We received a call from Dridan Voss. He wanted us to meet on his ship which was in orbit around Corellia. We took the Phoenix there and docked with his ship. Madra, the personal secretary to Voss met us and took us to his office. He wanted us to steal some Coaxium from Kessel. The Crimson Dawn had a brief alliance with the Pike Syndicate. The Pike Syndicate betrayed him and were now dealing with another shadow consortium. Voss wanted us to hurt the Pike Syndicate and send a message from Crimson Dawn. The Pike Syndicate were due to ship a quantity of unrefined coaxium to a star destroyer which was escorting a refinery ship. Voss wanted us to steal the shipment from the spice mine on Kessel before it was shipped. Our payment would be the half the coaxium We were to go to a shadow port on Sabarine where the coaxium would be refined then take it to Corellia. Voss would buy our share for 100,000cr if we wanted to sell it.
We bought some trade goods and travelled to Kessel where we contacted The Pike Syndicate. We landed and Seratlin negotiated with the director of mining, Quaid Tolsite, to undercut the contract to transport the coaxium, agreeing to transport the first shipment for the cost of modifying the Phoenix to transport the coaxium.
The trader, Captain Deneb who lost the contract was very upset and came with companions to threaten Seratlin. Seratlin started name dropping Lord Vader but they were not impressed and drew blasters, triggering a short firefight, though they quickly surrendered when Deneb realised he was outgunned.
After the Phoenix was modified we were told we would be required to rendezvous with a squadron of tie fighters who would escort us to the refinery ship once the coaxium was loaded. Needing to come up with a plan which would leave us with the coaxium but everyone thinking it was elsewhere, we decided Deneb needed to become the scapegoat. The plan was for Seratlin to attach a timer to a container of the coaxium and for me to plant it on Denebs ship, then we would accuse him of stealing the coaxium and give chase, with his ship being destroyed by an accident with the coaxium.
Seratlin distracted him by consuming alcohol with him while I planted the bomb, but a problem with the timer meant it was activated it as I planted it, giving me only a minute to escape before it detonated. I warned Seratlin through his comlink so he also managed to escape in time. Deneb was with him as Seratlin had said he was going for more alcohol and Deneb had followed him, but Deneb was knocked unconscious by the blast and Seratlin ensured he did not wake up to tell tales.
The Phoenix was also damaged in the blast, but I was able to get back on board and hide the rest of the coaxium in the Phoenix's smuggling holds before Quaid's men searched and found it missing. Quaid decided Deneb had tried to steal the coaxium and let Seratlin leave. We left the maelstrom using a shortcut. It was a rough ride but we survived and jumped to Sabarine.
The refinery was deserted but Seratlin was able to start it running. While it was running another ship appeared in orbit and landed nearby and the female with the light sabres left the ship with several other people. The ship then fired on the Phoenix and the female said over a comm link that she was Asaja Ventris and we should surrender or die.
Seratlin took off as I fired on the refinery. The female took an extraordinary leap back to her ship but the others were killed in the blast as the coaxium exploded. We made our escape as the Phoenix had taken a lot of damage and limped back to Tattoine where we contacted Voss. He was unhappy that we had not got the coaxium and seemed to not care that someone in his organisation had betrayed us. He wanted us to go to the Imperial depot on Scarath and steal more coaxium and he was going to send his lieutenant Magda with us.
Seratlin hacked into the local net to find out more about the depot on Scarath. Scarath was a jungle planet and the depot was deep within the jungle. He found a layout of the base and a comm tower which was 3 clicks away. He found an inventory list which showed coaxium was stored in the comm tower. The base was commanded by Captain Mog and lieutenant Serev and speeder bikes were used to scout the area. There was a top secret section of the files but when he tried to access it he was detected and the terminal went blank and a voice said 'you are under arrest, stay where you are'. We fled quickly and Seratlin started a bar fight as a diversion.
After the Phoenix was repaired we made the jump to Scarath. There were three satellites with turbo lasers in orbit which were broadcasting a quarantine warning so we flew down with the cloak engaged. There was a cluster of lifeforms round the comm tower and a single human about half a click away. We investigated the human reading and found the wreck of a speeder bike. Seratlin went down wearing a jet pack and found an imperial scout hiding with a broken leg who asked for help.
Seratlin struggled to lift the scout back to the Phoenix but managed to take off to sounds of approaching growls. The scout said 'they had escaped and carried disease'. Mog and half the staff at the depot were dead. The creatures were predators called Nexu. They had tried implanting cybernetic control systems in the Nexu but it had failed and they escaped. Seratlin tested the scout and found him infected with pathogens. I landed the Phoenix on top of the storage building at the comm tower. Outside the storage building was a speeder bike and a pack of Nexu.
Seratlin lowered the cargo ramp and immediately two of the Nexu jumped up to the roof of the building and attacked Seratlin. One turned on me when I shot it and the other tried to carry Seratlin off but dropped him when I shot it. Another jumped up but the one attacking me slipped from the ramp and Seratlin quickly closed the ramp before another could jump up. We then quickly killed the two left aboard. I then opened fire with the ships weapons killing four more and driving the other Nexu away.
Seratlin went down to the blast door and spoke to someone inside who refused to open the door even when told the Nexu had been driven away, which turned out to be a sensible decision as one was actually hiding in the vegetation and pounced on Seratlin forcing me to kill it. I then destroyed the speeder bike to ensure no fast escapes from whoever was inside. Seratlin tried and failed to slice into the blast door lock then tried to slice into the comm tower systems from the antenna itself. He succeeded in accessing the systems from there and opened the blast doors but three Nexu had crept up and he barely took off with his jet pack in time.
The Nexu then jumped down and entered the storage building and attacked whoever was inside. Three more appeared but a shot killed one and scared the other two off. Seratlin threw a stun grenade, disabling all the Nexu inside the storage building. At that point Magda who had done nothing until then, decided she needed to make a long distance communication and refused to accept that there would be communications until we left the planet. After an argument Seratlin vandalised the communicator so it could not be used.
We then loaded the coaxium and other useful looking hardware on board and left the planet. One of the satellites spotted us as we left but we jumped before it could fire. On the way back to Tattooine, Seratlin developed a cure to the pathogen. He wanted to keep the scout alive so I put him out of the airlock while Seratlin slept to avoid any complications. Voss was angry at some perceived betrayal because we refused to obey Magda and said we were under obligation to him and he considered the Phoenix his and we would have to work to get it back, even though we had got him the coaxium.
Back on the Phoenix there was an encrypted message from Asaja Ventris. Her master believed we were worthy of joining his organisation, the Shadow Syndicate. When Seratlin asked she said it was Magda who had betrayed us. She said Voss had a Sith holocron in his museum of collectables and if we obtained it then Voss would be dealt with and we could join the Shadow Syndicate. We decided with Voss's attitude it would be good if he was 'dealt with' and agreed. It may also give us the opportunity to complete the bounty on Asaja Ventris.