Shintel

Within the Shintel system, Shintel was the third planet, and it was situated in the Kathol sector of the Outer Rim Territories, specifically at grid coordinates M-21. Its location was interconnected with three other star systems via hyperlanes. The Peirs system was a mere three hours away, while the Ivatch system required an eight-hour journey. Reaching the Pembric system necessitated a three-day trip using a Class One hyperdrive. Furthermore, Shintel maintained a connection to a small nebula that housed Tanquilla Beach, a space station serving as the sector's primary shadowport, accessible within a day's travel.

Shintel presented a temperate climate, characterized by abundant moisture, muddy terrain, and persistent cloud cover. A single day on Shintel spanned nineteen standard hours, while its year consisted of 343 local days, divided into ten months. The northern hemisphere experienced a seven-month rainy season, complemented by mild summers and winters. The atmosphere was breathable for Humans and other oxygen-dependent species, and the planet exhibited standard gravity. Its surface was composed of forests, mudflats, and mountains, alongside shallow seas. The sole population center on Shintel was Imperial Depot 4290-1, a military supply base. Consequently, the planet lacked any exports and depended on regular imports of essential supplies like food and technology for its sustenance.

Following the death of Emperor Palpatine during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Moff Kentor Sarne, who controlled the Kathol sector, quietly seceded from Imperial authority and declared himself a warlord. Aware of the potential for Imperial retaliation, Sarne began to discreetly establish supply depots on the fringes of his territory. These depots would serve as fallback resources should he be compelled to retreat and operate in secrecy. Shintel was selected as one of these locations, leading to the establishment of Imperial Depot 4290-1. Situated in the planet's northwestern hemisphere, the installation comprised a supply depot and a landing field, staffed by an Imperial Army detachment under the command of Colonel Heget. The base was stocked with munitions, and its computers were utilized by Sarne to store backup copies of his navigational data for the Kathol sector.

In 8 ABY, New Republic forces liberated Kal'Shebbol, forcing Sarne to abandon his capital. He managed to escape with most of his forces, and he began visiting the depots he had established, taking as many supplies as possible to provision his troops and prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Following his visit to Gandle Ott, Sarne proceeded to Shintel to collect the stored arsenal. Sarne had three additional objectives on Shintel. First, he deleted all navigational data pertaining to the Kathol sector from the base's computers. Second, he replaced it with a less detailed map, knowing that the New Republic was tracking him using one of his former vessels, the FarStar. Unbeknownst to the New Republic crew, Sarne had incorporated multiple programming trapdoors into the ship that, when triggered, would disable systems aboard the corvette. The new map uploaded to Imperial Depot 4290-1's computers contained embedded programming designed to interact with the FarStar's systems once uploaded. His final objective was to purge his officer corps. Sarne valued loyalty to himself above loyalty to the Empire or even competence, fostering a personality cult where officers devoted to him received preferential treatment. At Shintel, he transferred officers and men loyal to him to the fleet, while those deemed disloyal were stationed at the depot.

Sarne ordered the base personnel to construct a landing field for blastboats to keep them occupied. He refrained from executing those he considered "traitors" to avoid causing unrest within his ranks. Before departing, Sarne's men destroyed the hyperdrive engines on every hyperspace-capable vessel on the planet, as well as the depot's assigned courier droids. Sarne further isolated Shintel by seeding the planet's orbit with Merr-Sonn Mark III Defender ion mines. Although he had no immediate plans to return to Shintel, Sarne recognized the potential need for the base in the future, so he left it intact.

Stranded on the planet, the Imperial forces under Heget's command could not risk attempting to clear the minefield. Despite possessing five TIE/LN starfighters and cargo shuttles, they lacked the resources to recover any disabled ships resulting from an attempt to destroy the mines. As time passed, the personnel at the camp divided into two factions. The first, led by Heget, viewed Sarne's actions as a betrayal and opposed dedicating resources to a project designed solely to keep them busy. They sought to reestablish communications with the proper Imperial command authority. The second group, led by Major Danthe, the base's second-in-command, believed that Sarne would eventually return and that his actions were intended to protect the facility from discovery by New Republic forces. Adding to the confusion, Lieutenant Palme, one of the depot's officers, was a deep-cover agent for Sarne. He was tasked with ensuring the successful upload of the doctored astrogation charts to the FarStar. Assisting Palme were four of Sarne's most loyal agents, who had been stranded on the planet.

One week after Sarne's departure, the CR90 corvette FarStar arrived in orbit, having received information about the Moff's potential whereabouts from Colonel Olaver Lansel on Gandle Ott. Lansel, another of Sarne's deep-cover agents, intentionally directed the FarStar to Shintel so that Sarne's altered astrogation charts could be used to sabotage the vessel. Upon approaching Shintel, the Imperial Depot contacted the FarStar, informing the ship's crew about the minefield and requesting identification. The crew of the FarStar identified themselves as a New Republic vessel. The personnel at the depot were indifferent to the vessel's allegiance, caring only that it possessed a functional hyperdrive and offered a means of escaping the system. The FarStar was invited to land on the planet, but was informed that the minefield would need to be cleared first.

The FarStar proceeded to clear a portion of the minefield, neutralizing five of the ion mines to create a safe path for descending into Shintel's atmosphere. During the descent, two TIE starfighters and a Delta-class shuttle intercepted the FarStar. After a moment of tension, the Imperial vessels announced that they were an honor guard assigned to escort the FarStar to the depot landing field. The FarStar landed, and a delegation of the crew, led by Captain Kaiya Adrimetrum and including First Officer Gorak Khzam, chief medical officer Akanseh, security officer Kl'aal, Chief Engineer Lofryyhn, and mechanic Brophar Tofarain, disembarked and met with an Imperial welcoming committee led by Heget and Danthe. Following an awkward exchange of greetings, Heget invited Adrimetrum and her officers to meet in more comfortable surroundings. The Imperial and New Republic delegations proceeded to the main depot, traversing the kilometer-long distance on six-wheeled trams.

The two delegations convened in the depot's Officers' Barracks. Heget frankly explained to the FarStar crew that Sarne had essentially stranded them. In exchange for transporting a small delegation—himself and an aide—off-world to contact the appropriate Imperial authorities and arrange for rescue, Heget offered astrogation charts and information on Sarne's possible locations, as well as resupplying the FarStar with available resources from the base's stores. Despite being wary of an Imperial deception, Adrimetrum agreed to the deal. As the FarStar underwent resupply, Adrimetrum was approached by Lieutenant Palme, who claimed that Heget intended to betray the FarStar by providing incorrect coordinates leading to a trap. Palme asserted that he possessed a backup copy of Sarne's navigational data, obtained during the Moff's visit, and desired nothing more than to leave the planet and reunite with his family. He provided Adrimetrum with the data, encouraging her to verify its authenticity and assuring her that it was encoded with Sarne's personal ID codes. While Palme met with Adrimetrum, his four agents infiltrated the FarStar with the intention of sabotaging the hyperdrive motivator on one of the T-65 X-wing starfighters stationed aboard the corvette. They did not expect to succeed, as their primary objective was to sow doubt about Heget's intentions among the FarStar crew.

The FarStar crew examined the datacard provided by Palme and confirmed its authenticity, finding it encoded with Sarne's personal ID codes. As the datacard was uploaded to the FarStar's computers, embedded programming activated a trapdoor program within the corvette's systems. The boobytrap was designed to disable the FarStar's hyperdrive engines. When the hyperdrive was engaged, an overload spiral would develop in the hyperdrive coils, releasing a surge of energy intended to burn out the coils. As the FarStar departed Shintel and activated the hyperdrive, the resulting explosion engulfed the engine room, injuring crew members and damaging equipment. The hyperdrive engines were completely destroyed, stranding the FarStar in a system lacking any source of replacement parts. However, Sarne's trap was not yet complete. With the FarStar stranded and damaged, the modified YT-1300 light freighter Steel Fist, operated by the bounty hunter group Qulok's Fist, entered the system and attacked the FarStar. Sarne had contracted Qulok's Fist to harass the New Republic vessel, not to destroy it. Once the FarStar recovered from the sabotage and initial assault and began to return fire, the Steel Fist disengaged and jumped to lightspeed.

Lofryyhn, the FarStar's Wookiee engineer, devised a plan to jury-rig the FarStar's engines using parts salvaged from the corvette's X-wing complement. After several hours, Lofryyhn successfully completed the repairs, but cautioned that the temporary fix would be insufficient to reach Gandle Ott. The only reachable destination with the necessary repair facilities was the shadowport Tanquilla Beach. The FarStar jumped to hyperspace, departing the Shintel system.

Imperial Depot 4290-1, a supply depot established by Moff Kentor Sarne, was located in Shintel's northwestern hemisphere. The depot consisted of two distinct sections, separated by a paved road spanning one kilometer. The first section comprised the depot itself, including barracks areas, storage blocks, hangars, and a power plant enclosed by a permacrete ditch. The second area was the landing field, featuring a large hardpan, enough TIE racks to accommodate twenty-five fighter craft, hangars, fuel tanks, and a control tower. The base was commanded by Colonel Heget and typically housed 1,500 personnel, but could accommodate up to 2,000 if necessary.

The only inhabitants of Shintel were the Imperial Army personnel stationed at Imperial Depot 4290-1, usually numbering around 1,500 men. This number increased by 500 following Sarne's visit to the planet. The personnel were under the command of Colonel Heget, with Major Danthe serving as his second in command.

The planet Shintel initially appeared in Shintel Downtime, the fourth adventure scenario in The DarkStryder Campaign, published by West End Games in 1995. Paul Sudlow authored the adventure.

The adventure, Shintel Downtime, assumes that the FarStar physically lands on Shintel, and this article reflects that choice. However, if the players opt not to land the corvette on the planet, the gamemaster is instructed to modify certain events accordingly. For instance, the sabotage attempt on the FarStar by Sarne's men would target another hyperspace-capable vessel, such as an X-wing or shuttle, that landed on the planet instead of the FarStar.

The ion mines surrounding the planet can be disabled in various ways, including from a distance using the FarStar's weaponry, by utilizing an X-wing, or by sending a space-suited individual to disable the mines manually. The adventure notes that maneuvering the FarStar or an X-wing close enough to detect the mines without being fired upon would be challenging, but risking an X-wing was preferable to endangering the corvette. This article assumes that the FarStar successfully neutralized the minefield, but does not provide specific details on how it was accomplished.

The conclusion to the players' adventures on Shintel can vary. The players can reject Palme's offer of the datacard, preventing any harm from befalling them. However, the gamemaster may choose to activate the programming boobytrap in the FarStar through other means, such as having Palme remotely transmit a message to the ship's computers. If the gamemaster chooses not to activate the boobytrap, then the FarStar transports Colonel Heget to Tanquilla Beach, and the adventure continues from there with appropriate adjustments to the storyline. Gamemasters taking this option are encouraged to reward the players with extra character points for outsmarting Sarne.

However, the adventure acknowledges that players are highly likely to succumb to the temptation of examining the datacard, triggering the boobytrap programming. This article assumes that the FarStar crew takes this course of action, as the adventure assumes that the FarStar sustains enough damage from sabotage and combat to require a refit at Tanquilla Beach. The crew has the option of reporting Palme's bribery attempt to Heget, resulting in the Lieutenant's incarceration in the brig.

During the skirmish over Shintel, players can exploit the ion minefield to their advantage by leading their opponents into it. Successfully piloting close to the mines can disable attackers. If the players struggle to recover from the initial attack, the gamemaster can have Heget order his TIE fighters into battle or have them rescued by the Verpine adventurer Kyli Ned'Ix.

Following the stranding of the FarStar, the players have two primary options for rescue. One is to dispatch the hyperdrive-equipped X-wings to Gandle Ott for replacement parts or to arrange for a rescue cruiser. If a rescue is arranged, then journalist Dana Cadwell will accompany the ship to report on the failure of the New Republic's vanguard. The second option is to jury-rig the FarStar's engines with components from the X-wings carried aboard and limp to Tanquilla Beach. As the adventure continues under the assumption that the FarStar arrives at Tanquilla Beach needing repair, this article assumes this to be the correct outcome.