Star Wars Missions 008 - Togarian Trap

by Dave Wolverton

  “Such human creatures should not live,” the Togorian proclaimed. “I am Fassool, leader of this war band. We will fly to Caross on mosgoths, and find this human. When we find him, we will tell the Margrave-sister. She will cut him to pieces!”

  “No,” Dengar insisted. “When we find him, you must give him to me. We must take him alive, and make certain no harm comes to the child. They’re worth more alive than dead.”

  Fassool shook his head. He argued that the Women’s Clan would handle the matter.

  Dengar knew the Togorians would not help him if they knew the whole truth about Solo. The Togorians wouldn’t harm a Rebel hero, especially one who was only trying to collect the reward on a child he’d rescued.

  Yet if Dengar, Eron, and Udin were to find Solo and his Rebel cronies, they would need the Togorians’ help. Somehow, Dengar hoped to win their support.

  Before you proceed, you must consult the Mission Guide for the rules of the STAR WARS MISSIONS. You must follow these rules at all times.

  This is a Bounty Hunter mission.

  While tracking down Han Solo and his Rebel allies, you have crashed on the planet Togoria. You and your fellow bounty hunters have enlisted the aid of some Togorian males to lead you to the city of Caross. You must try to win their respect and allegiance before you get there, so that you can use them to find Solo and the other Rebels. In Caross, you must capture Han Solo so that you can get the bounty on his head. You must also recapture Grubba the Hutt, to get the reward for the child.

  You start this Mission with the Mission Point (MP) total from your previous Mission. If this is your first Mission, you start with 1,000 MP.

  Choose your Bounty Hunter character now.

  You take a stun baton, plus two other weapons of your choice.

  For a vehicle, you will ride a mosgoth. The giant flying lizards are the only mode of travel available in a society that has little technology.

  You can use Power three times on this Mission.

  Good Luck.

  Fassool and the Togorians begin to lead you through the swamp. Because they stand tall and have enormous legs, they run with incredible swiftness, often falling to the ground and racing on all fours when climbing gentle hills.

  They make a game of racing ahead of you, mocking your “stubby legs” as you desperately race to keep up through the jungle. Each time you come to a giant snake, you must spring over it. At your touch, the snakes look back. The first couple of times that you leap, you are close behind the Togorians, and the snakes do not bother you. They know better than to mess with Togorians.

  But after awhile, you begin to tire.

  You rush up to another giant snake, and leap. The snake rears up, three green eyes glaring at you intently. A long red tongue flickers out to taste the air.

  Then the snake strikes at you, venomous teeth flashing in the air like sabers.

  You must choose to evade, hypnotize, or fight the snake.

  To evade the snake: Your stealth# +1 is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to evade the snake.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference +3 to your MP total. You leap around some trees and lose the snake in the jungle. You may now proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. The snake has spotted you with its three eyes. You must fight it (below).

  To hypnotize the snake (using Power)*: Choose your Hypnotism Power. Your charm# + your Power’s low-resist# + your Power# is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference +3 to your MP total. The snake is lulled into complacency. You may proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. The snake isn’t falling for your spell. Now you must fight (below).

  *Note: This counts as one of three Power uses you are allowed on this Mission.

  To fight the snake: Choose your weapon. Add your weaponry# to your weapon’s mid-range# +3 for your confront#. Roll the 12-dice to shoot the snake.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference +2 to your MP total. The smell of fried snake fills the forest, and makes you hungry. You may now proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Add +2 to your confront# for your new confront#. Repeat this confront with the same new confront# until the snake is defeated.

  Your efforts at confronting the snake cause you to fall behind the others. Distantly, you hear the Togorians meowing and hissing with catlike laughter, calling to you.

  It bothers you that the Togorians think so little of you. You need the big males to help you capture Solo. Certainly, Solo and the others will be well-protected by their friends at Caross.

  You begin to consider ways that you might impress the Togorians. As you do, you finally exit the jungle and come to the savanna. Ahead of you is a small, wide river that flows lazily over the dry flatlands. Its banks are muddy and wide, and you can see that they have been flooded recently.

  A herd of reptiles are drinking at the water’s edge. The reptiles look like small tyrannosaurs, possessing tan-colored hides with dark stripes. These little meat eaters terrify you, yet you see that they eye the Togorians nervously. As long as you are with the Togorians, you will be safe.

  When you finally catch up with the Togorians, they smile at you. “We must cross the river,” Fassool says. “It will be dangerous.”

  “Why?” you ask. “Are there reptiles in the water? Carnivorous fish?”

  “Nothing so pleasant—” a Togorian answers. “There are... mud worgs.”

  “What is a mud worg?!”

  Fassool shrugs. “If you have not seen them, I cannot say.”

  You wonder what he means, and the Togorians move forward. They halt when they come to the muddy banks of the river.

  Without warning, one of the Togorians leaps into the mud and begins racing over the mud flats. You hear a high, buzzing noise, like an electric saw, and see movement in the mud. Something small is under the sloppy mud, something perhaps a half meter across. It begins racing through the mud at incredible speed, chasing the Togorian. You can’t see the creature itself, only the wake of the mud moving above it

  Suddenly, the buzzing stops. A long white tooth pokes up from the mud. As the creature rushes silently along, the jagged tooth cuts through the mud like the fin of a shark cutting through water. You know that if it reaches the Togorian, the mud worg will slice his foot in two.

  You draw your blaster, preparing to shoot the mud worg.

  To shoot the mud worg: Choose your weapon. Since this is a small target, add your weaponry# to your weapon’s long-range# +2 for your confront#. Roll the 12-dice to aim and fire.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference +7 to your MP total. It’s a perfect hit.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Add +2 to your confront# for your new confront#. Repeat this confront with the same new confront# until you have blasted that worg out of the mud.

  The Togorians all laugh at you. One of them says, “It is a good thing that you shoot faster than you run, little human. But please, do not ruin our sport. It shames a male to need rescue from a mud worg.”

  As the Togorian runs through the muck, you see another mug worg rise silently from the brown ooze. The white tooth on its back races toward the Togorian. When it looks as if it will hit, the Togorian deftly leaps into the air. The mud worg passes beneath him harmlessly, and all of the Togorians laugh and applaud.

  The Togorian races out into brown water. It cannot be more than six centimeters deep, since his feet hardly get wet as he crosses the wide river.

  Other mud worgs are hiding in the water by the dozens — the Togorian appears to be dancing as he races through them, leaping and twisting each time a tooth slashes at his foot. In some cases, when the mud
worgs are racing fast and furious, the Togorian pulls out his blaster and shoots one.

  When a mud worg lands a strike, the Togorian’s blood splashes in the air. The other Togorians break out in raucous laughter, shouting, “One point for the mud worgs!”

  This does not stop the Togorian. In moments he is across the river, on the far side of the mud. He waves a hand, urging others to cross.

  Fassool looks down at you. “Well, little Mend, it looks as if it is your turn.”

  “What... happens if I slip in the mud?” you ask.

  “Then the mud worgs will slash you to pieces, and dine on your flesh beneath the mire.”

  You know that you must earn the respect of the Togorians. Taking a weapon in each hand, you leap through the air.

  When you hit ground, the mud is thick and slippery.

  To avoid falling in the mud (without Power): Your skill# +1 is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to keep from slipping.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference +3 to your MP total. Only your feet are muddy.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. You land in the mud, and the Togorians laugh at you as you climb quickly to your feet. You wish you had claws on your feet, like the Togorians. It would make things a lot easier.

  To avoid falling in the mud (using Power)*: Choose your Balance Power. Your skill# + your Power’s low-resist# + your Power# is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. You’ve made it safely through.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. You land in the mud, and the Togorians laugh at you as you climb quickly to your feet. You wish you had claws on your feet, like the Togorians. It would make things a lot easier.

  *Note: This counts as one of three Power uses you are allowed on this Mission.

  You race ahead. On the far banks of the river, the mud worgs turn — you see brown muck moving in their wake as they race toward you. The Togorians begin to cheer and shout Some of them hold up necklaces with claws or other trinkets, shouting out bets as to whether you’ll live.

  Ahead of you, a mud worg suddenly rises from the river, a white tooth slicing through the muck.

  You can shoot the mud worg or you can try to dodge it.

  To shoot the mud worg: Choose your weapon. Add your weaponry# to your weapon’s close-range# +3 for your confront#. Roll the 12-dice to shoot the mud worg.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference +5 to your MP total. Bits of mud worg fly everywhere. You may now proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. Add +2 to your confront# for your new confront#. Repeat this confront using the same new confront# until you have gotten rid of this predator.

  To dodge the mud worg: Your stealth# +2 is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to jump in the air and avoid the mud worg.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference +2 to your MP total. You have deftly leapt over the charging mud worg.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract 5 MP from your MP total. The mud worg nicks you as it passes. Proceed.

  Your feet hit water, and you dance to the side. The mud worgs feel your vibrations through the ground — each time your feet land, they adjust their course.

  Three more of them slice toward you, each from a different direction. You try to fire on two of the mud worgs as you evade the other.

  To evade a mud worg while firing on others: Add your weaponry# to your weapon’s short-range# and your stealth# +3. This is your confront#. Roll the 12-dice.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference +7 to your MP total. You may proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total, and repeat the confront until you have been successful.

  You land in the mud. Ahead the mud worgs are so thick that you doubt you’ll make it to the far bank. But you realize that if they are attracted to you because they feel your vibrations, then they can be fooled.

  You reach down and grab a mud worg that the Togorian killed. The creature has an enormous, thorn-shaped bone on its head; six flippers along its bottom to propel it through the mud; and a short, thick tail. Its mouth is a horror — a gaping cavern filled with sharp teeth.

  You throw the dead creature far away from you. It hits the mud with a splat.

  The other mud worgs scythe toward it, hitting the dead creature and slicing it in pieces.

  As they pass, you rush forward.

  Four mud worgs buzz back toward you.

  You race through the slippery mud to escape them, trying to place your feet without raising a wake.

  To escape (without Power): Your stealth# + your skill# is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to escape from the last of the mud worgs.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. It’s amazing how fast you can run when you’re terrified. You may now proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract 5 MP from your MP total. The mud worgs try to slice through your good solid boots. You retreat and must try again. Repeat the confront until you make your escape.

  To escape (using Power)*: Choose your Balance Power. Your skill# + your Power’s low-resist# + your Power# is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference to your MP total. It’s amazing how steadily you can run when you’re terrified. You may now proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract 5 MP from your MP total. The mud worgs try to slice through your good solid boots. You retreat and must try again. Repeat the confront until you make your escape.

  *Note: This counts as one of three Power uses you are allowed on this Mission.

  For surviving the mud worgs, reward yourself 30 MP (60 MP for Advanced Level players).

  You reach the far bank, and the Togorians all cheer and clap. Some of them pay off their bets with daggers and necklaces. Then another Togorian tries to cross the river.

  This Togorian carries no weapons, and seems exceptionally agile. He dances through the mud, a huge smile on his face, letting the mud worgs narrowly miss him. His every action seems to say, This is how it should be done.

  But when he reaches the water, he steps on a sinisterly hidden mug worg. Its toothlike fin punctures his foot, rattling and tearing as it comes out of the water.

  The Togorian roars. As he tries to kick the monster away, he slips helplessly in the mud. In a heartbeat, a mud worg slices through his thick leather vest — the Togorian falls backward with a yowl. The mud worgs pounce upon him, dragging him deeper into the mud as they feed.

  The Togorians scowl at their friend’s misfortune. But at least they can now walk across the mud without fear. The mud worgs’ hunger has been safely satisfied.

  You run on into the night. You are more weary than you’ve ever been. Still, the Togorians push you onward.

  You cross the plains, reaching a fetid swamp. The water here is unnaturally warm. You smell the stink of sulfur rising from the ground. All around, Togorian trees have died. Their twisted trunks rise up, weird dark limbs curled in the air.

  The ground beneath your feet is spongy, and you ask the Togorians if there are mud worgs around.

  “No,” one of your hosts answers. “The water here is too hot for them. This is the Swamp of Vapors.”

  Steam rises from the ground in dozens of places where hot water is vented from the ground. The strong Togorians use rags to cover their noses. Their ears lie back in anger, and their stubby tails twitch.

  “Aagh,” Fassool gasps. “I can take this stench no longer. We are leaving.”

  With that, he pounces away, running ahead in the darkness. The other Togorian
s turn to you, annoyed. “You humans are slow as kittens,” one says. “We cannot stand to breathe this stench any longer. We will wait for you on the far side of the swamp. Beware the vapors in this place.”

  Without another word, the Togorians lope off. You wrap a scarf tightly about your face. The stench of sulfur is strong, but it doesn’t really bother you. You wonder if the Togorians simply have a strong and sensitive sense of smell.

  You march through the night vapors, among the burning pools. The fog becomes so dense that you cannot see. As you stumble in the darkness, wreathed in mist, you feel an odd sensation: something soft, almost a whisper of air, brushes your leg.

  You leap up, and make out a dim light. There is a creature here, glowing the palest shade of white. It has long tentacles wreathing out from a central body that you can see right through. The creature is clearly made from some kind of gas!

  The Togorian’s warning rings in your ears — Beware the vapors! A long tentacle brushes up your back, and another twists in front of your face. The gaseous creature seeks an opening to your body. If it gets into your lungs, you fear you will choke to death.

  You open your mouth to shout for help — and the glowing tentacle tries to force its way in!

  You can try to dodge the mist creature or fight it.

  To dodge (with Power)*: Choose your Evasion Power. Your Power# + your Power’s mid-resist# + your stealth# is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to evade the mist.

  If your confront# is equal to or more than your roll#, add the difference +5 to your MP total. The monster lunges for you, but you’re already gone. You may proceed.

  If your confront# is lower than your roll#, subtract the difference from your MP total. The mist continues its attack, and you must fight it (below).

  *Note: This counts as one of three Power uses you are allowed on this mission.

  To dodge (without Power): Your stealth# +2 is your confront#. Roll the 6-dice to dodge the mist.