Torpol Connection

This is a self-created adventure for use in the Pirates of Drinax campaign but easily customizable. The main goal of this quest was for my players to get out of their usual zone and visit the empire. I also wanted to give you some background on the relationship between the Solomani and the Imperials. My players are getting to know the huge background as we progress through the campaign.

BACKGROUND

Torpol is a kind of tourist world where the ships of one of the main routes of the sector stop. In my campaign it is a world secretly controlled by the imperial mob and used for money laundering. The mafia has been established for some time and has almost everyone bought, except for a series of provosts and security agents. The mafia believes that they have bought them, but they have secretly contacted the Solomani in order to take over the planet. The Solomani seek instability and have sent agents, weapons and money. They see in Drinax the opportunity to become independent and have someone to protect them.

ENGAGEMENT

This mission is intended to be played after Honor Among Thieves, as the Provost will be the player's contact. After a few months of that mission he will send a message to Drinax's court, because his life is threatened. They have not yet discovered the planetary conspiracy, but the provost is the leader and without him everything will fall apart. The king will inform the players as soon as possible, Torpol is one of the main planets in his plan and he will urge them to go quickly to meet the provost.

TORPOL

Once the players reach Torpol, the operation is activated and there is no going back. Without them knowing it, a group of loyal to the provost will begin to follow them throughout their journey. They cannot be put in direct contact with the players, as this could threaten their lives and be targeted by the rival group. One of the first targets players will visit will be the Provost's offices. His secretary will tell them that the provost is making a trip around the planet and will give them the address of his first visit. For this they will have to use the shuttle service of the planet. While waiting to catch their flight, someone will walk up to one of the players and slip information into their pocket. The player who has received the information will not notice anything until he is about to board. The information they obtain is the following "My life is in danger, contact agent Jamy Arciart"

Upon reaching the agent, players will be surprised by a heavily armed security team, detained, and escorted out. They will descend into an underground facility where they will meet with the agent. He will be very sorry for the way he has received them, but he has done it for his safety. He will explain the situation of the planet and its connection with the imperial mafia and will tell them about his organization supported by the solomani. The plan was to replace the top leaders little by little and when the mafia realized it, they already had complete control of the planet and it would be very difficult for them to take it back. They haven't received any news from Tobia's cell for months and a recent assassination attempt on the provost has made the whole plan fall apart, since they don't know if they have unmasked the operation or not. He wants players to head to Tobia and try to contact Tobia's cell leader. The name used by the leader is Miranda Swanson, code name "Merchant". She will provide players with tickets on a skip transport 4 to get them out as soon as possible. If they complete the mission she will give them 4 million credits and Torpol will become a refuge.

TOBIA

After a long journey they will reach Tobia. Here you have to use all your storytelling abilities to show them an imperial world of TL15. If you have never been to the empire, you will not have seen anything like it. Upon arrival on the planet they will connect to her network and with a simple search they will find out that she is a singer and within two days she will perform in one of the most prestigious restaurants in the city. Those two days can be used to get to know the area, visit the city, try to get weapons, etc. An important fact is that to enter the restaurant you ask for formal clothes. If you look for more information about her you will see that she has begun to rub shoulders with the nobility of the planet and can be seen at multiple parties.

The day they go to the performance they will see that there is a big queue. Her attempts to contact her before the performance should be unsuccessful. When they are in the middle of the concert, have them make a reconnaissance roll. Those who get it right will see how 6 individuals enter the premises, draw their weapons and open fire on the crowd. At no time will they directly fire at players, but that doesn't mean they can't be shot at. A bullet will hit the singer and they will lose sight of her. The objective of these individuals is to kidnap her from her. While they keep shooting all over the place, a couple of them will pick her up and take her away. The problem is that although the players do not know it, that bullet has been deadly and the attackers have taken her body. Players can decide to run away or wait for the authorities. If they stay they will be treated by paramedics if they have suffered injuries and they will take a statement.

After that they will find out that it was not the only attack, but on the other occasions they have not taken any kind of hostage. If you have researched Miranda's life, you will notice that some of the murdered appear next to her in her photos. With a more exhaustive search they will be able to find the location of Miranda's apartment.

Let's take a little break. In my game one of my players had a member of Imperial intelligence as an ally and recruited them to take down these mysterious attackers. They received a lot of information and help thanks to him. In case there is nothing similar in your group, you should keep in mind that the police and intelligence services are also after Miranda and could have run-ins with the players.

Miranda lives in one of the most luxurious apartments in the district. Here we have 2 variants, if they have come before 14 hours after the shooting or they have come after those 14 hours.
If they come before those 14 hours, they will enter the building with ease and will be able to force the door without attracting attention. They will find a house full of luxuries. What stands out the most is a huge aquarium that occupies an entire wall. Ask them to make an Investigate roll. With an effect roll of 0-1 they will discover that he had been looking for information about the planet's factories and how almost everything ends up in the Pax Rulin shipyards. If the success effect is 2 and up, you will notice that one of the decorative pieces in the aquarium has a symbol of a scale. Inside they will discover a storage device with all the information that has been collected:

-There is another group operating on the planet. The information collected suggests that they are based in one of the most important industrial sectors. Every day they gain more members

-All members of Tobia's cell have been captured or killed

-Attempts to contact the Torpol cell have been unsuccessful

-The mob that controls Torpol works for imperial intelligence. Here will be a list of names. Almost all have died or are missing

-Something important is happening on the planet. A navy ship docked in orbit two months ago. It brought members of Imperial intelligence and several battalions of marines.

-The plan in Torpol must go ahead.

If you have come after 14 hours have passed you will see that the building is cordoned off by members of the imperial army and it will be mission impossible to enter.

Players will realize that the situation is more complicated than they expected and in Tobia they do not have any allies left from the cell. They now have the information they had come for and could leave the planet, ending the mission. If they want to continue investigating, they can do so, but they will face enemies they did not expect to find.

If they decide to continue on the planet, they will see that day by day the attacks continue to increase and they will begin to see army and navy units deployed in the streets, carrying out routine checks. As they get closer to the industrial sector, they will see that the presence of the armed forces is diminishing and they will feel watched. At first glance it will seem that everything is normal, but they will pay attention to details: anti-imperial marks, some people stop what they are doing to look at them, if they have good reconnaissance rolls they will be able to see that under their clothes they carry weapons and they will have in their head a sense of danger. They are clearly not welcome. If you try to ask about the situation, people will evade your questions. If they keep insisting a group will approach and the one who seems to be the ringleader will show a weapon and saying the name of the players will instigate them to leave the planet. If they try to engage in combat with the group or behave violently. They will be assaulted by psionic powers leaving them unconscious. And they will wake up in their hotel where they will find a note saying: "Next time we won't be so nice" and some tickets to leave the planet.

WHAT'S GOING ON?

In this adventure I wanted the players to know the ins and outs of the different intelligence organizations. Take advantage of this game to talk about the difference between the main human factions.

Imperial intelligence has set up a large center in Torpol to gather information on the Hierate. It is one of the main trade routes between the two empires. For this they took advantage of their contacts in criminal organizations. Torpol may be the biggest cover in the industry. The Solomani found out about this and sent sleeper cells to settle on the planet and after years of waiting they activated and moved up the planetary hierarchy. A clear example is the provost and the agent. By doing this, Imperial intelligence believed that the Mafia had betrayed them and began the executions.

Here comes the second part. In my campaign this mission was solved before 1107. For those of you who are not in the background: in 1107 the fifth border war begins, between the Zhodani and the empire. The Zhodani had infiltrated cells into the important planets to destabilize them. All this action happens outside of this sector, but I have decided to take advantage of this war to create this mission.

I hope you liked it. As you can see, you have information to expand it on many sides. I try to create these missions in a general way and not focus too much on the details because each campaign is a world and so you have a foundation that you can customize to your liking.