Intelligence Summary #16: Bongolaan's Brute Battalion

 

Stardate: Fiday, 104-130 ABY/Tarsan Intelligence Service (TIS)

Subsector: Shannekam

 

Since his Imperial-sponsored New Year's Eve Coup, President Bunda Akhtar has rapidly consolidated power through legislation and executive directives.  However, Bongolaan's new leader has also employed more ruthless--and less legal--methods of tightening his control over the planet.

 

One scheme to circumvent the Imperial limitations on autonomous planetary militias within the Empire, Bunda Akhtar has raised several "civic organizations," for the supposed benefit of the populace.  One such group is the Citizens Against Counter-Revolutionary Activities (CACA).  However, the beings of Bongolaan have another name for this band of thugs:  The Brute Battalion.

 

CACA/The Brute Battalion is a paramilitary force that serves as President Akhtar's private group of bounty hunters.  So far the group has not yet been sanctioned by the Galactic Bounty Hunter's Guild and none of it's members get an official salary.  Instead, members receive payment upon job completion from various "concerned citizens," who've posted bounties against anyone on the Enemies of the State List--which continues to grow almost daily.

More than likely, the source of the bounty payments originate from Bunda Akhtar, or from his inner circle of planetary ministers.

 

 

The Brute Batallion is led by Roten Lardas, the tubby Trandoshan seen in the center of the above image.  While often refered to as "Rotten Lard Ass" by the Bongolaanian citizenry, no one laughs at this play on words. 

 

Those who are charged with committing minor infractions can expect to be sentenced to one year of forced labor on one of the planet's gabaki plantations.  They are discharged automatically upon completion of their sentence--provided they survived this stint of "community service."

 

Rumors have also spread throughout the subsector that indentured servitude is not the only punishment inflicted upon those who've earned Akhtar's displeasure.  There are unsubstantiated reports of victims being fed into gabaki shredders, similar to the one pictured below...

 

 

 ...or tossed into the Bongodile Pit, which was recently built within the Presidential Palace compound.

 

 

Those who perceive such a grisly fate is in store for them, put up a desperate fight and even commit suicide, rather than be captured by henchmen such as Lardas and his brutes.  Due to such firefights, it is said that the life expectancy of a Brute Battalion trooper is short.

 

While the members of the Brute Battalion have considerable combat skills, the group as a whole is not a cohesive fighting unit.  Garrisoned in maniple (company)-sized units throughout the major cities, the Brute Battalion is said to be comprised of malcontents ranging from those who supported former President Zeveg Bharzi, to anyone merely harboring anti-Imperial sentiments.  Whatever the reason, such individuals have probably been deemed a security risk and are unable to find work until they prove their loyalty to the People's Democratic Republic of Bongolaan and the Empire.  In addition to being a band of government contracted bounty hunters, the Brute Battalion also doubles as a penal unit.

 

So far, the Brute Battalion has limited its activities to the Bongolaan System.  This may change in the near future as the unit and its members gain more operational experience.  If this occurs, TIS operatives may be contacted by battalion members wanting to defect.  However, be aware of the possibility that such an individual may be a double agent posing as a deserter. 

 

GM's Note:

 

Roten Lardas is represented by the figure of Gha Nachkt in the Star Wars Miniatures collection.

 



Intelligence Summary # 15: Warning Delivered/Ships Missing

 

Stardate: Thirday, 102-130 ABY/Tarsan Intelligence Service (TIS)

Subsector: Shannekam

 

Warning Message to Pierson Station Delivered

 

A subspace radio transmission from Pierson Station on Zenya, confirmed they received the warning about the impending attack by Bongolaanian forces.  The station's starport received a garbled transmission from Diplomatic Security Team Three (DST-3), on board the Gadnek Survivor.

 

 The ship arrived within a day of being dispatched from Ku Crassus. 

 

 

 The message from Pierson Station also mentioned the Gadnek Survivor was approached by the Zenyan Mainland United Government (ZMUG) corvette, Jamhuri. 

 

 

 

 Data on the Jamhuri, is as follows: 

 

 

 The Jamhuri may have employed its jamming systems against the Gadnek Survivor which interfered with their transmission to Pierson Station.  This however, cannot be confirmed. 

 

Attempts to contact and locate either vessels have failed. 

 

So it is unkown whether or not ZMUG is openly hostile to Tarsan vessels and shipping interests.

 

While corvettes are among the smallest military starships, the Jamhuri could easily outgun an armed freighter such as the Gadnek Survivor. 

 

Intelligence Summary #14: Alderaan's Vengeance, Mercenary Cruiser Profile

Stardate: Sixday, 098-130 ABY/Tarsan Intelligence Service (TIS)

Subsector: Shannekam

Profile of the Mercenary Cruiser Alderaan's Vengeance

The starship, Alderaan's Vengeance, has been a fixture in the Tarsus System for several years now.  During this time, the "Aldi Vee" provided escort to merchant vessels and security to planetary facilities, on a contractual basis. 

Two days ago, the Aldi Vee departed for Ku Crassus and according to Captain Robert Ulgo, accepted "...a long term contract outside the Tarsan system."

At the moment, it is doubtful that Captain Ulgo will do business with any Imperial-based employer.  Ulgo and a large portion of the crew are descendants of Alderaan's expatriate community, people who happened to be away when their world was destroyed by Palpatine's first Death Star.  As a whole then, the crew of the Aldi Vee bear a deeply-rooted hatred towards the Galactic Empire and its subsequent variations.

Another point to consider is that despite the ship's departure, family members of the crew have remained on Tarsus. 

Despite these apparent assurances, the current political-military situation remains uncertain and there are dozens similarly outfitted vessels operating within this subsector, which our ships may encounter as either friendly--or hostile.

Ship Capability:

While classified as a "mercenary cruiser," in reality, Alderaan's Vengeance is a modified CR90 Corvette.  The specific modifications include:

--Moving the two laser batteries to midships

--Removing one blaster battery and moving the remaining blaster forward

--Replacing the point defense (PD) battery with an Area Defense Anti-Fighter (ADAF) system

--Adding a hangar bay

--As a consequence to adding the hangar, the vessel's thrust is reduced to 5

(GM's NOTE:  Ship statistics are based on Star Wars Full Thrust Rules). 

The ship's hangar currently holds 4 X-Wing fighters and 2 assault shuttles. 

For Full Thrust, use a 4-ship counter/stand to represent the X-Wing fighter group.  More detailed specifications can be found in the Star Wars RPG supplement Starships of the Galaxy. 

Note of caution:  The actual book, by Wizards of the Coast, is out of print, but according to Google, is available for as a free PDF download.  I own the hardcopy, so I can't vouch for the validity and safety of the download sites listed in the Google hyperlink above.

Fighter-to-fighter combat can also be conducted, if you can find a copy of Star Wars--Star Warriors.

 The shuttles are capable of transporting 2 x 8-man squads/2 x recon speeders/one of each.  Various types of shuttles are available, the most generic consisting of one support weapon.

The Aldi Vee has a complement of 184, consisting of the following positions: 

The ship's captain

3 x Doctors

37 x Emergency Crew

3 x Engineers

12 x Medics

9 x Officers

3 x Intelligence Officers

18 x Pilots

24 x Ship Gunners

100 x Technicians

1 x Mercenary Captain

8 x Mercenary Scouts

42 x Mercenaries

(GM's NOTE:  The NPC stats for these individuals can be found in the Star Wars RPG supplement, Threats of the Galaxy).

The ship's troops, the "Alderaan Avengers," are divided into the following:

5 x 8-man squads

4 x 2-man scout teams (on foot or operating the recon speeders)

1x 3-man command team

The ship's troops are known to wear a variety of armor; short of power, or battle armor, while armed with standard blaster weapons. 

The scouts, on the other hand, prefer to wear light armor, for swift movement and concealability. 

The ship's "Dust Devil" recon speeders can be outfitted with enhanced sensors, or blaster cannons. 

While highly trained and motivated, the total strength of the Alderaan's Avengers, equates to a reinforced platoon.  Of the 5 squads on board, a maximum of 4 will be deployed off-ship during any given operation.  One squad provides shipboard security at all times.  The entire force is capable of the following missions:  starship escort, shipboard assaults, raids, personal or facility security and training cadre. 

GM's Notes on Possible Squad Capabilities and Stats:

Our gaming group has utilized, or experimented, with the following rules for sci-fi wargaming:

Fubar, Stargrunt II  and Future War Commander.

Squad Data using Fubar:

Mercenary Infantry
Veteran
Activation: 3+
Expertise: 4+
Suppress:  3
Armor:  Medium-5+, or Heavy-4+
Possible weapons:
Blaster Rifle--2 Firepower Points (FPs)
Blaster Pistols--1 FP
Grenades--3 FP
Heavy Blaster--3 FP

Mercenary Scout Team
Veteran
Activate: 3+
Expertise:  4+
Suppress:  3
Armor:  Light-6+, or Medium-5+
Possible weapons:
Same as mercenary infantry, but substitute a sniper weapon for the heavy blaster.
Special abilities:  "Chameleon Power"

Squad Data using Stargrunt II:

Squad Type:  Infantry
Unit Quality & Leadership:  Veteran (orange counters)
Full Strength:  8
Armor:  Full Suit (light)--D8/Scouts, partial suit (light)--D6
Sensors:  Standard--D6/Scouts use Enhanced--D8
Small Arms Types:
Blaster Rifles*:  Firepower--2, Impact--D10
Possible Support Weapons:
Heavy Blaster (infantry):  Support Firepower--D6, Impact--D12
Sniping Blaster (scout):  Firepower--D12, Impact--D8

If the entire platoon is involved in a large-scale operation, then the following stats from Future War Commander may be used:

HQ (CV8)
Move: 40F
Attack: 2/30
Assault: --
Hits:  6L
Save:  6
Cost:  130

Recce Team
Move:  10F
Attack:  1/30
Assault:  --
Hits:  3L
Save:  6
Cost:  40

Recce (Dust Devil landspeeder)
Move:  30 G
Attack: 2/30
Assault:  2
Hits:  3L
Save:  5
Cost:  50

Infantry
Move:  10F
Attack: 3/30
Assault:  3
Hits:  4L
Save:  6
Cost:  70

Other sci-fi rules are available for conducting battles involving the Alderaan Avengers, such as:

Tomorrow's War, Gruntz, 5150 and Blasters and Bulkheads.

Intelligence Summary #13: Pierson Station Defenses

Stardate:  Thirday, 074-130 ABY/Tarsan Intelligence Service (TIS)

Subsector:  Shannekam

TAg Market Island Defenses

The Zenyan Mainland, the Tau Tau Archipelago and the TAg Market Islands

Milquoor Island and Pierson Station

Pierson Station is a Class-D Starport, located on Milquoor Island near the geographic center of the Tau Tau Archipelago.  Milquoor, Kulovaan and Vandalla Islands were leased to Tarsan Agricultural (TAg) Market several years ago by the Zenyan Mainland Union Government (Z-MUG).

Pierson Station Starport

Pierson Station is TAg Market's shipping center on Zenya for it's seafood products.  There are 8 open docking bays capable of handling one light freighter each.  Medium-sized vessels can land, but require two bays.  Anything larger is required to land at Zenya's Class-A starport in Kairobi, the planet's capital city. 

The company maintains it's own fleet of freighters, which include several GR-75 Medium Transports.  Other shipping companies, free traders and high priority transports make planetfall at Pierson Station to exchange cargo and take-on passengers. 

A portion of the starport is reserved for military use and houses 12 landing pads for fighters.

A small fishing vessel transits the Vandalla Narrows

Outside the starport's perimeter, Pierson Station is also home to the smallest of TAg Market's seafood processing facilities.  Larger centers are located in Vianda, Ooverton and Kul'kva.

One of Pierson Station's X-Wing Fighters

The starport and all three cities are protected by medium deflector shields and light ion cannon batteries.  Five X-Wing Fighters perform security and escort for vessels transiting the Zenyan System.  There were 6 fighters, but one was lost during an unsuccessful pirate raid last year.

X-Wings take-off from Pierson Station

Ground defense and law enforcement is conducted by the Market Islands Constabulary.  This para-military organization is a reinforced company of security troops, with a platoon stationed at each city and the starport.

Grav Patrol Boat #255 races through the Milquoor Strait

A small flotilla of armed grav boats patrol the waterways, with two boats assigned to each island. 

Assessment:

The forces listed above are designed primarily for anti-smuggling operations and serves as a piracy deterrent.  It is doubtful these forces could hold against a 2-3 cohort/battalion-strength onslaught, before reinforcements arrive from Tarsus.

Game Master's Notes:

The buildings and vehicles seen in Pierson Station's Starport are from Ground Zero Games.

The X-Wings in flight are part of Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Miniature collection, while the other vessels came from various Micro Machines sets. The landing pads were scratch-built.

Intelligence Summary #12: The Sith Enigma

Stardate:  Tuday, 073-130 ABY/Tarsan Intelligence Service (TIS)

Subsector:  Shannekam

Motives of the Sith?

On 061-130 ABY, Diplomatic Security Team-3 (DST-3) was nearly overrun by several hundred Sith mutants.   According to Gobar Been, the Force adept of the Tau Taus, these creatures are created from unfortunate captives through a combination of genetic manipulation and Sith alchemy. 

DST-3 discovered piles of animal bones strewn about several cargo containers.  Later, they observed a flight of Lambda-Class shuttles air-dropping new containers on to the island.  The mutants, which are carnivorous and even cannibalistic in nature, may have outstripped the island's natural food supply.

However, not all the mutants faced by DST-3 were savage cannibals.  During the team's harrowing ordeal, a squad of rifle-armed mutants disembarked from a flight of Sith Infiltrator starships. 

This squad was led by a Force-user, possibly a Sith Adept or Sith Acolyte.  No one on DST-3 engaged this individual at close-quarters, prior to their evacuation.  So the scope of his Force powers--along with his identity--are unknown at this time.

The present of the Sith in this subsector is both puzzling and disturbing, to say the least.  Last year, the Sith and Fel Empires concluded their war in order to defeat the Galactic Federation of Fee Alliance at Caamas.  And yet, according to Lt. Naguza, his squad of battledroids was attacked by the mutants while they were escorting Damathon Cohain back to their camp.  (It was later discovered the camp was ransacked by the mutants). 

It's possible the Sith handlers may have little or no control over their abomidable creations.  Or, it may be the Sith are preparing to renew their conflict against their nominal ally. 

What the Tau Taus response to the Sith Mutant infestation on Gadnek Island will be, is unknown at this time.  Another concern is that public knowledge of the Sith operating so far from their empire could cause widespread panic among the worlds in this subsector.  (The galactic map above, illustrates the relative polical-military situation as of seventy days ago).

Recommend this information remain classified TOP SECRET.

Intelligence Summary #11: Invasion Plans Discovered

Stardate:  Wonday, 072-130 ABY/Tarsan Intelligence Service (TIS)

Subsector:  Shannekam

Bongolaanian Invasion Plans of Tarsan Agricultural (TAg) Market Islands

During the rescue mission on Gadnek Island, Diplomatic Security Team-Three (DST-3) downloaded classified files from the Bongolaanian base camp, just before they were evacuated.  One file contained detailed plans for an invasion of the TAg Market Islands on Zenya.

In addition to the invasion plans, DST-3 captured Lieutenant Onjo Naguza of the 7th Cohort/599th Droid Infantry Legion (7/599 DIL).  The Bongolaanian officer requested political asylum once the team touched-down at Pierson Station.  He is currently undergoing a debriefing, shown in the security camera image above and has provided additional information on the impending invasion.

Pierson Station and TAg Market Islands and the Tau Tau Archipelago

Shortly after delcaring a trade war with Tarsus, the Peoples Democratic Republic of Bongolaan began smuggling the 7th and 8th Droid Cohorts onto Zenya.  These units were then transported to Havran, Donmils and Concmar islands in the Tau Tau Archipelago, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Zenyan Mainland Union Government (Z-MUG).  The infiltration operation was accomplished with the clandestine help of one, or more, unknown members of the Z-MUG.  This venture does not appear to have official backing of the mainland, but this could be a case of maintaining plausible deniability.  The invasion plans make no mention of any Zenyan contacts or liaisons.

Pierson Station

At the time of this report, no Bongolaanian warships have been deployed to Zenya.  However, space assets could arrive to support the two droid cohorts in less than 48 hours.

The details of the invasion plans uncovered by DST-3 are as follows:

D-2:

Mobile surface-to-orbit batteries deploy covertly to islets around Vandalla Island. A platoon of battle droids are detached provide security for the batteries.

D-1:

Additional surface-to-orbit batteries conduct a covert deployment to islets west of Milquoor Island.  The intent of this prepositioning is to cut Pierson Station off from resupply and reinforcements.

D-Day:

On D-Day, the 7th and 8th Cohorts conduct a combined air and amphibious assault on Vandalla Island to seize the city of Vianda.  A half-wing of TIE fighters from Crimson Aces has been hired for five days to conduct air superiority, interdiction and close-air-support missions.

D+1:

The 9th Battledroid Cohort lands on Vandalla Island to support the drive against Ooverton. 

D+2:

The Bongolaanian task force launches a two-pronged attack against Kulovaan Island. 

D+3:

The task force converges on the city of Kul 'kva.

D+4:

The invasion of Milquoor Island.

D+5:

The final drive against Pierson Station, followed by mop-up and consolidation operations.

The Bongolaanians could seize the TAg Market Islands at any time.  However, according to Lt. Naguza, the task force commander is waiting for the 9th Cohort to be fully assembled, before launching the invasion. 

The TAg Market Islands are guarded by four platoons of corporate security troops, which may easily be overwhelmed.  There is no alliance or military support compact with the Tau Taus, since all off-world affairs are conducted by the Z-MUG, which leased the islands to TAg Market.

Another possibility for the delay is that Bongolaan, which is now part of the Empire, is having difficulties mustering transport ships for this operation.  The rapid collapse of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and the need for Emperor Fel to consolidate his position, is the most likely cause for the shortage of heavy-lift assets.

This report has been forwarded to Prime Commissioner Winthrop Coghill, Ambassador Eleonora Heraud and General Gwyn Norrocks for their appraisal.

Intelligence Summary #10: Rescue on Gadnek Island, Part 6

Saved from a gruesome death!

Situation:  1900 hours.

En-route to Pierson Station at hypersonic speed.

Pierson Station and TAg facilities.

Cad So Billes and Seleq Seel escort Damathon Cohain off the rescue shuttle.

They're greeted by Penelope Pelletin and Adoko.

Rican Vranos Lah To Ceel escort Lt. Onjo Naguza off the rescue shuttle.

Damathon Cohain and Lt. Naguza were given a quick medical exam and determined to be suffering shock.  However, despite the party's harrowing experience, their time back on Pierson Station proved to be fleeting.

One of the files Sei'do Avari downloaded from the Bongolaanian computer contained invasion plans directed against the station and the surrounding Tarsan-held islands. 

Since it was now imperative that the invasion plans be taken to the Tarsan Defense Force Command, the station's only emergency express boat (x-boat) was prepared for immediate take-off. 

As the weary members of DST-3, along with Damathon Cohain and Lt. Naguza boarded the x-boat, they were joined by the Tau Tau Force Mystic, Gobar Been, who wanted to "follow the Will of the Force."

The x-boat lifted off from Pierson Station before midnight and once beyond Zenya-3's gravity well, Cad So Billes, pushed the throttles forward and the vessel fired into hyperspace. 

Destination:  Tarsus.

The invasion plan details will be addressed in Intelligence Brief #11.