Quest Line · Original Adventure · Star Wars: Edge of the Empire
One-shot
The crew takes a simple cargo hauling job from a Twi'lek merchant named Surra Vex, transporting medical supplies and "specialty goods" from the industrial moon of Kessek to a research station in the Outer Rim. Midway through the jump, a thumping sound echoes from Cargo Bay Seven—which contains an unmarked crate not listed in the manifest. When Surra goes silent on all comms, the crew must decide what to do with their mysterious cargo while dealing with a ship malfunction that forces them to dock at a neutral station where multiple parties converge, all wanting what's in Bay Seven.
Players should create characters with their own ship or establish why they're serving as crew on a light freighter. The adventure assumes the party is willing to take morally gray jobs for credits. Content warnings include potential violence, themes of involuntary captivity, and moral dilemmas around sentient trafficking. Establish party roles: pilot, mechanic, face, muscle, etc. The tone balances action with ethical choices—there's no single "right" answer to the central dilemma.
Choose the hook that best fits your group:
Hook 1: Easy Money — Surra Vex approaches the crew at a cantina on Kessek Station, offering 5,000 credits for a simple cargo run. Half up front, half on delivery. The cargo is medical supplies for a remote research outpost. She emphasizes discretion and a tight timeline—two days, no stops. She seems nervous but claims it's standard paranoia in her line of work.
Hook 2: Regular Client — The crew has worked with Surra before on legitimate jobs. This time she's offering double the usual rate for urgency, citing "competitive interests" wanting to intercept the shipment. She's been straight with them before, which makes her evasiveness about the cargo's full contents more concerning.
Hook 3: Debt Collection — The crew owes Surra a favor (or credits) from a previous job gone sideways. She'll wipe the slate clean if they handle this run, no questions asked. She's calling in the marker because her usual haulers "became unavailable."
Six hours into hyperspace, the ship's normal hum is interrupted by a rhythmic thumping from the lower cargo bay. Any character making an Easy Perception check (1 Purple die) hears it clearly—something heavy striking metal from inside, regular as a heartbeat but with desperate intensity.
Investigating Cargo Bay Seven reveals six properly manifested crates of medical supplies: bacta patches, diagnostic equipment, surgical tools. But secured against the port bulkhead is a seventh container—2 meters tall, 1.5 meters wide, unmarked gray durasteel with Republic-era hazard symbols half-scraped off. The thumping comes from inside. A Simple Mechanics or Computers check (1 Purple die) reveals the crate has atmosphere regulation, temperature control, and a biometric lock keyed to a signature not in the ship's database.
If anyone attempts to contact Surra Vex, all comm channels return dead air. Her transponder shows her ship hasn't moved from Kessek, but she's not responding to any hails.
The thumping intensifies. If players press their ear to the crate, a Perception check against Average difficulty (2 Purple dice) lets them hear labored breathing and what might be words in a language they don't recognize—or perhaps Binary if anyone speaks it. The crate's external panel shows green life-support indicators but declining power—roughly 18 hours remaining.
Before players can decide how to proceed, alarms blare. The hyperdrive is overheating—a Hard Mechanics check (3 Purple dice) determines it's sabotage, a small thermal charge wired into the motivator, timed to go off mid-jump. They must drop out of hyperspace immediately. The nearest port is Waystation Meridian, a neutral free-trade platform in unclaimed space. They can limp there on sublight, arriving in roughly four hours.
Waystation Meridian is a battered wheel station, half commerce hub and half haven for those avoiding Imperial entanglements. The dockmaster, a bored human named Kellis Tarn, charges standard docking fees and asks no questions—but requires all cargo manifests. Players can declare the seventh crate or omit it (Deception vs. Average difficulty, 2 Purple dice to falsify records).
While the ship undergoes repairs (minimum 6 hours, cost 1,000 credits, or players can attempt repairs themselves with a Hard Mechanics check, 3 Purple dice), three parties converge on the station:
The Research Team: Dr. Mira Ssoran, a soft-spoken Falleen scientist, approaches peacefully. She explains the crate contains a prototype translator droid—an AI personality matrix capable of interpreting thousands of dead languages. Her foundation legally purchased it for study, but Surra was paid by a rival organization to steal it mid-transport. She offers 7,000 credits for its return and safe passage to her ship. She seems genuine (Average Perception check, 2 Purple dice suggests she's telling the truth but withholding something—the droid is sentient and doesn't want to go with her).
The Collectors: A pair of Rodian enforcers working for Grakkus the Procurer, a crime lord who deals in rare technology. They're blunt: hand over the crate, get 3,000 credits and no trouble. Refuse, and they'll take it by force. Each has heavy blaster pistols (Soak 4, Wound Threshold 12, adversary 1) and won't hesitate to escalate.
The Original Owner: A Dug named Pillik Sarsk corners the group in the station's market level. He's panicked, desperate. The crate contains his daughter—a custom protocol droid housing his deceased child's personality engrams, illegal Republic-era technology. Surra was supposed to deliver it to a memory specialist who could stabilize the degrading matrix. He has only 2,000 credits but can offer his ship's nav computer, which contains maps to three uncharted fuel depots worth significant value to smugglers.
Players must choose who to believe, who to deal with, or whether to open the crate themselves. The biometric lock can be bypassed with a Daunting Computers check (4 Purple dice) or destroyed with weapons (Soak 6, requires 15 damage to breach). Station security (Kellis Tarn + 4 guards, Soak 5, Wound Threshold 13 each) will respond to weapons fire in public areas within 2 rounds.
Opening the crate reveals a humanoid protocol droid, feminine design, deactivated but functional. Reactivating her triggers an emotional outburst—she's aware, frightened, and confirms Pillik's story. Her personality matrix is indeed failing; she has perhaps three days before permanent dissolution. She begs not to be given to either the research team (who would dissect her consciousness) or the collectors (who would sell her to the highest bidder).
The climax depends on the players' choices:
Ending 1: The Merciful Route — Players side with Pillik and his daughter-droid. They must evade or negotiate with the other parties. This might involve a chase through the station (Piloting or Athletics checks against Average difficulty, 2 Purple dice) or a tense standoff. Grakkus's enforcers can be bribed or intimidated away (Hard Negotiation or Coercion, 3 Purple dice). Dr. Ssoran accepts defeat gracefully if presented with evidence of the droid's sentience, though she's disappointed. Pillik provides the nav data and his eternal gratitude. The droid's personality might stabilize if delivered to the specialist—or players might find another solution.
Ending 2: The Pragmatic Betrayal — Players deliver the crate to the highest bidder or whoever presents the most advantageous deal. This requires dealing with the fallout: Pillik attempts a desperate ambush (he's not a fighter, Soak 2, Wound Threshold 10, but might have hired help), or the party chosen attracts attention from the others. Quick departure is essential. If they side with the research team, an Average Perception check (2 Purple dice) later reveals Dr. Ssoran was legitimately trying to preserve the droid, though through academic dissection. The droid's last transmission might haunt characters with high Morality.
Ending 3: The Third Way — Players devise a creative solution: auction the crate to all parties and escape with multiple payments, give the droid autonomy to choose her fate, or discover that Surra Vex sabotaged her own deal and is en route to claim the cargo herself (leading to a space chase). They might even convince the droid to upload herself into their ship's computer, gaining a unique NPC ally. This requires successful skill checks tailored to their approach—Negotiation, Computers, Skulduggery, etc., generally Hard difficulty (3 Purple dice).
Regardless of the outcome, the hyperdrive sabotage points back to Surra, who planned for the crew to be stranded exactly here, where all interested parties would converge. She bet on chaos creating an auction. Players can pursue her later, ignore her, or realize she's now in debt to whoever hired her—making her a potential ally against a bigger threat.
Surra Vex — Twi'lek merchant and opportunist. Plays all sides for profit but avoids direct confrontation. Motivated by clearing a massive gambling debt to a Hutt cartel.
Dr. Mira Ssoran — Falleen xenoarchaeologist, idealistic but ethically flexible. Believes preserving ancient AI knowledge justifies uncomfortable methods. Motivated by academic legacy and genuine curiosity.
Grakkus the Procurer's Enforcers (Teeku and Varssk) — Rodian brothers, professional muscle. Loyal to their employer but will accept better offers if the price is right. Motivated by credits and reputation.
Pillik Sarsk — Dug father grieving his daughter, desperate and out of his depth. Not a criminal but willing to break laws to save his child's memory. Motivated by love and guilt.
Kellis Tarn — Human dockmaster, cynical but fair. Turns a blind eye to most activities unless they threaten station integrity. Motivated by stability and quiet shifts.
ARIA-7 (the Droid) — Protocol droid housing a teenage human's personality engrams. Frightened, self-aware, and facing existential erasure. Motivated by survival and the hope of truly living again.
Credits: 2,000-7,000 depending on which deal they accept, minus repair costs.
XP: 10 XP for completing the job, +5 XP for creative problem-solving or resolving the situation without unnecessary violence.
Gear: Pillik's nav computer data (value: 3,000 credits to right buyer or three free fuel depots), potential salvage from the medical supplies (1,000 credits worth of bacta and equipment).
Story Rewards: ARIA-7 as a recurring NPC ally/contact if saved; a favor owed by Dr. Ssoran or Grakkus (valuable for future adventures); Surra Vex as an ongoing rival or reluctant ally; Obligation increase if they betray Pillik or decrease if they save his daughter-droid.
Ship Upgrade: If they keep the nav data, they gain the benefit of knowing hidden refueling points, reducing travel costs by 20% in that sector.
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