more upgrades to the base.
Upgrade: Hanger and Repair Bay – With this selection they have taken the maximum number allowed by the rules in Desperate Allies. This adds 15 more Silhouettes’ worth of hanger space, increasing the base’s capacity to 18 snub fighters and one Silhouette 4 transport, internally (with enough space left for a land-speeder). The extra 6 starfighters will be needed for training purposes…
Upgrade: Training Facility – The PCs decide to establish a Starfighter Pilot School on Takeover Station. The location is perfect for it; it’s an isolated system with practically no system traffic, and has a significant obstacle course for pilots to train in (the battle wreckage). Taking the Training Facility adds in various students (up to 12 of them, 2 per fighter) and instructors to the base personnel, naming the training group Mynock Squadron. Finally, the base now provides a bonus Career skill to all PCs. Given the focus of the base and the school, they elect to take Gunnery as the bonus Career skill.
Upgrade: NPC Ally – The base services a lot of fighters, and requires additional maintenance of its own. With their third selection, the PCs choose NPC Ally, and get a Chief Mechanic for their hanger bay, Hoskarr.
Hoskarr – a wookiee chief mechanic who is in charge of maintaining and repairing the starfighters of Graveyard and Mynock squadrons. He comes from a large family, most are either incarcerated on Kashyyyk or have been taken for Imperial slave labor somewhere in the Galaxy. He vents his frustration on the pilots on Takeover Station, berating them for every ding, dent, scratch, gouge, blast, or lost to “his snubfighters.” Hoskarr is all bark with the squadron pilots, though; his bite is saved for the Empire.
We now have a fully operational Alliance Base, housed in the husk of a ruined Trade Federation Battleship. The PCs can expand on the Base’s features with further Contribution Upgrades or with credits and resources acquired from the Empire. If I were expanding the base, my next choices would be the addition of a Medical Bay, another NPC Ally (a Doctor), establishing the Command and Control Center, and choosing to add Shields from the Security Upgrade list. With time, all upgrades could eventually be selected and establish Takeover Station as a real thorn in the side of the Empire in the Outer Rim.
Adventure Hooks: Takeover Station and the system it resides in could offer a host of adventures for the PCs. Here are some plot hooks to get the ideas going if you want to use Takeover Station (or something like it) in your campaigns. They can be standalone adventures or saved for times when the Base comes up on the Duty roll for the session.
Hide and Seek: Sensors detect an Imperial transmission coming from somewhere in the battlefield wreckage. An Imperial scout ship has entered the system, looking for Rebel activity. The PCs can either try and play dead and hope the Imperials leave, or try and ambush them and destroy them before the Station’s presence can be revealed. The Scout Ship is deep in the wreckage, and with radiation and debris from the smashed starships lingering, it can’t send a signal to the Empire until it clears the field.
Lifedebt: A reconnaissance team recently came back with a series of holos showing an Imperial facility under construction in a nearby system. Several of the slaves working on the world are Wookiees. Hoskarr sees the holos and recognizes his brother and several members of his family. He implores the PCs to help him convince Alliance Command to authorize a raid against the construction site and to rescue his family.
Castaways: The PCs have reason to go down to the planet; either to replenish water stores, or to search for a needed replacement part in the wreckage that crashed into the planet, or maybe to evaluate the possibility of establishing a refugee camp in the system. While they’re down there, they come across a group of middle-aged clones who survived the battle. They’ve lived on the planet since the war, just trying to survive in the harsh climate. Their response to the PCs could depend on many factors; they could be wary, hopeful, resentful, or even eager to get back in the fight. If there are any “Jedi” in the party (Force-Users, or who possess a lightsaber) they may defer to the character, calling them “Commander” or “General.” If they encounter Traight, they could assume the PCs are Separatists and attack them.
Jedi Exile: A variation of the above for a group with Force Sensitive characters; such a player character feels a pull to the planet, a calling through the Force, and descends to find that Jedi Knight Maz’no Karos survived the battle. He was gravely injured in the battle, having lost a limb or was paralyzed. He knows the Jedi Order is gone, he felt their deaths in the Force. He can no longer fight against the Empire in his debilitated state, but maybe he can train a new generation in the fight against the Dark Side.
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