The Rider in the Void
The pilot sat alone. Damage control reports no longer flickered across the view screen. First clusters of stars and soon an entire galaxy vanished into the void. The pilot, the ship, for they were one-and-the-same, linked symbiotically to survive their long journey, no longer felt the pain of the battle with the strange, wedge shaped vessel. The organic, self-perpetuating repair and control system had erased all signs of the ship's damage. Yet the rider couldn't help thinking about the two intruders, a boy and a girl, who seemed so real, so alive and who cared about each other in a way the rider had feared was forgotten. They had even talked to each other! It had been a very long time since the rider had talked.
Perhaps that was the point. The rider wondered if it wasn't another of the computer's games. A reminder of what was lost, of the war which only the rider survived and of the plague which had destroyed all the pilot had ever known and cared about. It was all so long ago.
If was an amusement, then it had not been fun. The rider was supposed to win. Losing was too real. The rider could not bear to lose again.
The rider ordered the computer to delete that game. The computer did not respond and the rider laughed.
• Lightsaber Dueling Droid
Type: Bio-mechanical Combat Proxy-Unit
| DEX 4D | PER * |
|---|---|
| Dodge 5D | Sneak 4D |
| Lightsaber 5D | |
| Melee Combat 5D | |
| Melee Parry 5D | |
| KNO * | STR 2D |
| MEC * | TEC * |
* The Dueling Droid is an automaton controlled remotely by the pilot and has the skills and attributes of the "player" using the droid.
Equipped with:
Humanoid body
Remote computer uplink
Body armor (+2D to Strength to resist damage)
Adaptive Combat Matrix (analyzes opponent's combat style and adjusts tactics to exploit weaknesses: improve one relevant combat skill by 1D per round until the skill matches the opponent's skill.)
Equipment: Lightsaber (5D)
Move: 10
Size: 1.6 meters
Cost: not available
• The Ship
Craft: Bio-Mechanical Warship
Type: Alien warship
Scale: Capital
Length: 2400 Meters (vertical axis)
Skill: Alien capital ship piloting
Crew: 1 (the pilot and the ship are symbiots, fused into a single entity)
Passengers: Unknown
Cargo: Unknown
Consumables: Unlimited
Hyperdrive Multiplier: Uses unknown faster-than-light engines
Nav Computer: Yes
Maneuverability: 1D
Space: 6
Hull: 5D*
Shields: 0D*
* The Ship's self-regenerative bio-matrix automatically repairs and seals damaged areas. Each round, improve the damage rating by one level (Heavily Damaged to Lightly Damaged, etc.) or restore one damaged or destroyed system.
Sensors:
Passive: 40/1D
Scan: 60/2D
Search: 120/3D
Focus: 5/4D
Weapons:
Anti-Matter Pods
Fire Arc: n/a
Crew: 1
Skill: Capital Ship Projectiles
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-10/25/50
Damage: 1D*
* Hits by multiple Anti-Matter Pods combine damage into a single roll (example: if 4 pods hit, roll a single damage of 4D). During the short and decisive encounter with a Star Destroyer, the Ship released dozens of the pods which seemed to home in on their targets.
Note: this information is based on data culled from the debriefing given by Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker and the sensor logs of the spice tanker piloted during their encounter. The alien vessel may have other unknown systems and equipment.
The Rider in the Void was created by Archie Goodwin and Micheal Golden.