Session 9-1: Pay Day

At this point in the game, logistics is becoming a factor. The PC's will need to calculate the population disbursement, of the starbase, to see what they have to work with. What they will mainly be concerned with at this time, is the number of marines, space marines, and starship crews they can muster. They also need to consider the support needed by the SF team on Gallos and the population disbursement of the underground colony. They are also about to find out how lucrative pirating can be...

Gordo can handle all of this on his own, but the PC's will need to restrain him somewhat and give him directives as to when and where. In the sense that he will set up regular shipping lanes if they don't prevent him and will accumulate a chance per month of leading a rebel patrol right back to the base. If he is not told to be careful, he will be making so much money that he will get greedy, not necessarily for himself, but for the rebellion. The flow of money will also be a give away and if the PC's do not get greedy themselves they should tell him to trade resources for passage, to anyone they can recruit. If the PC's do not suggest these things, they will be discovered sooner, or later.
With these directives though, Gordo will either make them a million credits a month, or be able to recruit a thousand colonists a month. If they are extremely careful this operation can go on indefinitely, so long as the regions he is working with do not go on alert and they change the patrol schedule. Each year that Gordo is in operation, he can extend his network to another region. The minor merchants will jealously guard this secret as they themselves will become richer than they normally could make working for the GC. He will also, accidentally be setting up an underground railroad network and eventually transports will not be needed for moving refugees.
The PC's though should think things through, each point that they do not consider is a 1% chance of getting caught, (accumulative).

1. Avoid regular shipments. The merchants run on a tight schedule and if Gordo uses the same ones the flow of resources will be noticed.

2. Spread the wealth. With the above consideration, Gordo can always find a buyer and by moving around will build up a network that will become the underground railroad.

3. Trade for refugees. The rebellion has no need for money, they do not need to buy anything, the wealth will only cause trouble. They do need recruits though and this combined with #-2 will build the underground railroad. The exchange of wealth will also become a trail, leading right to the rebels

4. Work with the spy network, sticking to regions they are operating in. This will one, alert the rebels if someone is catching on and two, help build the network.

If these directives are brought up, not only will they be able to operate in secrecy, but after a year the rebels will be able to send teams through the network, (instead of resources) and be able to place teams, without having to deliver them personally. This will also give the rebellion some pull with the merchants and when the rebellion takes place there will not be chaos in the merchant guilds, as the spies will already know who can be trusted and who needs to be put out of business. The rebellions will also be able to ship weapons and supplies along this network to various colonies, to prepare for an uprising by the populous. If they give this venture serious attention, they will not need to build armies at all, as the resistance populations on each world will do the work for them.
If the PC's do not bring any of these issues up themselves, do not give them any hints, but if they seriously consider the dangers, Gordo and several other NPC's may point out the specifics. If they miss this opportunity they will end up having to build up a massive army and play out a ground campaign in addition to everything else. They are also taking a bigger risk at losing the rebellion all together, if the GC is actively hunting them and they learn of this network, GC fleets will come in hordes to massacre them. The PC's might just return one time to find the starbase destroyed and a swarm of awaiting ships to greet them.
By setting this network up, as outlined above, Gordo will eventually become an extremely powerful member of the rebellion, whose influence will be noticed primarily after the rebellion takes place. He will be able to prevent the chaos that will errupt from merchants being given free trade abilities. He will be able to take control of the merchant guild and a few months of uncertainty will be seen, instead of a plague of piracy and a merchant war. If the PC's miss this opportunity, they will need to implement their own transport routes, which will in the end result in another faction of merchants involved in the war.

Session 9-2: Raising the Army

One percent of the marines can be sent to Gallos to begin training a new SF team and the rest need a base to start training as armsmen, as it is they would be considered 0 level. The rebels won't need an army for awhile yet, but they better be prepared before they do. A planet can't be colonized without an army of 1000, to ensure them that they won't be attacked by the GC, otherwise they will spread themselves thinly and population growth will suffer. Troop movements and strength are not an issue yet, but a chart is provided in (Appendix One) to track them. A base can typically train 100,000 troops, which are divided into 10 armies, or 100, depending on if the army is operating in rebel, or GC territory. An army in GC territory requires 10,000 troops to hold a planet, where as a rebel planet will feel comfortable with 1000. Additionally, there must be at least a 5000 troops to maintain a training base and prevent it from being wiped out.
The fleet base on the planetoid should be fully operational and the start of a fleet of low tech ships beginning to train in maneuvers. The cruisers will still be needed to support special ops teams and it will be a long while before a fleet of those can be formed. As soon as a fleet (low tech) is complete, it should be sent out to hunt down GC survey vessels, to prevent the starbase from being located. This base can also train space marines who will be needed to take merchant ships and starbases from the enemy. A full fleet (25 ships) is required to protect a fleet base, by intercepting an enemy fleet. Ten fleets can be supported by one base.
The PC's aren't capable of deploying fleets, or armies, until they have the bases to support them and if they haven't realized it yet, they are sorely deficient in man power. They are at the mercy of recruiting rebels from other worlds and transporting them now, but as soon as possible they will want to start conquering other planets so they can utilize the population of those worlds. They will also need to carefully place SF teams, to maximize recruitment. SF teams placed on penal colonies for instance. On a farming penal colony, the SF team recruits ten-percent of the population per year (the population growth) and an additional 1% of prisoners intercepted, which become colonists. On a mining penal colony the refugees become armsmen. Those liberated from a factory planet become starship crews, and a planet with research facilities will bring in scientists, ten percent of which become research scientists for the rebellion.
Here is where the PC's will raise their armies the quickest, until they start conquering planets and they have a ways to go before they'll want to start an all out confrontation with GC. The GC can mobilize a horde in a very short time and unless the PC's plan their strategy carefully, they will be in for a big surprise when the rebellion only lasts a few months and they get slapped down. They will have to have special units in place already and a contingency for everything, even though they have no idea what everything is...yet. The PC's need to keep in mind that the campaign is "Galactic Rebellion" and for this reason they will continue to map the border of known space.
It is not necessary for them to build starcharts of every single sector and it is unlikely they will want to, once they begin to understand just how big GC space is. This is why sector maps are not provided for any but a few specific prime sectors, so that the PC's begin thinking in terms of "the big picture". The PC's do not have to worry about rolling and calculating space and ground combat for hundreds of units though, this will be achieved by incorporating the combat rules of the game "Risk", to handle the fleets and armies. The missions the PC's go on though, will still need to be run by the rules of SO, up until the very end of the game.

Session 9-3: Parnell

The extent of this mission is based on how the PC's left Parnell, if they destroyed the colony they will find a team sifting through the rubble and can leave them alone to waste their time. If they didn't, they will be surprised to find a fleet in orbit, an army entrenched on the planet and several research facilities being built. A major shipping lane will also be operating and at this time it will be the weakest link, though the PC's will have to deploy an SF team and covert-ops unit and let them gain rank. Until then the GC will be gaining new technology at (+0.01) per year, per facility that they build and they will build two per year and have one in operation now. A SF team can not be deployed on to the planet as the lack of atmosphere prevents it. If the PC's did not destroy the colony they will be on their way to losing the campaign and it will be apparent as soon as they drop from FTL in to the system.
Providing the colony is still is intact, if the PC's try to establish an orbit around the planet, the colony defenses will identify that there is a cloaked ship in orbit and relay that information to the fleet. They will move to intercept, but will not be able to find the cruiser. However, the GC will begin immediately to research this technology. The planetary defenses are operational and if the PC's try to bombard the planet, not only will they have sever problems with the AI, but the bombardment will. (If they have somehow managed to convince the AI to allow them to fire on a human ship, it will not allow them to do so in an unprovoked situation.) The PC's hands are tied at this point and they will be kicking themselves for lack of foresight. 
Unless of course they already destroyed the colony, then they can sit back and relax and continue to build their forces...

Session 9-4: Border Patrol

It will take the PC's five months to finish mapping the border along this side of GC space. They should be spending this time in training and contemplating what they should need to accomplish during the next year and additionally, building more sats. This border is fairly active with ships, as the GC has determined to concentrate their expansion across this border and will begin moving the border one sector out, per year. During the time the PC's are charting the border there is a (1 on a d6) chance per week, that they will intercept a radio transmission that might interest them more than what they are doing (d6 again).

1. Distress call from a merchant being attacked by pirates. The pirates already know that the GC is expanding their territory and are trying to stockpile resources so that they can move their bases. If the PC's follow the pirate ship(s) they will be able to locate their base and send a team to recruit them.

2. Security force convoy. Instead of just opening the border to colonization, the GC is sending colony ships full of prisoners, supplies, and equipment to build penal colonies first.

3. Patrol fleet. An entire fleet of ships will be hunting the Lyris, whether the colony is intact, or not, they have just refueled and are getting underway.

4. Colony ship and merchant convoy. Are being sent to build a starbase and prime world colony.

5. Merchant ship. Crossing the border with supplies for a new colony.

6. Survey ship. Going to chart quad "E".

The PC's will not want to attack these ships, but follow them to their destinations, to learn the extent of the new border. All sectors along the border have been alerted to watch for the Lyris, and patrols have orders to destroy it, at all costs. 

 Session 9-5: Security Council

It is unlikely that the covert-ops team is skilled enough to pull anything off this experienced and if the PC's make them try, they should all be killed in the attempt, (Gordo won't give them another team). If the PC's 'supervise' the team, roll daily to see if they have a success, or failure as they put together a plan, (Gordo will supply them with new recruits and break out the old ones). The best they will do is keep track of what is going on, without interfering and be able to give the PC's an itinerary, which reflects that they are basically just trading data files. The PC's have several options, but they shouldn't get any ideas for this mission from Leroy, or the others, (no one's ever tried this). If the PC's succeed, the moral of their rebellion will shoot up in their support and rumors will go along way in future dealings with the rebels. Not to mention the wealth of information they will garner.
They will learn, the meeting is scheduled to last two weeks (3), that at the end of the meeting each regional security officer will be headed back in their own private ship and another ship (voyager class) will be sent to Gal-Prime with the combined data files and that it will be escorted by 3 Ganymede Class Heavy Cruisers. They are all from the starbase's complement and will offer no surprise modifications. The data files themselves will be guarded by a dozen security officers, one is high ranking. 
If the PC's try to get the information on the star base it should be very difficult, encryption codes, extra security precautions, increased patrols, and spies, will make it next to impossible. They should be made aware of this before they even attempt it. The easiest way will be to capture the transport shuttle as it heads back to GC prime. If they do attempt something on the star base, Gordo will shut down operations for six months afterwards, until things quiet down... This mission is primarily offered as a way for the PC's to 'mess up' and allow the GC to learn of the rebellion, there by causing security to increased and all regions to remain on alert. If the PC's take the bait their failure should include the loss of a PC. If the PC's capture the shuttle, it will be surmised that it was lost in hyper-space and not looked for too seriously. If taken before jumping into hyper-space the council members will all be hung-over and not think to destroy the data files. If the PC's catch them after one day in hyper-space, or when they come out, the data files will have a 1% modifier for each minute (to be destroyed) it takes the PC's to secure the files after trying to board the shuttle, when they actually have them in hand, roll to see if anything survives.
The PC's cruiser is the only ship that is capable of tracking and catching something in hyper-space, the AI having a long time alone modified the scanners to look for people. This is one of the special features of the cruiser that will keep the PC's on board, rather than trade it for one that allows them to attack other star ships. There is no way to transfer these technologies without transferring the refusal to fire upon humans to the new ship as well. If the PC's tractor the shuttle and do not create a communications jamming signal, it will be known that they were captured and the data files have fallen into rebel hands, some of the more sensitive information will be changed and some will become useless. For each thing that goes wrong with the mission after this, add a 1% modifier to the chance that anything the PC's learn has been circumvented, or preparations have been taken against the information's use, so that the slightest failure will haunt them for a long time.
The data files contain sensitive information like who's getting promoted, on going covert-ops, actions taken against rebels, or colonies, locations of covert-ops bases, rebel movements, spying against GC persons, etc... The main problem will be that the PC's do not have faces or locations, to put to the names and places. It will also take a considerable amount of time to de-encrypt and decipher the information. To properly address these issues the PC's will need to construct their own covert-ops training facility/base. It is also noted that the use of this information may lead to GC discovering it's existence in the hands of rebels, which should make the rest more and more useless.

The General is slated as one of the first speakers and will arrive a day early in a Callisto Class Heavy Cruiser and transport by shuttle to the starbase. His meeting will take place first on the agenda and then he will leave, if the PC's attempt to capture him and do not leave instructions to the spies to wait for them, a few of them will try something on their own and get caught. They will suicide, but security will be doubled and the data files transferred by shuttle to one of the Heavy Cruisers instead of the Voyager Class vessel. Operations will have to be suspended for awhile and the "hole" in the starbase will end up getting repaired. The spies will be able to return, but the rank of their operations will revert to level One and they will have to start all over.
The data files will need to be taken to the covert-ops base on Valamos to be deciphered and digested. The information gained will allow the rebels to operate in this Quad with little chance of discovery and the PC's will learn about how the "regions" operate, giving them a better idea of how the GC is set up. The information does not contain fleet and troop movements, but does name all the penal colonies in the quad and give the name and moral of each governor and prime systems in their regions. This in it self will cut the time the PC's take charting the quad as it will list all of the prime shipping lanes and if they put a team on it, they can have an accurate Quad Map with in a year.
The PC's will not be able to tractor the general's Hv Cruiser out of Warp, but can use a dampening field, (roll against the Chief Engineer's Intuition, to provide this idea, if the PC's do not think of it themselves) and force them out of Warp. They will then have one hour to make their move before the ship jumps back into warp, if they do this more than once someone will catch on and the ship will be searched for. Three times and they will figure out how to spot the cruiser, even cloaked, though this will only work at close range. If the PC's go to warp, before the other ship does, they will realize something is going on, find the general is missing, and very carefully study their sensor logs. Within a year they will have a way to detect the presence of cloaked ships and will start supplying this Quad of space with new sensors.
If the PC's transport aboard, in disguise, intending to search the high class berths, or if they thought of "tagging" the general with a location device, they can transport directly into his quarters. Besides getting the general though, he has a guest with him, the Governor of Mara, who he has been torturing for entertainment. Mara is located in Quad B Sector 15:G / F:9, he is suspected of helping the rebel worlds there and will give the PC's a lot of information about that region of space and the rebel Quad "G". He was not aligned with the rebels before, but he is now. If the PC's press him about joining their own rebellion before the doctor heals him fully, which will take five days, he will concede to all their wishes. If they approach him after he is healed they will need a skilled Diplomat. (If the PC's have re-instituted the Jedi training this will jog their memory that it would be a prime job for one of them.)

The general will bide his time and wait till his chance is good, then he will use his psionic abilities to get loose, find a person he can mind control and have them tell him where they are and help him escape. Very resourceful and a powerful psionic, if at least one PC is not watching him all the time, at the first opportunity, he will escape. Capturing him will not work in the PC's favor unless they imprison him with skilled psionic guards, off the xenophone, if they take him with them he will learn about the PC's methods. When he escapes he will take a crew member with him and extract knowledge about the rebellion and if possible take the Lensmen orb with him. Unless it is specifically guarded with the intention of keeping it out of his hands, he will be able to manipulate a crewmember into bringing it to him. He will torture the crewmember and gain (d100%) information about the PC's and the rebellion.
If the PC's can deliver him somewhere safe, the security force will be thrown into chaos and be embroiled with internal politics. From that point on they will be ineffectual and the PC's will pretty much have a free reign to carry out their plans of rebellion. If however, he escapes, the PC's will find the general just one step behind for the rest of the campaign and should they falter, he will attack. They will be forced to move any bases and have to restructure, or it won't be long before he infiltrates their organization. If the general escapes with the Lensmen Orb though the PC's will be in serious trouble. The Psi Corps will grow overnight into a force more powerful than any other in the GC and the PC's will not be able to deploy spies, or Jedi, without them being captured. SF forces can still be used, as they do not have a lot of contact with the inhabitants of a world, but even they will be infiltrated every once in a while.
Losing the Lensmen Orb will hurt the PC's the most and make it very difficult for them to win the rebellion except through sheer force of numbers. The GC will also begin upgrading their technology and have ships capable of hunting the PC's down within a few years. All-in-all trying to capture the general on the spur of the moment like this will most likely cause the players to lose the campaign. If they realize though that the general attends these security council meetings and plan out how to take him during the next one and make a prison specifically for him, they will have an excellent chance of winning the campaign. As with most of the missions and challenges in the campaign, if the PC's act without thinking things through, they stand a better chance of losing.

 Session 9-6: All the President's Men

The governor will ask the PC's to break out his advisors, who are being held in the brig at the starbase back on his home world. If they agree, they will have gained an influential friend in the quadrant (B) and have a base in which to expand their operations there. He can also provide them with some information as to how to contact the rebels, but his details are sketchy. He knows that the security force has been trying to infiltrate them for some time, unsuccessfully and that their operations along the border utilize more resources than what is spent trying to find their outposts. Since no planets have outwardly declared a rebellion the GC has decided that the planetary governments must be secretly in league with them, which is why the general had him apprehended.

If the PC's are in a hurry, they don't have to chart the entire border, but can concentrate on following the merchant convoys and spend only two days in each prime sector. This won't give them an exact chart of the border, but will get them to the prime sector where Mara is located, faster. This should give them the incentive to turn charting over to another group, like the Seekers, or Jedi, as it is, it will still take them awhile. The generals ships will not head to Mara, like they were scheduled to, but the PC's won't know that and may make a mistake along the way, like not checking behind them, for a ship that can see their jump flash.

 Session 9-7: Mara Starport

The building is five floors, with ten guards on each floor, in cell corridors, five guards stand watch in the office and fifteen are used to transfer prisoners and can be found in the mess, or outside around the trucks. Each floor has the same layout with 12-15 guards in each dorm room when sleeping, otherwise the off duty guards are roaming the bars, or visiting shops. A general alarm will bring them running first, to arrive in pairs every three minutes, if the alarm continues for forty minutes, armsmen will begin showing up to see what's wrong and will come in a group of a dozen every five minutes. If the alarm lasts longer than an hour, the entire starport goes on alert, all exits will have five to ten guards sent and teams of twenty will begin searching the interior and exterior. No ships will be cleared to land, or take off and the gates will be closed stopping traffic from entering, or leaving.
Any PC who is armsman will know the layout of the brig, a PC who was with the security team will know the procedures involved in securing a prisoner and specifics as to security measures. The brig is located at the southern end of the troop barracks, with multiple exits, including ones leading outside the main building. The PC's will need to be quick, have forged documents, the general in tow, or take the chance of having an army brought down on their heads. There are 150 security guards, with 70, working 12hr shifts, on duty at all times, 5-15,000 troops can be housed in the barracks on any given day (roll d10 X 1000 + 5000). Using Streetwise and Diplomacy skills, along with forged documents with the general's signature, and wearing the generals bodyguard uniforms, the PC's can get the prisoners out with some fast talking. Lacking anyone of these things adds (-1 modifier per, to rolls) to the PC's chance of failure. If the PC's can "persuade" the general to accompany them, he can get them set loose without any problems.
Besides failing and getting embroiled in a major fight, a few other things should be considered. The entire event will be on camera, the general showing up before his personal ship, will give away the PC's FTL speed. The entire quadrant will go on alert when the general is spotted and then found to have disappeared, Quad "D" also. If the PC's don't use him, it will be harder, but in the end, only the system will be alerted to watch. Also, the generals ship's next port of call will be thought to have kidnapped him, as he was onboard when they left Valamos... As the general is very important though an enormous amount of time and manpower will be used to find him, if the spies are still on Valamos when this begins, all but one will be captured and the GC will learn of the kidnapping and try to locate the base on Vilken, but that search will die off quickly (pun intended).
If none of the PC's were a part of the Lyris security team, the chance that something could go wrong is checked every five minutes, with the general the check is only made once, (no one will question the general's actions). From the time they request to enter, till they can leave with the prisoners is twenty minutes, if a roll indicates failure, then the guard will bait the PC's into saying something they shouldn't (-2 modifier on next roll), if they fail to answer the question right, the guard will sound the alarm and then turn to the other guards and tell them what is going on. The PC's will not be allowed in the cell blocks, or on to the other floors and will be unable to secure their prisoners and must flee. The guards outside will be waiting to get in, but the other door, into the starport will only be locked.

Session 9-7: Rebel Factions

The governor will want to be taken to a secret home of his on Mara, that he believes the GC doesn't know about. He will tell the PC's that he and his cabinet are going to start a revolution of their own and wants the PC's to supply him with ships, equipment, and weapons. Once he is safe, the diplomat he is, will resurface strongly and he will try to bind the PC's with promises, many they can't hope to meet. A PC with diplomat and leadership skills can stem the governor's enthusiasm for a while, but without their presence they know that he will get himself into trouble. Depending on how the PC's treat the governor, his influence in the rebellion can take three different courses.

If the PC's try to meet his demands, or even give in to some of them, he will misuse it to make sure that he is safe and then try to take his revenge on political enemies that have nothing to do with the rebellion. He will also try to repay the PC's by giving them a lot of useless information about the rebel factions in the area, some of it will be outright lies. This is to reassure himself that he doesn't owe the PC's anything once they leave and that they are indebted to him instead. He will use what they give them, to get himself into trouble though and cause a premature rebellion and get the planet nuked. If this happens the PC's will have to write off the whole region as no one will want to join the rebellion, to avoid the same thing happening to them.

If the PC's just drop him off and go their own way, he will become a prisoner again and eventually be held responsible for the general's abduction. Not much will happen in the way of repercussions, but the PC's will lose a powerful ally. He will even reveal some of the PC's secrets, under the threat of torture and make things worse for the PC's.

If the PC's force the governor to take a back seat and "watch the PC's in action", he will see his power slipping away and concede to the PC's wishes, just to stay in the center of things. In order for them to build a power base here though, they will need to put a Special Forces team on the planet and as soon as possible build a spy base somewhere also.

If the PC's had the foresight to bring both teams with them, with the intention of establishing a base and stick around long enough to oversee the site selection and provide some of the supplies for construction. When they return things will have moved along progressively and they will be able to establish a foothold that can expand into both "B" and "F" quadrants. If they are gone longer than six months though, the governor will take command of the facility and get himself into trouble. The base can not be built on Mara either, for one thing, the planet, if not the entire region will be on alert, because of the break out. If the PC's intend to build on the planet, when they return the base will have been discovered and members of the teams lost. Secondly, so close to his old seat of power the governor will be fixated on getting his position back, as a subversive sure, but will still over-play his hand and abuse the PC's teams.
If the PC's realize the planet is not safe and plan to build somewhere else, the governor will go with them and tell them of a planet that was too harsh to colonize, but not far out of the way. A system only 3LY's away is an airless, ice planet, the governor will suggest this, hoping the PC's give up on selecting another world and put the base on Mara. What the PC's will find out, is that the solar radiation bounces off the high salt content of the ice and makes the planet virtually impenetrable to scans. The PC's will have to stay a little longer to help with the initial construction of the base, after they leave though, the lack of a ship will keep the crews working and the governor out of trouble. When the PC's return the base will end up being one of their finest, comparable with the one on Vilken for it's secret status.

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