Session 05: Hidden Enemies

The quiet tension in Darga's palace shattered when the heroes were suddenly ambushed by a group of Quarren assassins accompanied by the Wookiee slaver they had seen in the Hutt's court days before. The battle was swift and brutal. Though the assassins fought fiercely, the heroes emerged victorious, slaying the Wookiee and most of the Quarren. Two of the assassins were taken alive, and under interrogation, they revealed that their contract came directly from Darga the Hutt—delivered through one of his slave girls. While the information was damning, the heroes had no way to confirm its truth, leaving a seed of doubt and suspicion lingering in the air.   Determined to uncover the truth and growing wary of Darga’s duplicity, the team left their quarters and made for a computer terminal. There, Kira managed to slice into the system and pull up a full map of the palace. While she couldn’t access the security network due to it being on a separate system, she uncovered something even more curious—a room deep in the palace dungeons was drawing an unusual amount of power, with no clear explanation why. As Mouse reviewed the data, she once again felt a telepathic intrusion, but this time managed to resist it. What followed was a haunting whisper in her mind: “Help me, help me.”   Galvanized, the group made their way into the dungeons to investigate the anomaly and access the security systems. As they descended, they were met by a Gamorrean warlord and his brutish guards. A fierce melee broke out, during which Kira worked to slice the dungeon security node while the others held the enemy at bay. After disabling the warlord and his lackeys, Kira successfully wiped all traces of the heroes' presence from the palace records. With no time to lose, they continued downward toward the mysterious, power-hungry room.   At the lowest level of the dungeon, the heroes faced another squad of Gamorreans and quickly dispatched them. There, in a sterile and humming chamber, they discovered an unconscious woman hooked to a complex life-support system. Merrik carefully disconnected her, and as she stirred awake, she identified herself as Jedi Master Denia—long thought lost since the Clone Wars. Disoriented and weakened, she revealed she had been in a coma since before the fall of the Republic and had no knowledge of the Empire’s rise. As Mouse and Denia steadied themselves, both felt a wave of fear ripple through the Force—something was wrong above.   Their cover blown, the heroes rushed to escape. On their path they intercepted Igren Demos, Darga’s sinister Majordomo, in communication with an Imperial Inquisitor preparing to arrive aboard the Star Destroyer Assiduous. Igren declared Darga had fled on his personal yacht and demanded the heroes' surrender. When they refused, the final confrontation erupted. Though untrained, Igren wielded the dark side of the Force with cruel precision, hurling dark energy and attempting to break their resolve while his elite guards pressed the attack. The heroes endured and overcame, striking down Igren and his men. On his body they found a datapad revealing Darga’s escape route—he had fled to Cloud City on Bespin.   With the Imperial Star Destroyer closing in, the heroes made a break for the Banshee. Captain O’Keefe, already prepping for launch, welcomed them aboard. Engines roaring, the ship climbed through Cato Neimodia’s thick atmosphere and into the stars, barely ahead of the Assiduous’s arrival. With one final push, they made the jump to hyperspace, carrying with them a rescued Jedi, the truth of Darga’s betrayal, and the next piece of the puzzle behind the Sarlacc Project.