The Knifeman's Run


Riscah Tyour, one of Moff Rulduk's agents, has recently put this plan into action. In order to drive a wedge between the New Republic and the Yaeger Nation, the Yaeger Imperium will begin smuggling the worst of the galaxy's scum into the Yaeger sector through the New Republic's sphere of influence. All of these individuals will be given either forged NR identification papers or legitimate papers, for those that have not yet been convicted, and they will all be encouraged to prey off of the Yaeger through various means (including a mini-grenade lodged in the skulls of those criminals that can be detonated by remote control. Many of the more dangerous of these criminals have an Imperial shadowing them, ready to detonate the grenade if necessary)

While a sudden explosion of crime cannot be expected to dissolve the newly formed ties between the Yaeger and the New Republic, it would certainly strain those ties, leading to much greater regulation of shipping between the Yaeger and New Republic spheres of influence among other results.

Riscah hired a number of scouts to chart a new smuggling route. The route that they produced for him has one terminal at Mos Eisly and another on Riyiur, the official gateway to the Yaeger Sector. Known as the Knifeman's Run, the route is a rather meandering one, stopping at many waystations noted for their criminal nature or population. From one terminal to the other, the route takes 14 standard months to travel at standard speeds, though the same distance along more standard routes can be covered in far less time.

The rutters for this route are only possessed by four smuggler captains, and by those scouts that charted it. Ideally, Rulduk would prefer it if only the smuggler captains know the routes, and Riscah has been doing his best to track down the scouts and silence them, but several had escaped to the deep void, and he has no leads on their whereabouts.

The four captains (Glarn Irnoth, Smael Thilok, Kysshrkrisoh, and Zara Sept) are charged with recruiting and transporting criminals from the cesspits of the galaxy to the Yaeger sector. Riscah does not want the rutters captured during a cargo inspection, and insists that the captains travel as clean as possible going into the sector, taking only their passengers on the last leg of the run.

Major Stops on the route:

  1. Mos Eisly: Initial source of criminals. 2 weeks to-
  2. T'Ritt: Refueling stop. 1 month to-
  3. Gamtin: A notorious smugglers haven, the captains will usually pick up a cargo here, unless they are carrying a particularly large load of criminals. 1 week to-
  4. Ilitim: Refueling stop. 2 weeks to-
  5. Mankros: A resort planet, owned by a powerful crimelord. Members of his organization that need to get away from people are referred to the Knifeman captains. 2 weeks to-
  6. Thikoomb: An industrial world, were they can pick up equipment or repair their craft. 2 weeks to-
  7. Shiyith: Refueling stop. 1 month to-
  8. Deliden: A world of little significance, used to ditch anyone following. 1 month to-
  9. Ulithir: Refueling stop. 2 months to-
  10. Warus: An overpopulated urban world, the local administrators forward some of the more dangerous criminals to the Knifeman's captains. They also provide a free port to the smugglers and their trading partners. 3 weeks to-
  11. Sharoon: A wasteland planet. Used as an equipment stash. 1 month to-
  12. Rith: a prison world, known for the inhuman conditions of Rith penitentiary. The local officials select the most dangerous of their prisoners to be sent to along the Knifeman's run. 1 week to-
  13. Thesslia, a populous trading planet, used to shake off pursuit in the crowds of ships. 1 month to-
  14. Ulasut: An open port, where the captains usually offload their contraband cargo, and pick up a legitimate load. 3 weeks to-
  15. Sipirone: Backwoods agricultural world, Riscah has a facility there where they spend two weeks forging New Republic Documentations. 3 weeks to-
  16. Malashur: Refueling station. 3 weeks to-
  17. Ishirin: New Republic outpost. Here the forged documents get a test run. 2 weeks to-
  18. Riyiur: Gateway to the Yaeger sector.

Getting the characters into the adventure:

Depending on the nature of the party, there are a number of hooks that can be used. A character with a background in law enforcement or crime could recognize one of the criminals that had been carried along the run, and then lose him in a crowd (or capture him and have his head blow up). They then might wonder how that character got there, especially if he was put away in one of the more high security prisons (such as Rith Penitentiary). Or, they could run into one of the scouts, who dies conveniently, leaving them with some garbled explanations and a rutter, or the New Republic sector administration might simply ask them to investigate the sudden crime wave, if they already have contact with higher ups in the administration.

If the campaign is to be a darker one, this may be a good way to bring the players into the sector. One of Riscah's contacts lets them know of the opportunities of the sector, and tells them about a way there. (this works rather well if they start on one of the prison worlds. After all, they aren't going to get many other offers) They will discover the little Imperial tricks as time goes on, and if the action ever gets slow, the New Republic could capture Riscah's records, and suddenly get very tightly on their tails.

Adventure Goals:

Primary Goals:
  • Getting a copy of the Knifeman's Run Rutter into New Republic hands.
  • Identifying the cargo carried along that run, and informing the New Republic.
Secondary Goals:
  • Capturing at least one of the captains making the run.
  • Discovering the identity of the agent behind the Run.
Bonus Goals:
  • Capturing or killing all the pilots making the run.
  • Capturing Riscah and turning him over to the New Republic.
  • Finding the records that Riscah kept of all criminals that made the run, and turning them over to the New Republic.
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