Session Recap 2/14/2014 - Fall of the Ouroboros

Twenty years before she pulls together the crew of the Helios Rain, Ruby Altair is nineteen and working as part of the crew for the blockade runner ship Ouroboros. The ship is captained by the dashing Corellian pilot Zerrid Sunfall (who has a killer space-aussie ‘spaussie’ accent) . Other members are ornery engineer Samil Pheng; the Force faithful, former Republic commander Seyda Nalto; stern and vengeful Wrort’ilar’erer  aka“Tilare”; and seventeen year old Kaida Maru a Jedi padawan who managed to escape the massacre on Coruscant with her life and her master’s old lightsaber.

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The scene opens with the crew of the Ouroboros enjoying a large family picnic with Samil’s family on Oonath. It’s a stunning spring day, the air filled with laughter and the smell of food. Samil, unusually affectionate, is flirting with his wife and holding some of his grandchildren on his lap. Zerrid is being his usual charismatic self, chatting with several of the ladies present. Tilare observes quietly from the sidelines, and Seyda observes quietly from the middle. Ruby and Kaida are busy playing with the young children. Samil’s wife makes a point of greeting each member of her husband’s crew, and they all have a chance to enjoy themselves and relax before Zerrid receives a message from Doja the Hutt that there’s another job to be done.

On the walk from the Pheng family home to where the Ouroboros is docked, Kaida playfully jumps on Ruby’s back and there’s a bit of lighthearted banter between the two youngest crew members, which garners amused looks from the others.

Their next stop is to pick up the goods for delivery. They dock with another ship and collect their cargo, which they learn are much needed medical supplies. Zerrid has a flirtatious exchange with the redheaded captain, one of the other crew members has a disastrous exchange first with the loading ramp, then with Samil’s hand. Before too long, the Ouroboros is on its way once again, soaring down the Corellian hyperspace lane with Ruby behind the wheel and Zerrid closely watching her. Samil has stalked off to commune with the engine, Kaida and Seyda are meditating together, and Tilare is off being Tilare, which is to say brooding and menacing.

Ruby quite successfully navigates them to their destination. They drop out of hyperspace, and that’s when things start to darken. The first thing Ruby sees out the viewport is the wreckage of some previous battle, wreckage that is identified by Samil as being mostly civilian ships, torn apart. Ruby’s initial reaction is shock, and Zerrid stoically tells her, “It’s war, sweetheart.” Kaida’s meditation is broken by a vision of stormtroopers and a certainty of her own impending doom. The young padawan rushes onto the bridge in a panic, hastily reporting her vision to the captain.

Needless to say, a Jedi apprentice uttering the words “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” throws everyone for a spin. The captain manages to keep everyone from getting too worried…only to have an Imperial blockade drift into sight moments later. Everyone moves to their battle stations. Samil to keep the engines running, Tilare guarding the air lock, Kaida and Sayda in each of the gun turrets, Zerrid behind the wheel and Ruby in the copilots seat.

Through the combined forces of Sayda’s knowledge of military tactics, the appearance of a sudden flare from a nearby gas giant, and a chance gap in the wall of the armada, Zerrid manages a daring move that takes the Ouroboros zooming right between two of the Imperial ships. (This happens just as some unfortunate officer on board is assuring Grand Moff D’ckmonger that no rebel would be foolish enough to try and rush this blockade.)

The planet where the Ouroboros is headed is still in the process of being formed. The surface is constantly cracking and spewing lava up into the atmosphere, leaving shards of frozen rock in orbit. This particular planet also happens to be rich in Cortosis, a metal resistant to lightsabers, and a rebel ship called the Glorious Tomorrow is in orbit there to mine the rare metal before the Empire has a chance to destroy it. As the Ouroboros circles in, they see a crude Jedi symbol painted on the side of the Glorious Tomorrow.

The Ouroboros docks and nothing seems wrong at first. They begin to unload the crates – Kaida suffers a brief distraction due to Ruby’s apparently wonderful ass (“Kaida, we’re working!” Zerrid has to gently remind her). They are greeted by the captain of the Tomorrow who is overcome with what seems to be relief. Kaida asks about the Jedi symbol, but the captain tells her it is more of an empty hope than anything. His despairing tone leads Ruby to the sinking suspicion that he doesn’t intend to leave this planet alive. The crew follows him down the hall to the bridge.

As the doors to the bridge open, Kaida is struck with a sudden premonition. The first man to turn will be Doja’s assistant, armed with a vibro-knife. This gives her time to leap spectacularly out of the way, and though the assassin finds his mark, he merely slashes across her chest rather than killing her. Before total chaos breaks out, Doja appears on the screen long enough to tell Zerrid that the Empire is paying more for Jedi killed than the rebels are paying for supply runs.

Things immediately deteriorate after that. The crew opens fire – revealing Kaida’s would be assassin to be a droid  - and Stormtroopers rush in. Kaida pulls a spectacularly badass move with her lightsaber and succeeds in slicing the assassin droid neatly in half. Zerrid spots a hover cart nearby and attempts to pull Ruby onto it and get away, but they don’t get far before the cart flips and sends them both flying. Samil lunges for the controls of the ship, turning it so it is on an autopilot course to collide with the planet, but also so the Ouroboros could, theoretically, shoot out the back with some amount of cover. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he sees the bright red wash of flames engulfing the ship as it  hits the superheated atmosphere of the planet.

The crew simultaneously realizes one thing: they’re not making it out of this alive. At least not all of them. Kaida, tears running down her face, has time to stand on her tiptoes to kiss Ruby before shoving both her and Zerrid through the blast doors that separate the bridge from the rest of the ship. Neither has time to react before Kaida shuts the doors and drives her lightsaber through the control panel. Kaida then turns to see an Imperial commander looming behind her, and Sayda wrapping an arm around him, a thermal detonator in her hand.

On the other side of the door, Ruby and Zerrid feel more than hear the unmistakable, tell-tale boom. More stormtroopers are rushing towards them from down the hall, but ever cool and collected Zerrid spots a hatch for an escape pod between them and the stormtroopers. He scoops up the by now inconsolably crying Ruby and shoves her into the escape pod. Before closing the door, Zerrid manages one last dashing smile and reassuring, “It’s going to be alright!” before slamming his hand down on the eject button and turning to face the oncoming troops.

The escape pod is propelled quickly away from the ship. Even Ruby’s terrified sobs fall into complete, momentary silence as she watches the Glorious Tomorrow, the Ouroboros, and the people she’s considered her closest friends and family disintegrate into nothing more than a fiery rainstorm.

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Back in the present, Ruby awakes in her room aboard the Helios Rain in a cold sweat, trembling and anxious. She showers and heads out into the main corridor. Min comes running by and grabs Ruby by the arm, dragging her excitedly over to one of the large observation windows where Ezio is already standing. There’s a meteor shower taking place on the planet they’re passing, hitting the atmosphere and sparking into thousands of golden droplets of light.

The sight is too much, and tears well in Ruby’s eyes. A moment later she clasps a hand over her mouth, trying to vainly quell the sobs shaking her whole body. She doubles over as Min wraps her arms around her, and the neckline of Ruby’s shirt rides down enough to reveal the top of a large ouroboros symbol tattoo on her back. Ezio attempts to reach out with the force, but he is unable to sense anything beyond the captain’s overwhelming grief.

Across the ship, juxtaposed against the stunningly beautiful meteor shower, Ae is gazing once again at the picture of her daughter. Trance stares at himself in a mirror, fingers tracing his old scars. Even Harrsk is lost in memory, holding a rare picture from his childhood, when he had both parents with him. Eventually Ezio wanders off to sit alone as well, toying with his Jedi necklace. Without him even focusing on it, the puzzle slowly began to float, the pieces coming undone…