Session 18: Into the Core

Fresh off their victory on Nizon, the heroes returned to the Resurgence, where Admiral Varth and Captain Verana awaited them with grim urgency. Admiral Varth revealed that the fragmented data recovered from Vril Vrakth pointed unmistakably toward Coruscant, the beating heart of the Empire, as the next step in unraveling the mystery behind Project Sarlacc. He had secured the heroes a set of access codes—fragile, time-sensitive authorizations that would let them enter Coruscant’s airspace and land without immediate suspicion. But he urged caution: once they arrived, they should avoid staying aboard their own ship to slow down any eventual ISB investigation. Their window was narrow, he warned; the forged credentials might last a day at best. With that, Admiral Varth departed, leaving the weight of the mission squarely upon the heroes’ shoulders.   Captain Verana remained to provide more precise intelligence. Their primary contact on-world would be a man named Tero Reskan, and to ensure secure identification they were given a sign and countersign: “We broke our droid.” — “I hope you meant to.” More troubling was what Verana had uncovered regarding the Sarlacc Project itself: transmissions linked to a hidden frequency band, possibly to a droid or clandestine receiver; repeated mention of ISB Agent Lesan Dos, a name steeped in shadows and secrecy; and the recurring involvement of a protocol droid designated CZ-3T6. Finally, Verana offered one more lead—a Sullustan named Resh, a former associate of Darga the Hutt, whose work in the Hutts’ delivery network might have brushed up against the project. The objective was clear: infiltrate the source of the Sarlacc Project, discover what it truly was, and report back to the Resurgence.   After several days in hyperspace, the Reliance dropped out over Coruscant, entering a breathtaking torrent of starship traffic—towering space lanes arranged like layers of ordered chaos spiraling toward the glittering planet-city below. Imperial Center Control granted them an approach vector, but moments into descent fate intervened. An Action VI bulk transport ripped out of hyperspace on a collision course, slamming into the Reliance with shuddering force. The mid-air collision left scorched hull plating and damaged engines, and after a sharp exchange with Imperial authorities—who surprisingly accepted the incident as an accident—the heroes limped along their descent, scrambling to repair failing systems even as they descended into Coruscant’s upper atmosphere.   As the Reliance descended through the clouds, the Star Destroyer Assiduous emerged behind them, its dagger-like silhouette gliding toward the planet. In that same moment, Mouse felt a sudden brush against her mind—a presence cold and deliberate—before it slipped away as swiftly as it came. Arriving at the Cloudscape Platforms, the heroes found themselves subjected to the scrutiny of an ISB agent and his squad of stormtroopers, who searched both ship and crew. By great luck—or great skill—nothing incriminating was found.   Borrowing a speeder to avoid staying near their ship, the heroes descended into the lower levels, seeking anonymity among the planet’s trillions. They took rooms at Gert’s Low Street Hostel, a dingy but discreet establishment where aliens drew few questions and paid credits kept curious eyes away. Once settled, they contacted Tero Reskan and met him at a quiet café in the upper levels, where he provided promising leads regarding their search. But no sooner had they stepped outside than COMPOR agents sprang an ambush, blasters flashing in the growing dusk. The heroes repelled the attack and vanished into the crowds before Coruscant security forces could converge.   Their search next brought them to The Works—the industrial wasteland of abandoned foundries, rusting machinery, and dangerous shadows—where the Sullustan Resh was said to maintain a warehouse. Navigating the hazardous smog-choked district, the heroes found the warehouse surrounded by bounty hunters eager to claim Resh for reasons unstated. With a subtle nudge of the Force, Mouse persuaded the hunters to abandon their contract, clearing the way inside. There, Resh revealed what he knew: communication with the Sarlacc Project had been routed through a specific comlink number tied to a droid, now deactivated. He confirmed that the ISB—particularly Agent Lesan Dos—kept the project buried in secrecy, and that Darga once spoke of the operation relocating to a new building under construction: Imeici Spire, located in CoCo Town. That spire, Resh suspected, could be the nerve center of the entire project. Only someone with Agent Dos’s code cylinder could get inside.   Armed with this knowledge, the heroes traced Agent Dos’s movements and learned his favored haunt: the Outlander Club. Their next step was clear. Somewhere within the neon haze, pounding music, and shifting crowds of the Underlevels, Lesan Dos carried the key to the Sarlacc Project—and the heroes would need to face him to claim it.