Saga ~ Our Online Roleplaying Family

It had been a few years since Val Gith had gone rogue. The politics of the supposed peace Treaty of Coruscant was, in Gith's opinion, merely the Sith positioning the Republic for their next inevitable attack. The Sith sacked Coruscant and destroyed the Jedi Temple there--they were not going to stop there.

So Val, admittidly in frustration, left his post and disappeared--something he was very good at doing--leaving his official duties and taking nothing with him but his training and his lightsabers [always well hidden though as they attract too much attention]. Taking on many different appearances and personalities, Val employed his cunning intelligence and ability for mental manipulation through the Force to infiltrate criminal, Sith and/or Seperatist elements that fought subtly against the Republic trying to take it down from the inside. Gathering information through disguise and stealth infiltration was his job now, even the odd assassination when the situation called for it. Working on his own Val was able to help far more people directly than he was ever able to while training on Yavin IV at a secret Enclave there.

Perhaps he was being selfish ... playing the hero when he should be participating in the group effort not off on his own. However, Val found solace in the knowledge that he was far from the only Jedi that had gone rogue, now or before the treaty. Great Jedi like Jedi Master Belth Allusis at the Battle of Bothawui in 18BTC had gone against Council orders to do what he knew was right. Gith hoped he was doing the same.

In the past 3 years Val had anonymously provided incriminating evidence against many gangs and Sith units perpetrating illegal acts within the Republic and also had taken out a few key targets when Val did not trust the Republic and the Council to act on the evidence he provided them. Sometimes he accomplished this through stealth, sometimes disguise, sometimes blatant mental manipulation through the Force--something he was exceedingly good at.

Today it was infiltrating a smuggling ring importing illegal weapons to arm a group of seperatist gorillas performing acts of sabotage and sedition on the Republic planet of Ord Mantell. Val was wearing his favourite duster style trench coat that covered his light body armour, a wide brimmed hat, a dust protecting scarf he could pull up around his face if needed, and two blasters that he had acquired strapped to each thigh. A far cry from traditional Jedi apparel and that was how he liked it.

"Identify the arms supplier, shadow him and find out which Republic agents are corrupt and allowing the illegal import of arms for sale to the separatist gorillas." Val recapped mentally. He had liberated enough wealth from the previous group he had brought down to purchase a small army's worth of weapons but Val thought he would make this venture worth his while and had put in an order for some extremely expensive and powerful blasters to replace the rather unreliable ones he currently had. "If I am going to use these things I might as well have good ones ..." Gith mused to himself as he walked toward the designated meeting spot in a storage warehouse.

"Who approaches?" a brutish sentry asked. "I truly can't say," Val recited as he had been instructed to. "Move along" the guard instructed and motioned with his weapon.

"Here goes .." Val thought to himself as he entered the warehouse, approaching a group of men and women that appeared to be bidding on some crates.

Holding a case in his left hand, Val approached the gathering slowly, listening in on the proceedings for a few moments.

"Damn it! Stop bidding me up you B***H."

"What's wrong? Pocket book can't take some healthy competition?"

"We are only doing each other a disservice by raising the price on each other. Let me have this one and I will bow out."

"Not on your life ..." and the conversation continued. Val, tuning it out, focused more on the man in charge of auctioning. Flashing a bit of wealth around and putting in an order for 2 blasters that together cost almost as much as a ship had earned him a quick in with the smuggling ring and Val hoped he had found the man in charge and not an intermediary.

Gith waited for the two to stop outbidding each other, the female eventually taking the shipment for herself, leaving the male angry and blowing off steam a bit away from the others gathered.

"On to new business. Next item."

"Yo, sir," Val voiced in a gruff and street level accent of basic, "Just here to pick up is all, not bidding. Who do I talk to?"

"Depends. What are you here to pick up?"

"Some stuff I would rather the whole planet not know about, ya feel me?" The auctioneer nodded and moved to the side with Gith. "What can I do ya for mate?" Val replied, "Whose the man in charge that is going to sell me my custom blasters that I ordered? They had better be up to spec ..." The man nodded in recognition. "Ah yes, those. The man wanted to talk to you given the amount of such an order. Hard stuff to get your hands on really, illegal mods and all." The man smiled somewhat deviously.  But then again, that is what he is in the business of getting his hands on."

The man motioned for Val to follow him and they both walked back to a more secluded area of the warehouse where there were some men moving crates and one guy looking important with a datapad. "Special order is up boss. I gotta get back to it." The man with the datapad nodded and the auctioneer walked away to resume his duties.

"Welcome. Such a sum warranted a personal touch to this order. These blasters are an illegal work of art and I wanted to get to know the man that was going to be taking them off my hands. Would keep them for myself but I am not stupid enough to walk around with these one me." Val shrugged off the indirect insult. "Well, a man such as yourself has to be careful what with those pesky Republic customs inspections, right?" The man chuckled. "Yes, those have been bothersome as of late," he said sarcastically. "But please, allow me to show you to your product. You have the money, yes? Val opened his case, displaying the exorbitant amount of credits therein, "Yes, right here." and with that he snapped the case shut.

As the two walked the seller asked, "might I ask what a man like you needs with such condensed firepower?"

Val looked at the man deadpan and said "I thought you were in the business of solving problems, not asking questions?" The man waved his hands dismissively. "Yes, yes, of course. What business is it of mine?" Val nodded, "Business is business. You stick to yours and I will stick to mine. Although I am curious as to how you got this onto Ord Mantell in the first place given the customs checks and all ..?" The man smiled knowingly. "Friends in the right places is all."

"Well, it would seem that this man is a good place to start." Val thought to himself.


The blasters really were well crafted. The kick of a cannon and no problems with overheating unless you sprayed on full auto. That's right ... pistols that could full auto. The maximum range rivaled a rifle and there were many other features Val would have to acclimatize himself to the use of.

Their business concluded, Val left, short one case of money but plus two exquisite blasters and a lead as to how to find the corrupt Republic customs agent. If the separatists couldn't get arms Ord Mantell would be a far more peaceful place and Val would be happy with a job well done. But for now it was time to set up camp outside the warehouse within view of the exits and wait for the man he had dealt with to emerge and tail him for as long as it took to find his contact in the Republic ranks.

"Finally!"

It had taken almost two days but the man that had sold him his pistols had finally emerged from the warehouse; he obviously had living quarters in there somewhere. Val had found a high perch with a good view of the exits and sat there for the last two days. He had had to relieve himself unceremoniously somewhere nearby and was somewhat hungry.

Unfortunately, Val spent the majority of the next week tailing his mark only to be lead around to various meets with no individuals associated with the Republic. Eventually though, Val's diligence was rewarded while sitting in a cantina--the hotspots for illegal activity so Val had found over the years--and a Republic officer met with the man for a short period of time, stealthily accepting a package that Val had spotted easily enough since he was looking.

Val didn't want to tip his hand just yet though as he had no incriminating evidence on this man just yet. He needed to see what was in that package first and then get evidence as to why he had accepted it from the man. Val exited the cantina and waited for the Republic officer to leave the cantina, a plan forming in the back of his mind.


"Oh, I am sorry!" Val exclaimed as he bumped into the Republic officer somewhat hard as he walked in the other direction. His wide brimmed hat obscured most of his face as he apologized, in fact looking at the man's uniform and number on his lapel.

He put a hand on the man's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "My fault. Sorry sir." And with that Val walked off.


Val lagged behind the officer in the crowd unseen in plain sight and opened the package that he had picked out of the officer's pocket, looking inside to see the expected credit chip. Nothing traceable and most likely destined for an off-world account. Plugging it into his datapad he recorded its information and amount and then ran through the crowd to catch up with the man. Getting ahead of him he took up a position in his projected path and stood there unnoticed. As the officer walked past he stepped out and got his attention, seemingly picking something up off the ground. "Oh sir! You seem to have dropped this." Val held out his hand, the package held within as he stepped closer to the officer to say quietly, "You should be more careful." Val looked the man in the eye and winked as he handed back the package.

"Uhhh..." But before he could form a response Val stepped backward and faded away into the crowd, literally disappearing in front of the man. Force concealment was an interesting discipline, not actually disappearing as to cause a commotion if others noticed, Val simply pushed the officer's mind away from his presence so he was unable to follow his retreat. "Hey! Uhh.... whaa..?" the man said, confused with what had just happened. Looking down, he looked at his illegally obtained credit chip and started a bit, realizing that the mysterious man had just saved him a lot of money.

Relieved that he had gotten back his chip, he wondered how he had dropped it as he continued back to his living quarters.



[[OOC: ANY JEDI OR TROOPERS CURRENTLY ON ORD MANTELL FOR WHATEVER REASON WANT IN ON THIS THREAD? IF SO LEMME KNOW HERE OR IN PM AND I WILL WRITE YOU INTO THE STORY. I NEED ONE TROOPER OR JEDI.]]

Val Gith approached the Republic shipping yards unseen amongst the crowds. He had gone rogue from the Jedi Order a few years back and had thus lost any sort of authority or access that he had once possessed. However, he did not currently possess enough information to just hand it off to the Republic and trust that they would act on it. If he was going to stop the illegal supply of weapons to separatist forces on Ord Mantell he was going to have to get into the Republic base and access the personal quarters and computer of this corrupt customs officer and find out how the weapons were getting onto the planet undetected. From there the customs agent would be exposed but also his suppliers would hopefully be identified and Val could follow the food chain up to whomever it leads to.

Spotting a Miriluka that was obviously a Jedi exiting the Republic base, Val approached her and bowed respectfully.

"Hello. My name is Val Gith and I am a servant of the Republic."

Given Val's status as a recently appointed Jedi Master--before he left the order that is--he was very skilled at hiding his Force Aura. However, given that this Jedi was a Miraluka, she might have been able to see through his defences. Regardless, Val dropped any efforts to conceal his Force Aura for a few moments to make his point before resuming his normal defenses. Dressed in his usual duster and wide brimmed hat, his newly acquired sterling quality blasters on his thighs, Val didn't look the part of a Jedi, but his garb was of little importance to a Miriluka.

"I am in need of help to stop illegal imports of arms being given to separatist forces here on Ord Mantell. I, however, am no longer associated with the Jedi Order and lack any sort of authority and I do not wish to access this facility through my normal means; I would prefer the more honest approach this time."

Val realized that he was asking a lot of a complete stranger, but he had done this before and it usually panned out. Even if it didn't there was always the good old mind manipulation route he could take but he would have to pick someone a little more weak minded for that.

The Jedi had lost some of their political influence in the turmoil following the Treaty of Coruscant, but the Council of Reconciliation still had had some pull with the Republic Diplomatic Corps. Thus, when the fighting broke out between the Sepratists and the Republic government on Ord Mantell, it didn't take very long for the Council to send a Jedi Diplomat to help with the negotiations.

Shandra Ivari had been on the planet for a few hours. She had been given a tour of the Republic base. She had also been told an abbreviated account of the events surrounding the conflict with a level of vagueness that left her more confused about the situation than she had been when she arrived. Shandra said she was going to take a walk around the settlement when the General was tried to engage her in a discussion about the pros and cons of various combat strategies. At that point she was eager to follow the order of operations Master Kraylo had taught her as a Padawan. Every diplomatic negotiation should begin with a trip to the Cantina.

Shandra reached up to make sure her the decorative mask covering her "eyes" was straight. She tucked a stray whisp of brown hair behind her ear. The moment she exited the base, Shandra felt a presence in the Force. It was undoubtedly the Force Aura of another Force-sensitive being.

"Hello. My name is Val Gith and I am a servant of the Republic."

She stopped. Something felt strange about this man.

"I am in need of help to stop illegal imports of arms being given to separatist forces here on Ord Mantell. I, however, am no longer associated with the Jedi Order and lack any sort of authority and I do not wish to access this facility through my normal means; I would prefer the more honest approach this time."

That did not sound right. She hadn't heard anything about a mission to catch arms dealers. Shandra tried to sense deception through the Force, but she could not. Either this man was telling the truth, or he was a very, very good liar.

" I am Consular Shandra Ivari, and I was not born yesterday, Sir. If you are in poor standing with the Jedi Order, why should I help you break into a Republic base?"

Val smiled at the Consular's response.

"I would not presume to think a fellow Jedi to be stupid in any way. I was in fine standing with the Jedi Order, newly promoted to the rank of Master, until I willfully left to help the Republic in my own way. The Sith Empire trying to stamp us out of existence is nothing without the corruption its funds seem to cause within the Republic's loyal ranks. A man in this base is illegally importing arms and selling them to separatist gorillas, a problem Ord Mantell has had for a long time. I have a bit of proof but need more but cannot tip my hand yet lest I lose the larger prey further up the corruption food chain."

Val was, in fact, an extremely good liar as he excelled in the mental manipulation side of the Force far beyond what he was capable of martially. However, Val showed no signs of lying. If he was lying it would require a slip of the tongue or inconsistencies in his story to reveal it. So far, he seemed truthful.

Val withdrew a datapad and handed to the Miraluka.

"I recently purchased extremely illegal blasters." he tapped the blasters strapped to his thighs. "Very illegal mods. Paid a small fortune for them actually. Not to worry though, that money was taken from the last gang of criminals I brought to justice. I have identified the distributor and the Republic Officer getting the illegal arms through customs. I picked a credit chip out of his pocket with that" ,Val indicated the datapad, "amount on it. Seems a lot for a Republic customs officer to be carrying around on him, eh? I need to identify this man and find out who is supplying him from off world."

Val tapped the datapad and slid it to the picture he had snapped of the man while tailing him. On a bit of an angle but his face was plain enough to identify as well as his uniform.

"I can get into this base one way or another. I would prefer to be escorted by a fellow Jedi instead of wasting all the time to break into the place." Val withdrew one of his lightsabers, a finely crafted curved hilt saber (http://evil-wizards.org/swtor-wiki/index.php?title=Val_Gith#Lightsaber.28s.29), and handed it, blade emitter facing himself, to the Miraluka. "A gesture of good faith. I trust you to return that to me once I find out what I need to know and you can take the credit for finding the distributor and the corrupt customs agent while I pursue this mystery off world. Deal?"

Val stood there, hand extended, unblinking, unwavering, staunch in his delivery and implacable in expression. Your Miraluka "eyes" allow you to see his Aura, even if it was dimmed by his constant efforts to squelch its appearance. It was a somewhat dull aura but had hard edges to it, as if there was little emotion but a strong sense of purpose and confidence.

[[OOC: That would make so much more sense if he was a Kel Dor but damnable Bioware is not letting me be one so I am leaving his race somewhat ambiguous for now. My Wiki explains why his aura is like that though.]]

Shandra took the lightsaber and examined it as she considered its owner for a moment. If this was some sort of trick, he would have to have been the stupidest criminal alive to show off illegal weapons to a Jedi standing a few feet away from the Republic base. Also, he had a lightsaber. Although ,in theory, anything could be found on the black market, lightsabers were not easy to obtain. She could also see something in his aura, something that told her he truly believed Republic officers were supplying weapons to the Sepratists. Shandra held the saber out to Val.

"Here,Master Gith, keep your saber. I trust you. I don't care about getting credit for catching arms dealers, either. I came here to negotiate peace, and I won't be able to do that very well if an officer in the Republic is trafficking the tools of war. I have to ask, though, why haven't you reported this to the Republic Army or the Jedi Order? Surely, if there are corrupt officers, the authorities will be able to track them down and bring them to justice."

Val shrugged at the question. "The Republic has its own problems right now. And why would I trust the Republic to root out corruption within itself? That is what people like me are for. A true judge has to operate outside of the established order or else it is biased."

Val took his saber back and hooked it underneath his duster somewhere out of sight.

"And plus, if I were to give them what I have now it would end there. I want to go further up the chain. I do not trust the Republic to pursue this investigation to the end. But then again, I am not a very trusting person lately." Val opened his jacket to reveal the saber he had just taken back and a second identical one. He winked.

"I need to find this man's suppliers off world then the Republic can have him, his distributor, and the locations I have discovered related to the smuggling. I guarantee this man has not covered his tracks too well. He did a face to face with his distributor instead of using an intermediary. Not smart."

"You put so little faith in the Republic, Master Gith! Either way, you are correct that the Republic forces here have enough to deal with already. Come with me, and I'll help you root out the corruption. I doubt we'll have to look much farther beyond Ord Mantell I'm sure that this matter is limited to a few officers whose greed got the better of them and fell in with some of the many brigands who frequent this planet of late."

Shandra and Val walked toward the door of the base. The guard stepped in front of the door before they could enter.

"Identify yourselves." the guard demanded.

"You know who I am. I left this door not three minutes ago. I am Consular Shandra Ivari sent here by the Jedi Council to aid in the negotiations."

"Forgive me, my Lady, I should have remembered the only eyeless freak on the planet. Who's you're friend?" The guard growled glaring at Val.

"This is master Val Gith. The Jedi Order sent him to aid me in my mission." Shandra said struggling to maintain her calm.

" Wait a minute, the guard said slightly shifting his blaster rifle "I was told only one hand-waving religious nut would be arriving today, and one of you lot is enough. He doesn't even look like a Jedi. What are you trying to pull?"

Quote from: TimeLady on October 05, 2011, 03:34:57 PM"This is master Val Gith. The Jedi Order sent him to aid me in my mission." Shandra said struggling to maintain her calm.

" Wait a minute, the guard said slightly shifting his blaster rifle "I was told only one hand-waving religious nut would be arriving today, and one of you lot is enough. He doesn't even look like a Jedi. What are you trying to pull?"

Val saw that Shandra didn't quite understand the situation or the situation between himself and the Republic and the Jedi Order. As she did her introductions, Val reached out into the trooper's mind right as she said his name and blanked his senses, instead putting a false name into his head. He heard:

"This is  a friend of the order. The Jedi Order sent him to aid me in my mission."

Shandra struggled to maintain her calm, smiling. Val also smiled and pushed the man's mind to agree.

"Sublty ... not a strong suit of the Jedi" Val recalled to himself silently as he waited for the trooper to let them in. Guess relying on an idealistic Jedi was not the best course of action. "I wonder if she felt that" Val thought to himself as the guard moved out of the way to let them in, oddly compliant after the eyeless freak comment.

Shandra walked briskly through the base. Although she assumed the guard's narrow-minded views were likely in the minority, she dearly hoped to avoid another confrontation. She also suspected she may have said something that Master Gith preferred to keep hidden, although she couldn't imagine what that would be. She had felt ripples in the Force as he replaced some of her words in the guard's mind, but she had no way of knowing what message he conveyed. She slipped into an empty conference room and turned to Val.

"Thank you for your intervention with the guard, but I must ask what  thought did you replace in his mind? I suppose it doesn't matter terribly much now that we're inside. Well, I suppose if we are going to find the man you followed we should formulate a plan of action first. Where should we start? "

Val shrugged to himself, deciding to be honest yet again, against his gut feeling not to be. "According to the Jedi Order I disappeared 3 years ago and they have not been heard from since. Them getting my scent now would only slow down my investigations and divert Republic resources from other, more important things."

He pulled out his datapad and scrolled to the picture of the Republic customs officer. "First, I need you to identify this man with the powers that be in this base and locate his living quarters. I am sure he will have left clues lying around given his so far sloppy handling of this. I am surprised this Republic has not caught him themselves by now ..." Val signed and shook his head at his own comment.

"Some sort of communication to an off world supplier. After that we can tip off whoever is in charge here about this officer and leave it to them to catch him and take some credit. Maybe someone will get a medal?" Val's tone was dry and even, conveying little beyond the words he said.

"They were Republic pattern rifles so someone is stealing from the Republic and diverting arms to separatists. If a smuggler brought them in, I want to know who is supplying the smugglers. If I find out who is bringing them on world I can go from there. Corruption it like a food chain, I go up the chain until I get to the alpha predator then move to a new ecosystem."

Val smiled as his analogy having made it up on the spot. "Gotta remember that one. Sounds good." he thought to himself as he sized up Shandra's reaction.

Shandra stood across from Val her arms folded and her back as straight as one of the columns in the Jedi Temple. Her mouth was slightly turned down and her brow was wrinkled under her mask giving the impression that if she had eyes, she would be glaring at Val like a teacher reacting to an unruly child.

"Forgive me, Master Gith, but I assumed when you said you were in good standing with the Order you meant you had taken leave to join an enclave or work with a Republic Military unit, not that you had abandoned your duty as a Jedi to run off on your own catching criminals like a common bounty hunter. We are all  needed  to help rebuild the Order and renew our lines of trust with the Republic, and I don't see how that can be done by skulking in the shadows. "

Val didn't really react much to Shandra's reprimand, simply continuing to walk slowly down the corridors of the Republic facility.

"Fresh, idealistic, and still naive I see. Every empire or republic, good or evil, has their servants that act in the shadows. I am sure you have heard of the Jedi Shadows? They are Republic assassins. I am an Investigator--or was, given that I have no current rank within the Order officially--and it was my duty to seek out and inform the Jedi Order on high value targets such that the Shadows could move in for the kill. Don't be naive about what the Jedi are. The Sith spent 1000 years preparing to strike back at the Jedi because we were ordered to commit genocide against the Sith. The Jedi serve the Republic and they felt the Sith were too dangerous to be allowed to live. However, a few escaped. Oops." Val shrugged.

"When it comes down to it you just pick a side and fight for it. Good and evil, light and dark, mean little to me anymore. The Republic, with its pacification policy, is allowing the Sith to maneuver itself into a good position to strike the killing blow to the Republic. The corrupt powers that be within the Republic were not allowing me to fight for what I think is right; the people out there on those border worlds that they are ignoring because the Sith would constitute it as an act of war violating the peace treaty. I say it is time to fight, even if I have to do it on my own. If you are content to sit around and do nothing, head to an archive and look up the story of Master Belth Allusis (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Belth_Allusis); hopefully his story will inspire you. But for now, I have a job to do and you are slowing me down. Good day."

And with that, Val Gith disappeared beneath a Force Cloak and began jogging silently down the hallway to pursue his target. The honest approach turning out to be a failure, Val planned on finding some ranking officers and relieving them of their security clearance, bending their minds for information, and leaving them unconscious in an inconspicuous location. It was surprisingly easy to access military instillation, Republic or Empire, when one had the ability to move unseen combined with a very strong ability to "persuade" people. Sometimes it went wrong though and Val spent a week hiding in ventilation ducts before he could escape. That always sucked ...


[[ OOC: You can of course try to stop Val or yell after him. Alert the guards, etc. Whatever ya wanna do : ) ]]

[[Flashback- Four years earlier]]

Shandra walked through the courtyard of the Jedi Temple on Tython. She stopped in front of a human man sitting on the ground in meditation. The Master Consular's robes he wore were wrinkled and dark circles had begun to form under his eyes.

"You're leaving. Why?"  She asked

"Congratulations on passing your Jedi trials, Shandra. You got the highest scores of any of my Padawans to date."

"You didn't answer my question, Master Kraylo. Why are you leaving Tython? You're not  being sent on a mission. I checked."

"I don't belong here anymore...maybe I never did."

"Master, you're not making any sense." Shandra said kneeling beside him.

"The Jedi Order is not all it seems to be nor is the Republic. "Everyone has their own skeletons in the closet, Kid. It's just a matter of time before someone digs them up." Master Kraylo said. He saw the look of confusion on Shandra's face "Come with me."

"No, I can't...I won't abandon the Order. I never thought you would betray the Jedi!" Shandra regretted her words as soon as she saw the hurt look on Master Kraylo's face. His only response was something he had told her many times as a Padawan.

"Oh, Shandra, someday you'll understand,child. Someday you'll understand."

With that Master Wiln Kraylo got up and walked away. Shandra never spoke to him again. The next she heard of him was when Master Avin Naa, an old friend of Master Kraylo's  pulled her aside a few months later to tell her that word had reached him that Master Kraylo had become one with the Force. Everyone said he died in a fight with a Sith Lord, but Master Naa wasn't sure that was the cause of his death. He never said any more about it.

[[Flashback over]]

"Master Gi...Val, wait! I'm coming with you." Shandra shouted. She ran down the corridor in the direction she thought Val was going desperately trying to feel for him in the Force.

[[Shandra is 27 . She was 23 in the flashback]]

Val signed silently and shook his head before dropping his cloak some seconds later. "Why even bother trying to be stealthy with her making all this racket," he thought to himself.

Val looked at Shandra dubiously. "That was a quick reversal." He shrugged, not really caring what the reason for it was. "I didn't really want to squeeze Republic personnel's minds anyhow." He handed her the datapad. "Remember the plan? Just find out who this officer is. Don't mention me and people will not notice me." He winked, being extremely good at Force Concealment as well as Force Cloak, he could walk in plain sight and most would not take not of him unless he wanted them too. Good thing too given how many blasters were usually present in the situations he got himself into ready to blast him into oblivion.

"Tell them you need to talk to him and will wait at his quarters. Pull the Jedi rank card, that usually works--IF you are assertive about it. Ok? You just had a tour of this place, right? You said you just arrived? Know where you are going from here?" Val waved his arm out in a sweeping "you first" sort of motion.

Shandra headed toward the base command center. She approached a tall dark haired human man.

"General Thorn, I would like to get a better understanding of the diplomatic atmosphere here. Please inform you troops that I would like to begin interviewing them immediately. I will also need access to the Base roster and the profiles of all of the personnel.  

"Are you sure this is necessary? the Brigadier asked. He straightened himself to his full height towering over the intruding Jedi.  "My men are all busy trying to keep the Sepratists back. They don't need to be pulled from their work to have a tea party and talk about their feelings."

" I assure you, General, it is vital to my mission that I understand the situation from a variety of perspectives. You would not want me to report to the Order and to your superiors that you had failed to cooperate, would you?"

General Thorn grumbled as he punched commands into a computer console. He stepped aside so Shandra could access the crew roster that had appeared on the screen. It didn't take Shandra long to identify the man from Val's datapad.

"General, I would like to begin by interviewing Lieutenant Tylan Hunt. Please tell him I would like to speak with him in his quarters immediately."

"Lieutenant Hunt is busy with.."

Immediately, General Thorn."

General Thorn scowled at Shandra. His right hand brushed the handle of his blaster. The meddling Jedi were always poking their noses where they didn't belong. He wanted to teach the snotty little Force-user a lesson in manners, but anything other than his full cooperation would prompt an investigation by his superiors and possible disciplinary action. He spoke a few word into his comlink ordering Lieutenant Hunt to report to his quarters.

Shandra pulled pulled a datapad out of her pocket and downloaded the roster and profiles.

"Thank you for your cooperation. May the Force be with you." Shandra said, bowing slightly as she turned to leave the room.

[OOC: Corporal is not an officer rank, it is an NCO. So let's go with Lieutenant since I originally said Officer. Assuming of course the Republic Army follows the same rank naming system as the US military. Who knows, right?]


Val, while not particularly hiding, wandered amongst the staff relatively unnoticed as Shandra talked to the General in charge. His movements seemed fluid and unconscious as he weaved effortlessly between moving staff without causing any sort of disturbance or giving any reason for people to take not of him.

Seeing that Shandra had concluded her dealings with the General, Val wandered toward the exit she was headed for. Once the door was closed behind them, he turned to her and said, "Well, that was easy enough. Let's get to his room before he does and have a look, shall we?"


Many people seem to think that if something is out of sight and not readily accessible, it is safe from discovery. Like a car alarm, these meager defenses only really stop amateurs that were hoping for a quick and easy score; true professionals are going to get what they want if they put their mind to it.

A touch of psychometry (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Psychometry) and the combination to the officer's small room safe was revealed. Contained therein was a datapad containing shipment schedules and contact information that seemed to link back to the shipyard Val had previously visited. The officer was organized, Val gave him that, but stupid. Thankfully though, most criminals were not all that smart when it came to stuff like this which made Val's job so much easier.

Val handed the datapad to Shandra. "Well, it would seem that these shipments are coming in on a semi-regular basis to avoid too much attention. I would imagine he had deck hands bribed to offload the cargo without asking any questions. The datapad indicates a shipping yard I have already visited." Val tapped the blasters on his thighs. "It was where I acquired my illegal hardware actually." He shrugged. "If we wait here and confront Lieutenant Hunt we may spook his contacts and we will lose the opportunity to catch his accomplices at the shipping yard. I suggest we leave and find the smuggler bringing arms onto the world. A shipment came in very early today so I am sure .." Val looked down at the datapad, "Azel is still around. Hopefully at least. If not, we have his ... or her ship registry which the Lieutenant needed to put on the shipping schedule to get it through customs. Let's go find this ship, shall we? When we find it I surrender all this evidence to you to give to the good General so that they can clean house a bit."

"It certainly would be best to catch the Lieutenant's associates before he can warn them/ We had best hurry."I think I may have already raised his suspicions by having the General notify him that I want to speak with him. He knows I am here to attempt to negotiate with the Sepratists. I fear he may think I have found out about his operation."

Shandra left Lieutenant Hunt's quarters and walked quickly toward the entrance to the base. She felt through the Force for any indication of the Lieutenant's feelings. She was about to exit the base when she heard General Thorn's voice.

"I thought you wanted to interview Lieutenant Hunt, Consular Ivari He snapped.

Shandra stopped. General Thorn walked around her to stand in front of the door with his arms folded.  She did not often use many of the "Jedi mind tricks" associated with the Force. She felt that they were unethical in most diplomatic encounters. However, she did have some familiarity with basic Force persuasion.

"I did not want to speak with Lieutenant Hunt right now. You must be mistaken." Shandra said attempting to reach into the General's mind to reinforce her words

The General was a sharp minded man, that was how he had gotten to where he was in life. As such, an unskilled and unpracticed attempt at a Force suggestion rolled over him but he felt the attempt at his mind. Being a General, you get around a bit and experience a lot.

"I dislike impertinent Jedi who think they are so much smarter than I am ... obviously you are lying about something and I want to know what it is. I know you haven't talked to Lieutenant Hunt yet. What, don't you think I have security cameras around here?"

The General crossed his arms, staring intently at Shandra and somehow missing Val as he walked right by him. It was not so much that Val was invisible--although he could Force cloak with the best of them--it was that Val subtly nudged the General's mind away from himself since he was so intently focused on something else.

"She can handle herself." He thought to himself as he exited the base. "Shouldn't baby her too much. Seems like she has had enough of that and needs to experience the world a little for herself.". Val waved over the General's shoulder as he exited and continued to the landing pad he had discussed with Shandra back in Lieutenant Hunt's personal quarters. "She'll catch up I am sure," he thought, shrugging to herself. What's the worst that could happen to her. If the General actually attacked a Jedi there would be a lot more corruption needing reporting around here.

Val ran off, going unnoticed as he usually did except to the keenest of observers, toward the area that held the ship he was looking for. Given that it had come in earlier today, the pilot would probably be off enjoying a bit of his or her money and taking a break before getting back to it. Hopefully at least.

"Well, General, if you must know, while I was waiting for Lieutenant Hunt I received some information which may prove useful to the negotiations." Shandra said  "I decided to postpone the Lieutenant's interview since you said he is so very busy at the moment and follow up on the information immediately. Forgive my deception. It is sensitive information, and I did not want to risk compromising my source by sharing it with the wrong person." 

Suddenly General Thorn grabbed Shandra and shoved her against the wall beside the door. He glared down at her with a his hands braced against the wall on either side of her head.

"What the frack do you mean by that, Jedi? Are you trying to accuse me of something?"

"Why...why, no, I am not doing anything of the sort. However, this is an open area where any number of people could have overheard us. Also, the information pertains to diplomatic matters which I simply didn't feel you needed to know about at the moment. "

"Listen, b****, I don't need some meddling Force-user to decide what I need to know. You're only here because the Jedi Council wouldn't be able sleep at night if  they didn't try to ask the Sepratist scum to play nice before I blow them off this rock. You Jedi and your meddling in Galactic politics have caused enough trouble already, and you had better be careful poking your nose where it doesn't belong on my base."   

"Should I take that as a threat General?"

"Take it however you like."

The General stormed off down the corridor. Shandra stood against the wall for a moment to regain her composure. As a diplomat, Shandra had spent many years training in the use of Force empathy, and the waves of anger and suspicion she sensed during the confrontation felt like an emotional punch in the stomach. Shandra wasn't sure what to think of the General. She had felt a strong sense of hostility toward her from the moment she arrived. She had originally interpreted his behavior as irritation at her interference and traces of the unfortunate resentment that many Republic citizens now  harbored toward the Jedi. However, she began to wonder if the General could be involved in illegal activity as well.

Shandra left the base and hurried to the shipyard. She determined that the best course of action was to help Val follow his lead further up the food chain. Then she would see if the General was truly a criminal or if he was simply a very unpleasant man.

Val eventually found the ship he was looking for. It wasn't hard really, just walked in, used the computer, compared records to the information he had found in Lieutenant Hunt's personal quarters and found where it was docked, and then left. Again, being able to wander unseen was such a valuable asset. Good thing too, because a Jedi poking his nose where he shouldn't in a shipping area that was obviously harbouring smuggling operations might have earned him a lot of attention from peoples' blasters. Val preferred to avoid a fight whenever possible as he was not particularly good at it. Better to go unseen than to try to actually talk to people Val had found from experience doing what he does.

Taking no chances, Val Force Cloaked himself and made his way unseen by human or camera eyes to the bay that housed the ship he was looking for. Val clicked a small device to the frame of the door at the bottom and then found himself a good spot with a view of the ship entrance. He dropped his cloak in relative security and knelt there, hunkering down for what might be an hour or days until this individual returned. His ability with psychometry was not nearly good enough to glean the appearance of the individual Val was waiting for from the hull of the ship so waiting it was in order to make sure he didn't miss this "Azel" person.

Being prepared for situations like this--they happened often in his line of work--Val withdrew rations and water from his pack and began to eat for the first time in a while. When he was finished, he activated the device on the frame of the door--a motion sensor that would silently alert him if the door opened by vibrating his wrist comm, Val decided to take a power nap as he had not slept in a long while. Who knew how long it would take before Azel returned to the private hangar?

"I wonder how Shandra fared with the General.." Val shook his head to himself. The Jedi were so disliked by so many now-a-days. It was a shame really. Although Val had gone rogue from the Order because of the politics holding him and many others like him back from doing what was right, he harboured no ill will toward the Order; it is a good thing and one that Val might return to someday if the galaxy were to ever find itself in a less volatile state during the course of his life. He could only hope it would.

Upon arriving at the shipping yard Shandra realized that she had no idea where to look. She did not even know the model of the ship she was looking for. She stood for a moment weighing her options. She couldn't very well walk into the office and demand to see the landing schedule. There was no way she could make anyone believe that the information pertained to her diplomatic mission, and there was a good chance that the employees of the shipping yard were involved in business that they would not want a Jedi to know about. After the shouting match with General Thorn the last thing she wanted was a real fight. The best course of action was to try to find Val.

Shandra stretched out her mind into the Force like a hand reaching into darkness. Almost immediately she felt the faint aura of another Force-user. Shandra began walking along a row of hanger bays allowing Val's aura to guide her like a sonar signal. The signal got stronger and stronger until she reached a small hanger in an out of the way corner of the shipping yard. Shandra used the Force to make sure that Val was the only person there. Then she cautiously walked into the hanger.

Val was awoken from his power nap relatively quickly. Thinking himself lucky, he looked up from his hiding spot at the entrance and saw Shandra walk in. "Hmm ... getting sloppy if she found me that easily ..." Val thought to himself. He shook his head at himself, wondering who else could see him when he thought himself concealed.

"Shandra. Over here." Having picked his spot within a blind spot from the cameras, Val stood unseen by the cameras and looked at Shandra who was within full view of one. Maybe they got lucky and no one was watching them at this particular moment? Who knows ...

"Stealth is not your strong suit, is it? You know there are security cameras all over this place, right?" Val shook his head slightly. "Come here quickly before someone sees you and sets security on us." Val motioned to his hiding spot behind offloaded crates against a wall across from the entrance and away from the ship a bit.

Val had seen the security room fleetingly when he had been locating the ship and hoped that no one had noticed Shandra enter. There were a lot of cameras around and as such they were crammed onto a few monitors at a small resolution so she might have gone unnoticed if someone was not paying attention.

"How'd it go with the lovely General? Were you followed here? Or did you even think that he might have someone following you since he seems to have something against the Jedi--along with half the galaxy."

Shandra ran over to Val and slipped behind the crate. She folded her arms and regarded him with a look of exasperation.

"Of course it occurred to me that I might be followed. I'm not a youngling. Due to my diplomatic training and other obvious reasons I have spent many years training my Force Sense abilities. I would have felt it in the Force if someone had tried to follow me. How do you think I found you? And it has been quite obvious from the moment I met him that the General dislikes me and the Order intensely. That is why I tried to deceive him. I was not sure if he would hinder the investigation if he knew we were investigating one of his men. His reaction was a bit violent. I'm not sure if he is involved in criminal activity or if he merely lacks self control. Either way, I didn't tell him about your investigation. "  

Shandra sat down on the floor. She leaned her head against the wall and pressed her hands together. She began emptying her mind of thoughts and emotions. One by one the negotiations, her interactions with Val, the General's anger, and her own confusion slipped away like debris in a river as Shandra allowed the Force to flow through her filling up every corner of her being. Suddenly, she felt tiny ripples like someone had thrown a stone into the river. She could not tell what had caused them, but the ripples radiated out getting stronger and stronger. Shandra broke from her meditation. She sat up straight trying to sense the origin of the disturbance she had felt in the Force.

"Something is wrong."

Val chuckled at Shandra's reaction to his gibes. Jedi were taught to be without emotion but hardly any actually succeeded in this feat. And if they did they were considered an oddity or at danger of falling to the Dark Side as had been worried about Val when he was a young learner. Val just did what he had to do and was pretty emotionally neutral. He found it ironic that one that fit the teachings of the Jedi had left the Order. He smiled inwardly at his personal musings but quickly got back to the situation at hand.

Val's passive Force sense was decent, but not nearly as good as a Miraluka. He was better and hiding himself from others than sensing small disturbances in The Force. He wasn't much aware of anything out of the ordinary at present; looking at Shandra he asked, "What do you sense?" He had almost said "what do you see" but realized that that might be taken badly. "Did we attract security on our way in?"

Val clicked off the securing latch on one of his blasters. He had yet to fire one and he was told they packed quite a kick to them but he hoped he would get the experience on a range somewhere not evaporating some poor sods head.

Pulling his blaster out he looked at Shandra. "You stay here. I am going to get a better angle on the door--just in case." And with that he disappeared under a Force Cloak and moved away from her. This time his stealth was hiding him visually as well as his living/Force aura as he was not being lazy this time. Stealth was his greatest tool so if he put his mind to it he could go completely undetected except by some select other Masters.

Looking at the door Val waited to see if anything untoward happened or if this was just a false alarm.


[OOC: another person may be joining in with this thread. Let's see where this turn of events takes us. Feel free to inject anything you want into the thread.]

A light scraping sound echoed from behind a few cargo containers near the ship that Val and Shandra were scouting. From the square vent emerged a figure cloaked in the all-too-evident Jedi garb. The human male maintained a crouch in an attempt to be as stealthy as possible. His long dark ponytail shook free of the hood as he glanced about. He then slid the vent cover back into place and hid behind the cargo containers and seemed to be waiting for something. After a few minutes of watching drones moving back and forth, he decided to move closer towards Val and Shandra's location despite not having a clear view of them. He gradually approached while avoiding detection of the cameras in view then he stopped on the other side of the wall of containers where the two were situated. He paused again, waiting for a reaction from the other Force-sensitive person to his close proximity.

Given that Val had previously dropped under a Force cloak and was also hiding his Aura, he watched the man emerge from the vent and drop into the room. Walking cautiously behind him as he approached Shandra's location, Val raised his blaster and pointed it at the back of his head, making sure he was off camera before dropping his cloak. "Looking for something in particular sir? Your name wouldn't happen to be Azel, would it?"

Given Val's own frequent use of disguises he did not automatically trust this man to be associated with the Jedi Order. A few years of operating alone in this cold war situation had made Val a suspicious person to say the least. He stood there, a good 3m behind the apparent Jedi, blaster raised and trained on his head and awaited a reply.

Eshen paused when a second person revealed himself behind him with a blaster. While Eshen was by no means an expert in sneaking and being quiet, he was very good at being aware of dangers within his vicinity. The thoughts about how this individual got through his personal perimeter raced through his mind: he had experience with being sneaky, he was cautious, he had to be somehow familiar with using the Force in order to obfuscate the sound of his steps and his presence in the Force, he didn't feel a sinister aura from him so he possibly wasn't a Sith but he neither displayed mercy so he couldn't possibly be Jedi either, and since he mentioned the name of his quarry he couldn't be Azel... maybe. His other hand tightened on his second lightsaber while he remained crouched as he readied himself for the fatal intention to transmit through the Force.

A young yet firm voice replied to the person's question, "No, I'm not... and since you haven't shot me yet, I assume you aren't either." He turned his head slowly to get his steel gray eye on the person, "What is your business with him?"

"Well, at least I know it is a him now." Val thought to himself as he lowered his blaster, confident that he could escape if this Force user turned out to be violent. Val was realistic in his abilities and knew that stealth was his expertise and actual straight up combat was much further down that list.

"Oh you know, the usual. The bastard owes be from a long night of Pazzak a few nights back and I didn't want him leaving the planet before he paid up. I hear he just came into a good payday too so I know he can pay. What is your business here?" Val lied, and he was damn good at it too. Stealth and deception is not the usual skill set for a Jedi but it was what Val was good at. As he spoke he casually spun his blaster on his finger around in various patterns--it looked like he had done it many times before as his dexterity at it was impressive--his voice an implacable monotone.

All the while Val was actively suppressing his aura to look plain and grey. This was something he usually did but he had gotten lazy on Ord Mantell given how easy it was to manipulate non-Force sensitives when there were no Jedi or Sith around. He was, however, not being lazy anymore.

"This is definitely going to get security on our asses ..." Val thought with an inward sigh. "At least I have a new found diversion if that happens." he thought in consolation to himself as the situation got out of his control. This was what he got for working with someone else. He should have just slipped into the Republic base on his own, even if he did have to squeeze some minds on the way, instead of taking the honest approach and allying temporarily with a naive and idealistic Jedi.



[OOC: I am going to pause in posting here until TimeLady has a change to have some input with Shandra]

Eshen turned fully to look at the person pointing the blaster at him, suspicion gleaming in his eyes, "Awfully brave of you to try to shake down someone in a Republic facility. How did you get in with those anyways?" His eyes glanced to the blasters, knowing enough of energy-based weapons to know those were constructed with highly dangerous and highly illegal parts. He remained crouched to minimize the risk of being spotted by cameras mounted in the ceiling. "And who is your partner in crime on the other side of these containers?"

He nodded in the general direction where Shandra was located. He wasn't too surprised by the suspicious looking person's interest in getting back his money but the fact that he evaded Eshen's Force detection still had him wary. "This Azel has a commodity I'm interested in as well." He didn't give up all his information just yet.

Quote from: Val Gith on October 13, 2011, 09:05:36 PM

"Something is wrong."

"What do you sense?" He had almost said "what do you see" but realized that that might be taken badly. "Did we attract security on our way in?"

Shandra had not felt the security guards approaching, although she felt for them to make sure they were still at their posts. As far as she could tell the guards had not noticed she was there. A better phrase to express what she felt would have been "Something will be wrong."  Precognition was a Force Power shared to some degree by most Jedi, and Shandra's keen Force Sense made her particularly sensitive to it. Shandra had heard of Jedi who saw images of  possible future events as if they were dreams, but she had never had a full Force Vision herself. Instead she would get an impression of things to come...or things that could come. Sometimes the impression would be a knowledge of a specific event, like the time she sensed that her master was leaving the Order. Other times she would simply have a strong impression of the nature of a possible occurrence.

The premonition of trouble had distracted Shandra to the point that she did not notice the aura of another Force user until shortly before he left the ventilation shaft. She remained hidden behind the crate observing Val's conversation with the Jedi. He was much more experienced with stealth, and she had no desire to attract the attention of the security guards.

When the man looked toward her hiding place she stood up remaining against the wall and out of the view of the cameras.

"My name is Consular Shandra Ivari, and my business here is none of yours."

Val signed inwardly at how the situation was progressing. "Well, isn't this nice; We all know each other now." Val stared blankly at the new Jedi crouching there. "Now get outta here youngin' before you get yourself hurt." Val waved the barrel of his blaster between him and the door. "I've got some business to get done with then you can have him, I don't care. But we got here first and I don't want a visit from security if I discharge this thing in here."

It was a good thing that this Azel character was probably out enjoying his new found money or else they might have him walk in on them having a disagreement. He was starting to think it would be a better course of action to sabotage Azel's ship and go to a nearby restaurant and wait for his motion sensor to activate instead of sitting here attracting all sorts of trouble.

(TimeLady, I hope you won't mind establishing a familiarity between our characters.)

"Consular Ivari?" Eshen stood and peered around the corner even though he couldn't get a good look at her. "I'm curious to know why you're involved with the likes of this... entrepreneur but I suppose the Force has a path for all of us to follow. My name is Eshen Virol. I'm not sure if you remember me but we were on Tython around approximately the same time near the end of my apprenticeship with Master Naraa. Anyways, we can catch up later."

Eshen's concentration shifted and it was obvious he was discerning something through the Force. He quickly surveyed his surroundings. "We have company. I suggest we all return to our respective hiding areas." He scanned the cameras that had sight of his path back to the vent and quickly said to the suspicious person, "You won't mind if I stick around to make sure he can still talk after you're done with him." He didn't wait for an answer and quickly ran for the space behind the containers while holding the cameras' perspectives away from perceiving him. Once he was behind cover, he released the Force and slid back into the vent.

[[No problem. Backstory connections can be fun.]]

"Eshen Virol? I wonder what brough him to a shipping crate on Ord Mantell." Shandra thought

She pulled the hilt of a double bladed lightsaber out from beneath the folds of her outer robe. She crouched down behind the shipping crate, once again waiting to act until she saw what Val planned to do. Shandra was surprised when Eshen introduced himself. She had not recognized him or his aura. She must have been more shaken by the previous events than she thought, and it had been a long time since she had last "seen" him.

Val shrugged as the other two hid and simply disappeared where he stood, aura and all. No more being lazy with his stealth.

Val set his one blaster to stun, keeping his other hand free for use of Force powers or one of his hidden lightsabers if need be. It might be Republic personnel headed into the hanger so he didn't want to kill anyone. He walked over and took cover away from the other two to put himself behind the people if they walked in and were facing Shandra and the other Jedi. Appearing suddenly behind people, blaster raised and aimed, usually dissuaded people from violence, especially since Val was good at bluffing people.

"I hope this is Azel and not security so I can get this whole ordeal over with ..." Val thought to himself, getting tired of how many complications were arising in his life today.


"Fraking sore loosers" Azel thought to himself. "I just had a lucky streak was all and they get this pissed about it? It isn't like I even took them for that much!" It truth Azel had just won a small fortune off of some people involved in the smuggling ring in a game of Pazaak and they thought he was a cheat. In fact, he was being tailed right now--he was sure of it--and he was not sure if he was going to make it back to his ship and get off of Ord Mantell safely or not.

Walking into his docking bay quickly, Azel made for the boarding ramp of his ship.


Val watched the man enter the room. He waited for the man to unlock his ship to be sure he was in fact the man he was looking for and took a few steps out from where he had been standing, still Force cloaked, and walked toward him. "Azel I presume? Please step away from the ship, I would have words with you." Azel heard the disembodied voice but could not see from where it originated. "Who said that? Where are you?" Azel had his blaster in his hand and was looking around nervously, trying to find the source of the voice. They couldn't have gotten here before me..." he thought.

Eshen took the opportunity to check the status of his astromech droid which he ingeniously disguised as a cleaning droid. Once he got T7-01 on the main security floor, he let it do all the work. Its retained memories allowed it to access standard security protocols on small Republic facilities such as these and wander on through all the security checkpoints as if it was the commander. Any organic sentients he would stun or zap which luckily there were few of. The only two were in the main security room. After stunning them and dispatching down a garbage chute, it spliced into the camera feeds and easily turned the feeds specifically in the hangar bay on a rotating video loop should any others access them. It beeped on the secure comm channel to Eshen who acknowledged, "Good work, T7."

He slipped back out of the vent and peered from around a crate while waiting for the enforcer or whoever he was to make his move. He frowned slightly when he heard the individual's voice without the presence in sight, confirming more of his suspicions. He focused on Azel though, deciding not to confront him yet when he had his blaster out and would twitch-fire at the next surprise. Eshen held one of his lightsabers in his hand, however. He moved down to the other side of the containers and scouted out a way to disable Azel's ship's thrusters to keep him from escaping.

Val could feel from the man's mental reaction to his name being said that he did indeed have the correct person. Val had expected the other Jedi to barge in and try to take Azel first but he had actually waited since Val had legitimately gotten there first.

Azel was frantically trying to get his ship unlocked but his fingers were slipping, his other hand on his blaster. Val moved to the door of the landing area and locked it down to prevent any unwanted visitors, or at least buy them some time if that did happen.

He debated about just shooting Azel--on stun of course--and taking him somewhere less conspicuous to interrogate him. However, that idea was fleeting as getting an unconscious body out of the facility would be a pain. Val instead decided on a better course of action. Waiting for him to finally get his ship unlocked Val waited patiently behind him, aiming to get aboard with him and talk to him there. He would then disable his ship and hand him over to the proper authorities along with the information on Lieutenant Hunt and the smuggling ring once he knew who was supplying Ord Mantell with illegal arms.

Val did realize that the other two did not know his location nor his plan, unless the Miraluka could again see through his full Force Concealment. He had been being lazy before but if anyone was able to detect his aura it would be a Miraluka since that was how they were used to "seeing".

"They will probably interfere if I allow him to board his ship ..." Val thought, sighing. Getting irritated with the whole situation Val simply walked up behind Azel, dropped his cloak, and pistol whipped the hand that was holding his blaster causing him to drop it. "Fraking hell!" Azel exclaimed! As he moved to turn and face his attacker Val slipped his arms around his neck and put him into a sleeper hold, easing him down to the ground as his brain started to get short on oxygen. Azel was not a large man nor, apparently, experienced in close quarters combat, so Val took him down somewhat easily. "I have some questions. And no, we were not sent her to kill you or else you would be, ok? Answer the questions and the worst that happens to you today is you end up in jail." Val looked around the room for the other two as he assumed the other Jedi would have some questions as well.

Shandra stood ready to slip out from behind the crate if anything went wrong. She was still wary after her meditation. She had a strong premonition that something bad would happen, and her premonitions usually were not wrong unless she was vigilant enough to change the future. Shandra probed the Force for anything out of the ordinary. She could feel Eshen hiding behind the other crate. She felt Azel's fear when Val spoke to him. Val had not exaggerated about his stealth skills. She could only feel very faint, hazy traces of what she assumed to be his aura. Then Shandra "looked" over the rest of the shipyard, and she "saw" something she did not like. She stepped out from behind the crate and walked over to the ship where Val had just subdued Azel.

"Val, we had best finish the interview quickly. It appears Mr. Azel brought some friends home with him. Several people are approaching the shipyard, and they do not feel happy." Shandra said. She turned to Azel "Honestly, what did you think would happen when you cheated at Pazaak against men like them?"

[OOC: I am going to assume you are in Azel's head given that he never said that out loud, he thought about it.]

Quote from: TimeLady on October 17, 2011, 01:35:42 PM
"Honestly, what did you think would happen when you cheated at Pazaak against men like them?"

Azel looked up, shocked. "How did ya know about that? You are with them?!" Azel struggled violently but Val just sat there behind him and tightened his hold for 10 seconds and he quieted down a bit as he got a little woozy. "We are not with them Azel, but I will gladly hand you over to them if you don't answer just one question, ok?" Azel continued to struggle meekly, "Fine! Waddya wanna know so I can be on my way. You seem to know that I am in a bit of a hurry."

Val released Azel and stood, allowing him some dignity. Azel stood and faced Shandra and Val, Val's hands resting easily on the grips of his new blasters. "Tell me who is supplying you with the arms you are smuggling onto Ord Mantell and we will help you with your little gambling problem, ok? And don't think I am going to take no for an answer." Val realized they might have a situation on their hands momentarily so he took the faster route, reaching out into Azel's mind and pushing him to be honest.

"Uhhh... well." Azel looked a bit dazed as he answered. "It was ... I don't rightly know actually. A runner supplies me with a manifest and location to pick up at and the right landing codes and all that to land here on Ord Mantell. I been picking the goods up on Nar Shaddaa."

Val sighed, realizing this man knew little. His contact on Ord Mantell was Lieutenant Hunt, who Val had already identified. He got Azel onto the planet and from there he went to the smuggling area Val had previously visited to unload his cargo and get paid. So it made sense to assume that Lieutenant Hunt was the one supplying the landing codes to Azel. Hopefully this meant that the corruption in the Republic base went no further than him. However, this also meant that an interview was now needed with Lieutenant Hunt in order to determine who his contact was on Nar Shaddaa.

Val walked up to Azel and patted him down, looking for a datapad of some sort. "Where is your last codes and manifest package?" Val said in a firm but flat tone, eying Azel. "On my ship ...". Val motioned toward the loading ramp. "Show me." Val followed Azel onto his ship, making sure he didn't try anything stupid. Uploading the information onto his datapad with the other information pertaining to this case, Val exited the ship moments later to where Shandra was waiting.

"Well, that is all I am going to get out of this guy.." Val thought. "Hey new guy. He is all yours." Val looked over toward the other Jedi's location. Azel looked around nervously, wondering who Val was talking to.

Val was beginning to sense something approaching as well. Security, this man's pursuers, who knew. All he knew was that he wanted to be done and out of here once they arrived and have Azel in Republic custody.


[ooc: Anyone can determine what happens next. I am only here to guide the thread but anyone can add whatever they want. Makes it more interesting if we all feed off of each other's posts.]

Shandra's skill with Force sense made her particularly adept at empathy and telepathy. She avoided reading thoughts without permission, but Azel and his "friends" wore their thoughts on their sleeve. She knew how unsettling her abilities could be for others, and she saw an opportunity to use that to her advantage in the conversation with Azel. The extra bit of intimidation had worked as well as she hoped. Unfortunately, she sensed that he was telling the truth when he said he did not know any more about the smuggling ring than she and Val already knew.

Throughout the interrogation Shandra had been monitoring the shipyard through the Force to see if she felt any cause for concern. Two Twi'leks and a Rodian, Azel's gambling opponents, were searching the shipyard for him, but they did not seem to pose much of a threat. As far as she could tell security seemed fairly quiet.

Suddenly, Shandra gasped and dropped her lightsaber. She fell to her knees clutching her head. She felt as if the ripples she had sensed in the Force earlier had become a violent current rushing in to drown her. Someone...or something...was approaching. She tried to sense what was happening, but the world around her seemed to be submerged in a raging flood. In the middle of the confusion Shandra sensed a vision of the hanger bay and the shipyard consumed by flames. She could hear a voice in the background say, "We were too late. I'm afraid this is only the beginning."

"Val, the event I sensed earlier, it's coming." Shandra said "I'm not sure what it is, but it's coming.

(Sorry, I recently started work and I didn't have time till now to reply to the post.)

Eshen moved out from behind the crates to intersect the path that the newcomers were moving along, one hand also touching his head. A grimace stained his features as what was affecting Shandra also affected him. "Looks like I didn't need to interrogate him after all. He brought his friends to me." His lightsabers flew into his hands as he turned to face the three who then heralded a fourth. "Darth Avariss." Eshen turned his head slightly to the right to direct his words to the other two, "Run or stay, smuggler. Make your choice now. Shandra, this Sith is particularly skilled with creating illusions and manipulating your mind. Keep your defenses up and don't underestimate her skill with her twin-bladed saber. Deception and cunning are her weapons."

Eshen took in a deep breath and those Force sensitive could feel him compressing a significant amount of Force into his body right before he took on the first stance of Ataru: his balance focused on one leg, the other foot on his knee and turned defensively to the side, his back arm extended vertically with the yellow lightsaber turned towards the enemies, and the front arm bent in front of him with the second lightsaber also pointed to the oncoming foes.

"Deception and cunning are my weapons too..." Val thought, having cloaked and moved off to the side of the door before anyone entered the room; he would leave the up front fighting to the Jedi that looked to better at that sort of thing than he was. As they group of three entered, and then the fourth, Val took up a position behind and to the right of the group from the perspective of Shandra and the other Jedi.

The Darth walked in, ominously slowly as melodramatic Sith often did. Val watched, focusing on keeping his physical self and aura covered with all his attention, at least until she passed him and was focused on the two Jedi in front of her.

"Hello Eshen. I have been looking for you. And you found yourself a friend." She stood there, as if thinking for a moment. "Perhaps even a few new friends. Someone around here is very slippery." She looked around, feeling the presence of another but unaware of Val's actual location. She didn't look concerned. "Why must we always meet in such places? Can't we just sit and have a civil discussion like respectable members of society?" She smiled pleasantly, with her mouth at least. Her eyes were a different story entirely, belying wickedness and intent.

While Avariss was talking, Val moved behind something and dropped his cloak, needing to focus on other things. Using his wrist comm he relayed instructions to his astromech droid (http://evil-wizards.org/swtor-wiki/index.php?title=Val_Gith#Jak.2C_The_Mechanical_Droid) aboard his starship (http://evil-wizards.org/swtor-wiki/index.php?title=Val_Gith#Val.27s_Starship) to get the ship moving and be prepared for a flyby pickup. Jak was used to such maneuvers with Val as it simply involved dropping low with a side access hatch open and Val using a Force assisted jump to reach the craft. It never hurt to be prepared. Also, Val unslung his pack and took out a flash bang grenade. He could take down the three non-Force sensitives easily enough, which would take the pressure off of Shandra and the other Jedi to deal with this newly appeared Darth, something he could help with once the other three were incapacitated. His one blaster still set to knock out not kill, Val waited for his opportunity to strike, remaining hidden as best he could.


[OOC: I am not sure how you want to tie in this Darth with my smuggling plot line, so I am leaving the next development up to you Kael]

Shandra felt a wave of dizziness hit her as she struggled to clear her head. She began to meditate clearing her mind of every thought and emotion. As the Force flowed through her she was able to push the Sith's influence out of her mind. Shandra sprang to her feet and stretched out her right hand toward the floor where her light saber fell. As soon as the hilt hit her palm she ignited the two blue blades and shifted her stance to prepare for combat if necessary.

"T7, we need as much attention in the hangar as you can get and get yourself out," Eshen whispered into the comm in his ear before he launched high into the air towards the group. Considered a suicidal move by most, this was something Eshen was particularly skilled with as he deflected the multiple blaster shots and fended off the hissing crackles of Force electricity with one lightsaber as he descended like an asteroid into their midst. His landing also mirrored an asteroid impact as he sent out a gust of Force right as he landed which sent all but the Sith flying back. The Darth had anticipated such a move and leaped backwards. "A conversation with you is like submitting myself to a lobotomy. I'd rather let my lightsabers do the talking."

At that moment, the thrusters of Azel's ship fired up, pushing out massive gusts and forcing Eshen to move away. As baffling as it seemed, the ship ascended in the tiny hangar and attempted to turn around, toppling multiple containers, scratching a neighbouring vehicle, and tracing its white hot jets across the walls. The alarms began to sound too, sounding out a breach in the hangar. Darth Avariss sent out a wave of Force electricity to the cockpit to no avail then leaped towards it, managing only a scratch along the side of the hull just as the ship maneuvered its way out. Eshen paid attention to Avariss' attempts to stop the ship while looking for a weakness to exploit.

Shandra Force leaped out of the way as Azel's ship powered up landing in front of the Rodian. She deflected his blaster bolts with her lightsaber and cut the end of the blaster off with one of the blades. Then she turned off the blades and knocked him unconscious with the hilt of her lightsaber.

Shandra reached out in the Force and propelled a small shipping crate across the room toward the Sith.

Watching the fun start without him, Val moved and tossed a flash bang at the remaining two non-Force sensitives. It blew, leaving them disoriented, which allowed Val to level his blaster at them one at a time, firing a stunning shot, dropping them both to the ground.

"Jak, be ready to intercept a ship departing from landing pad G18." Val said into his wrist-comm. He did not intend to let Azel get away but it never hurt to be prepared. How Azel snuck aboard without him noticing was beyond Val; he must have been focusing all his attention on hiding himself and forgot to pay attention to the "little things".

Val ducked as the ship pivoted in place, getting ready to leave the hangar. Getting cornered behind some crates, he leapt over them and got clear of the white hot engine exhaust. While he was doing this the Darth was attempting to stop Azel from taking off by blasting the ship with Force lightning, which was having no effect. "Jak, the ship is going to try to make a jump as soon as it is out of orbit. Get a lock on its coordinates before it jumps and let it go, we will follow." Val knew if he instructed Jak to fire on Azel's ship it would probably end up with Jak getting shot out of the sky as well given the situation surrounding Ord Mantell presently.

Val had more pressing matters to deal with. While Val had gone rogue from the Jedi Order he still held true to his duties and the preservation of life was his first priority. Holstering his blaster, knowing it to be mostly useless in this situation, Val reached underneath his coat and withdrew one of his curved hilt sabers. "Three on one Darth, I would suggest surrender." Val shouted over the engine noise. Azel's starship was in position now and it moved to leave the hangar. Val stood there, lightsaber inactive in his hand, knowing his ability to help this fight was elsewhere. Focusing all his mental powers and aggression into a palpable mental object, Val thrust the mind shard (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mind_Shard) at the Darth's mind, hoping to catch her off guard as this was--strictly speaking--not a light side power or one often used by a Jedi, but it was something Val was good at. Most focused such a power with hate but Val simply used unfocused aggression to fuel this talent which was neither light nor dark but neutral.

Darth Avariss directed the crate tossed at her towards Azel's ship, causing a dent to its starboard panel but not slowing it down. She gave Shandra a look of annoyance then smirked when Val pulled out a lightsaber. "Little insects and their toys. Your allies do little to bolster your attempt to capture me, Eshen. Today, however, is not a good time for me to play." She took a step back and grasped her head when Val tried to penetrate her mind with the mind shard. The pain on her features was visible but then she turned the mind shard back on Val which slammed through his mental defenses like a knife through cloth, "Do not mingle with aspects of the dark side you do not understand, Jedi."

Darkness swallowed the whole room without warning and a wave of fear and panic pushed upon both Eshen's and Shandra's mind. It would not take long for them to recover but by the time they did, Avariss would have made her escape. Azel's ship also made its escape and broke atmosphere. Sounds of rushed footsteps could be heard. The soldiers in the facility finally gathered enough of itself to investigate. Eshen looked to the other two, "Normally, I would stay to explain the situation but I doubt they would see our participation as anything but the cause of this debacle." He started towards the exit where his astromech droid met up with him.

Val reeled from the assault his mind just took. "That was stupid.." Val thought to himself in reprimand. As the room went dark--for two reasons--he knew that the Darth would be gone and so would Azel. Hopefully Jak would be on top of things and get a reading of Azel's coordinates before he made his hyperspace jump.

Vision came back to Val and he saw that the room was now missing a dark sider and a spaceship. Through the dimming haze in his mind he realized security was on its way in. Even through the fading pain in his mind Val had all confidence that he could escape undetected but the same could not be said for Shandra.

Val quickly addressed the other two Jedi. "My droid is flying my ship and should have a scan of Azel's hyperspace coordinates. We can follow him and see where this leads." Val looked up as the dome above the landing area began to close. "Quickly!" And with that Val Force leapt straight up, arcing at the end of his jump to come to rest on the edge of the closing dome some 10m above. He had faith that the other Jedi could make the jump but was unsure of Shandra's capabilities. If needed they could aid her.

Shandra had sensed Val's pain and she felt the waves in the Force that indicated a mental attack. She rushed to his side.

"Are you alri...Ahh!" Just then she stumbled forward and leaned against the side of a shipping crate. She could not detect light; so the darkness the other two experienced meant nothing to her. Instead her senses flooded with a vision... a memory...from her worst nightmares. She was back on Coruscant right after she had returned from accompanying Master Kraylo to the "peace talks" standing in the rubble filled graveyard that had been the Jedi Temple. Just like that day she felt anger, grief, and guilt, but mostly she felt intense, crushing fear.

When her mind cleared Shandra sensed that Azel and Darth Avariss were nowhere to be found. She also sensed that several guards were on their way into the area and Eshen was on his way out the door. Shandra was considering attempting to talk to the guards when she heard Val say, "My droid is flying my ship and should have a scan of Azel's hyperspace coordinates. We can follow him and see where this leads..Quickly!"

Moments later he stood on the ledge overhead motioning for her to follow. Shandra was fairly good at accomplishing a simple, horizontal Force leap, but she had never been as skilled at the graceful acrobatics used by some of  her friends who chose to become Knights. Nonetheless, she saw few other options. Shandra leaped a short distance into the air onto a large shipping crate then jumped upward and grabbed the dome cover for a few seconds. A moving target was not easy to hold onto, and she screamed as her hands slipped from the edge.

Eshen nodded to Val's plan and followed him upwards. He attempted to grab at Shandra but missed her by inches. T7 followed with its own boosters and caught Shandra with a cable that wrapped around her waist. It lagged a little bit and compensated with an extra push from its thrusters. Eshen helped pull Shandra up while also trying to hold the dome from closing before she was up with them. The effort physically straining his mind and body. From below, orders were being given to re-open the dome to capture the fleeing individuals.

"Why is the wrong side always hunting me?" Val muttered with a shake of his head. Pulling Shandra up as the dome closed, he looked at the two Jedi. "My droid Jak probably has Azel's coordinates so we can follow him. I don't know why you, " Val looked at Eshen, "are after him but I would assume it is for good reason." He looked to Shandra. "I need you to take this evidence to the good General and make sure he cleans house starting with with Lieutenant Hunt and then the smuggler ring." Val handed her the datapad with the money evidence and contact information for Azel and the illegal landing codes he had cooked up. "That should be enough to get the ball rolling there."

Val looked around. They were standing on top of a landing area dome, the sky above them and a lot of building roof around them. Escape would be easy from here--escape usually was for Val.

If the other two were apprehended they would simply pull rank as Jedi and they would be fine. Val, on the other hand, had no such authority or rank anymore. Getting caught would mean a lot of questions and the Order trying to claw him back into its ranks. Val could not afford the delay as he needed to be after Azel. However, with the newly appeared Darth in the mix, Val was out of his normal league and into something entirely different. Val was good enough to slip past most people completely unnoticed and even good enough with his sabers to take on several droids or apprentice/padawan level Force adepts but beyond that he was destined to lose and encounter than was a straight up fight. If this corruption spread far enough for the Sith Empire to be taking direct notice of it through one of its Darths, Val was going to need some backup beyond his ship and his astromech droid Jak.

It was getting on in the day and the local star was waning in the sky. "Meet back up at my ship tomorrow morning at sunrise. Dock Delta landing pad B14. If you want to pursue this further I will be leaving the planet then. See ya." He winked and disappeared, knowing there would be pursuit shortly from building security. He bound off toward his ship to confer with his droid and see where his next port of call would be as well as to purchase some supplies he might need for this newly dangerous mission. He still had some cash left from the last criminal organization he took down and had liberated funds from. He had spent the majority of it on the blasters he carried but not all of it. Might as well pick up a few more supplies from the smugglers before they were busted.

Val laughed at the irony of the situation to himself as the ran off.

 As Val left Shandra noticed the time. It was getting late in the day and she would just barely have enough time to go back to the base and change before the evening's diplomatic proceedings began. She would have preferred to start earlier in the day, but one of the local bureaucrats thought it would be a wonderful idea to begin the negotiations over dinner

"Thank you for your assistance, Eshen. It was lovely seeing you again, but I am afraid I must take my leave. Shandra said "Perhaps we will meet again in the morning."

Shandra found a maintenance ladder leading off of the roof. Just as she was about to climb down she saw two guards walk underneath the ladder. She reached out in the Force across the shipyard and knocked over a toolbox sitting outside of a nearby hanger. The guards ran over to see what had happened, and she slipped off the roof. She sensed another set of guards searching the area around the corner from the aisle where she was standing. She walked over to a stack of a few small, empty crates a good distance away from the dome where Eshen was hiding  and used the Force to pull them toward her knocking her to the ground. Sure enough, the guards ran over to investigate the noise. When they saw Shandra on the ground they rushed over to move the shipping crates.

"Are you alright, Ma'am?" one of the guards asked as he reached down to pull Shandra to her feet.

"Why yes, yes, I'm alright. I was fortunate those crates were empty. I was on my way back from retrieving something that I forgot on my ship when three suspicious looking individuals ran through and knocked me into these crates. She said. There was no Force behind Shandra's deception this time. It was just a straight forward lie, and she dearly hoped that the guards would believe her, or at least that she could distract them long enough for Eshen and Val to escape.

"Did you see which way they went?"

"Well, it all happened so fast, but I do believe they were running that way." Shandra pointed in the opposite direction of Val's ship. The guard spoke into his commlink. A moment later the rest of the guards came out of the building and headed in the direction that Shandra had indicated. The guard who had helped her offered to escort her to the Republic base. Shandra felt something strange about this man, but she worried that refusing a safety precaution might raise his suspicions.

The guard stopped at an old, abandoned  warehouse near the Republic base and knocked on the door in a strange rhythm. Almost immediately a teenage boy answered the door.

"Is this the Jedi?" He asked tiliting his head toward Shandra. She could feel three other lifeforms inside the warehouse.

"Please come inside, Consular Ivari." the guard said. Before Shandra had time to react he grabbed her arms and pulled her into the warehouse.

"What is going on here? How do you know my name?" Shandra asked. A male Duros, a human man, and a female Twi'lek walked over to the door.

" We mean you no harm, Consular Ivari. We just want to talk. We have been looking for an opportunity to talk to you all day. We represent the Sepratist group." the Duros said.

"So you decided to kidnap me? instead of speaking with me at the negotiations?"

"Please hear us out. This was the only way we could tell you the truth before the corrupt, bureaucratic scum had the chance to lie to you. I know you represent the Republic's interests on this planet, but please hear us out. Not all is as it seems." The Duros handed Shandra a datapad. "We have evidence here of some of the 'executive decisions' our dear government has made 'for the good of the people. Please, just read it, that's all we ask."

Shandra nodded and left the warehouse without a word. She skimmed the datapad as she walked to the base. She was shocked at the contents. There were reports of rampant corruption at every level of the Ord Mantell government. She began to see that loyalty to the Republic was merely a convenience that would allow the politicians to maintain the status quo.

When Shandra reached the base she felt for General Thorn in the Force. She sensed that he was out on the shooting range. She did not want to disturb him while he had a blaster in his hand; so she decided to leave Val's evidence on his desk after copying it into her own datapad. Then she sent a droid to tell the General that she had left him a message. She had reached her guest quarters long before he returned. After changing for dinner Shandra sent copies of the Sepratists' report and Val's evidence to Eshen, Val, and Master Avin Naa on Tython.

Dinner was somewhat less than successful. The food was pleasant enough, but most of the guests were too busy shouting at each other to enjoy it. Shandra attempted to be the voice of reason, but noone seemed to feel like being reasonable. After what seemed like an eternity of chaos and confusion a protocol droid approached the table and told Shandra that she had an urgent call from Tyhton. She walked to her quarters and activated the holonet screen. The image of a male Togruta in a Jedi Knight's robes flickered onto the viewscreen.

"By order of the Jedi Council, you are to withdraw from the diplomatic proceedings on Ord Mantell and return to Tython immediately."

"Master Naa, what is wrong?" Shandra asked "Has there been an emergency on Tython?"

"Shandra, what the blazes did you think you were doing? You were sent to Ord Mantell to convince the Sepratists to maintain ties with the Republic, not to interfere with local law enforcement."

"But Master Naa, the Sepratists have some strong reasons for their actions. There is a great deal of corruption here, and we cannot achieve peace until it is rooted out."

"The purpose is not to achieve peace. It is to maintain balance. The Republic cannot afford to lose any more planets, and the Order cannot afford to lose what little favor we have left." Master Naa said, obviously straining to maintain his composure."I suppose I ought to have expected this of Wiln's Padawan. Your master had the same misguided ideals."

"My master was your friend" Shandra hissed.

He was a fool. I have already sent a message informing the government representatives that you will not be returning to the negotiations. I expect you to leave the planet first thing in the morning."

The screen went blank. Shandra got up and dragged her bag from underneath the bed. She threw in he hairbrush, a spare mask, and three sets of robes. She would be leaving first thing in the morning, but she would not be returning to Tython.

Shandra left the base and headed toward the shipyard. She wanted to meet Val early to talk with him about the information she had received from the Sepratists. Suddenly she sensed seven men approaching her. General Thorn, Lieutenant Hunt, the doorkeeper who thought she was an eyeless freak, and four others  surrounded her.

"I told you we don't like Jedi poking their noses into our business." Thorn growled

Shandra ignited the blades of her lightsaber in time to deflect the first wave of blaster bolts. She cut apart the blasters held by the two men to her left. Then she Force pushed the doorkeeper into a nearby alley.

Shandra  swung her saber staff in rapid arcs around her deflecting the attacks, but she did not often fight so many opponents alone. She had trouble keeping up with all of them. She didn't notice General Thorn's stun bolt until she felt a tingling pain in her head and her senses dimmed.

Eshen made use of the distraction that Shandra provided and slid off the far side of the hangar. He snuck away successfully and made his way back to his ship with T7 which he hid in a valley in the distance. The Corellian Corvette could not hide itself discreetly but it recognized only his presence and T7's codes which made it difficult to infiltrate. That and its automatic targeting lasers should warn off any potential intruders. He made his way up the hangar and proceeded to the communications room while T7 went to repair itself. He sent out a cloaked signal to Coruscant where Master Horkin was awaiting his report, "Master Horkin, do you read me? Master Horkin?"

"Eshen? Are you alright? How was your meeting with the pirate?"

"There was no meeting, Master, but being there accomplished our goal."

"Yes, I felt the disturbance. Were you successful in capturing Darth Avariss?"

"No, master. It seems that she was also after Azel. I had help in fending her off, however. Consular Shandra Ivari was present as was another individual who was particularly strong with the force. He dressed like a smuggler but he possessed a lightsaber and was proficient with it. Darth Avariss escaped and I assume in pursuit of Azel. I will meet with the smuggler again tomorrow."

"Ah, yes. I was told she was there on diplomatic matters. Is she safe?"

"I believe so. She seems capable of handling herself."

"Request her help if you need it and pursue Darth Avariss as soon as you have enough aid. The information she possesses is crucial in averting a war."

"I understand, master. I will find her and subdue her." Eshen turned off the communications array and went to meditate on the day's events and perhaps receive some wisdom from the Force. Later into the evening as he performed some research, he felt danger in the vicinity of a Force user. Was it Shandra or the other? Or perhaps a newcomer? Not wanting to wait, he left the ship and traveled by STAP. He searched to Force for both Shandra and the smuggler as he got closer.

"Beeeep booopp bippitey blip"

"Huh? What did Shandra send me?" Val was unloading some crates of supplies he had stocked up on since he didn't know when he would next be able to take on supplies. Jak, his astromech droid, rolled over and displayed something for Val to see. Val sat down on some crates and began reading. "Oh, well. Looks like the separatists are spinning their own stories of corruption. I am hard pressed to disbelieve what they have in this report given my own discoveries. Says here it goes all the way up to the top. I bet the good General isn't going to like that when he hears about it." Val chuckled.

The chuckle died in his throat as he thought through what he had just said. "And the Republic base rife with corruption is exactly where Shandra is right now ..." Val shook his head, debating his next course of action.

"Whoooop beep bip bim blooop"

"You can do that? Oh .." Val shrugged his shoulders. "Cool. Where is she now?"

Val looked at a holographic map displayed by Jak indicating his own position aboard his ship and Shandra's last known location from Jak hacking her comm and pinging it. "Patch me through please Jak." Val waited for a response but as Jak opened the comm link all Val got was some static and loud noises that sounded suspiciously like blasters ...

"Gone and got herself in trouble again I see." Val ran to a weapon's cabinet and withdrew a long barrelled rifle with a large and expensive scope on it. "Spot me would ya Jak?" Val pulled out a cord that connected Jak's sensor array to the scope of his rifle and ran out of his ship, looking for a good vantage spot to snipe from. "Help me out here Jak. Can't kill em, just gotta take out their weapons or their ability to use them." Jak beeped obediently.

Finding a good vantage point Val Force leapt up and Jak followed on his thrusters. Clicking out the two supporting arms on his rifle Val kneeled and braced the rifle on the ledge in front of him. He ran the wire into one of Jak's ports and the droid took up a position beside him. Gauging the distance, elevation, and all other pertinent information for Val, all he had to do was aim true. Val looked down his scope and saw Shandra as she fended off a group of men. "7 on 1. Not nice odds for the lady..."

Val took aim on the General's shooting arm. He was taking aim on Shandra and was holding his arm outstretched and pretty still. Val couldn't get a bead on his fast enough to stop his shot but he got his own shot off shortly after.

The soft whoosh of plasma burning its way through the air to its target was heard as the General's firing hand was taken off at the wrist...

"Nice ..." Val muttered to himself as he took aim again.

Shandra crumpled to the ground unconscious. The General shouted as a blaster bolt severed his wrist. The other men in the group looked around trying to find the origin of the blaster fire. They began shooting in the direction it seemed to have come from. In midst of the confusion Lieutenant Hunt picked Shandra up and slung her over his shoulder.

"You stay here and help the General. I'll take this one and proceed with our plan." Hunt shouted. He tried to slip away from the fight.

Eshen caught Shandra's presence as he got closer as well as seven other individuals of which he recognized only the general's. He hopped off the STAP as he got closer but did not rush into the midst as he sensed the hostile emotions. Things then cascaded in a wave of events. Shandra's consciousness faded, the general yelled in pain, and he heard the person attempting to run off with Shandra. He waited around the corner of the alley with one inactive lightsaber in his hand then as soon as Hunt passed him by Eshen tripped him with the Force and making him faceplant. He ensured Hunt stayed down with a firm boot to the face. He pulled Shandra up and laid her against the wall, patting her cheek, "Shandra, wake up. Can't have you knocked out while your enemies are just around the corner." He kept his ears and Force awareness open while trying to rouse her, hoping whatever caught their attention held it there for a little while longer.

Val saw Shandra go down and attempted a shot on Hunt before he rounded a corner with her unconscious body, missing by a bit.

The General went down crying in pain at his severed hand. The other 5 minus Lieutenant Hunt continued to fire sporadically as they tried to zero in on where the first shot came from. Val fired a few bursts into the group sending them scattering to get behind cover. He continued to fire just above their heads sporadically to keep them pinned down.

"Someone has to have noticed an open fire fight by now..." Val thought, hoping some loyal Republic troopers would be by in a while to clean things up. "Jak, activate comms to Shandra would you?" Jak bleeped obediently and opened up a channel.

"Shandra, you ok?" came out of Shandra's wrist comm. Val listened over a few random shots for a reply or a clue as to her current situation. Val had to duck down behind his ledge as he got lazy with his suppressing fire and the 5 men got more courageous and began to organize some counter-fire.

Shandra struggled against the hazy disorientation to regain consciousness. Someone was standing in front of her holding her against a wall. She screamed and struggled against him for a moment until her senses cleared enough to focus.

"Eshen, it's you! General Thorn, Lieutenant Hunt, and others attacked me on my way out of the base. What happened?"

Shandra regained more of her focus and sensed a swirl of chaos and confusion. General Thorn was reeling in pain. Lieutenant Hunt lay at her feet, and the other soldiers were trying to fire at an unseen enemy. Shandra smiled, and extended her reach a little farther. Sure enough, Val, the "unseen enemy" was positioned on a nearby roof with a rifle and a droid. Just then Shandra heard Val's voice coming from her wrist comm.

"Shandra, you ok?"

"Yes, Val, I'm alright. Eshen is here with me. It appears that he stopped Lieutenant Hunt from absconding with me after I was knocked unconscious."  

Shandra slowly slipped out of the alley. Most of the soldiers were too distracted by the blaster fight with Val to notice her. Unfortunately, that might not last very long. She had dropped her lightsaber right in the middle of the area where they were standing. Shandra gently reached out in the Force and tried to ease her saber hilt toward her, sliding it along the ground around the soldiers' feet. She hoped they would be too distracted by the fight to notice.

[[OOC: Just a note, plasma/laser technology does not cause bleeding. It auto-cauterizes the wound.]]

Val heard a reply on his comm from Shandra. Appeared as if she was doing ok. "Good enough for me," he thought.

He knew that he couldn't keep them pinned down for much longer since they were organizing and returning fire. Instead, Val just slipped back from his perch and leapt off of the back of the building, Jak following on his thrusters.

Val felt as if he needed to alert the authorities to this mess but given who was involved that seemed like a bad option. Taking prisoners seemed like the best idea for now. He slung his rifle and headed toward the group and where Shandra was located to help disarm and calm the situation so that they could take the General and Lieutenant into custody and turn them over to the Jedi since the Republic officials in the area could obviously not be trusted.

Val pulled out his second and last flash bang grenade as he moved, priming it and throwing it into the midst of the 5 that were now turning to their injured general without the suppressing fire from Val. As everyone staggered from the grenade Val ran in and grabbed the General, laying a hand on his forehead and knocking him out cold with a hard nudge to his mind. Val dragged him away before anyone recovered but not far enough to not be easily caught. Basically curling up with the unconscious General against a wall, Val dropped his Force cloak around himself and the General and waited for the troops to hopefully panic without their leader and leave the scene.

"It seems like you've endeared yourself to the General and his men," Eshen smirked with a slight curl on his lips in the dark alley. He gave her a once over to make sure she's not hurt then peeked around the corner to see where the general's troopers were concentrating their fire. "Is this Val the same person from last night?"

He tried to get a count of the positions of the thugs as well as the general's form on the ground. "I guess he's going to need some help to pull the fire from him..." he muttered and pulled his lightsaber into his empty hand when the fire stopped simultaneously and something rolled on the ground. Eshen turned away quickly and fumbled poor cover his ears just as the loud bang and bright flash blinded the poor fools. He blinked a few times and was mildly relieved that his eyes weren't affected but his ears were still ringing.

"Where is he?" he semi-shouted at Shandra.

Shandra sensed Eshen's attempt to take cover, and ducked back into the alley. She covered her ears against the noise of the grenade, but it still left a sharp ringing in her ears. She used the soldiers' distraction as an opportunity to pull her lightsaber through the air toward her. Then she focused her senses in the Force. To her surprise, General Thorn was no longer among his men. She could feel from them that he had simply disappeared into thin air. They were panicking and thinking about things like superstitious tales, ghosts, and Sith tricks. A few seconds later, she felt Eshen's question more than she heard it.

"Where is he?"

Shandra probed the Force for General Thorn. She could not feel him. Then she noticed that she couldn't really feel Val anymore either. She strained her Force sense to feel the slightest trace of either of them. Then she felt the same faint, hazy slivers of aura she felt in the hanger bay. That told her what she needed to know.

"I believe Val took General Thorn, and they are cloaked against that wall over there. We had best take this opportunity to incapacitate the soldiers."

With that Shandra used the Force to propel her lightsaber hilt into the crowd and knock the nearest two soldiers unconscious before pulling it back to her hand.

Val watched from his spot lying on the ground with the unconscious General. Seeing two of the remaining 5 drop to the ground in rapid succession, he saw that his guess that two Jedi who were far better at melee fighting than he is could easily take down 5 men gently enough. Taking the General out of their midst had the desired effect of sewing some chaos and disorder in their ranks.

Val lay there waiting for the fight to end. While waiting Val mused over how much his little smuggling investigation had turned up. And apparently this was all linked to another Jedi serving the order on a completely different investigation. So many planets, so many people, but a common thread of corruption was present wherever Val traveled.

As Shandra and Eshen mopped up the remaining 3 conscious men, Val dropped his cloak and sat up. "Fancy meeting you here Shandra. I do hope you took a copy of that evidence I gave you before turning it over to our friend here." Val indicated the unconscious General lying on the ground beside him. "And where is our friend Lt. Hunt? I do hope he didn't get away." Val stood up and dusted his duster off, the irony of that not escaping him. "I guess the real question now is, who do we turn these guys into given that the entire Republic base deserves a thorough investigation from an outside source. And I need to get off after Azel and so does this Jedi," Val indicated Eshen, having still not gotten his name.

"Who can you contact in the Order to get the necessary people here to get this mess sorted out while I am on my way doing what I do best? I am more of an investigator, not crisis management. I leave that to the authorities like you good Jedi." Val smiled and gave a respectful half bow and a wave of his hand toward the two Jedi.

"Lieutentant Hunt is lying in that alley over there. Eshen was kind enough to knock him unconscious." Shandra said pointing to a nearby alley. Then she removed a datapad from her bag and handed it to Val."I did in fact make copies of the evidence. I sent one of them to Master Avin Naa of the Jedi council, excluding any mention of you of course. He was not very pleased with my new found interest in local law enforcement. He seems to feel that it would be advantageous to the Republic if we left the state of affairs on Ord Mantell as they are. He has ordered me to cease diplomatic negotiations at once,discontinue my pursuit of this issue, and return to Tython. I have no intention of obliging him, and I was on my way to tell you I would like to accompany you on your investigation when the General informed me that he and his men wanted a word with me. It was hard to detect their thoughts in all of the chaos, but I believe they intended to kill me in such a way that would implicate one of the brigands who frequent this world with involvement in my death."

He nodded to Shandra, "Nicely done." He gives the similar nod to Val when he approaches. "I do need to track down Azel but other matters are pulling me from this pursuit. My name is Eshen. Eshen Virol. Perhaps our paths will cross again. And Shandra, I will keep the evidence and pursue other avenues of corruption in the Republic. This treaty takes a larger toll than anticipated. Let me know if you need someone to testify against the general." Eshen surveys the area and makes sure there aren't anymore nasty surprises before turning back to the two, "Be safe and may the Force be with you." He bows and makes his way back to his ship.

Val nodded to the two of then. "Let's get these men off the street and into custody Shandra"


Val and Shandra got Republic security to help them get the General, Lt. Hunt, and the other five men into a Republic holding facility while task forces were sent out to arrest the smugglers Val had previously identified and confiscate all smuggled goods. However, this was just the beginning. Shandra had a big job ahead of herself to get the proper people to bring the corrupt to justice so that Ord Mantell could see a little less rebellion and war. Val made sure that the men were in custody before he aimed to move on.


Val bowed to Shandra. "Although this is not the easy road to take, I believe we have started something good with all of this. However, more corruption lies elsewhere and I must pursue Azel before his trail goes cold. Hopefully he has not already left Nar Shaddaa and I can pick up his trail there. With the appearance of Eshen and that Darth I would imagine I will run into far more trouble before this comes to an end. Thanks for all the help and I would imagine we will see each other again someday. Perhaps on Coruscant or Tython if I ever visit that planet again." Val smiled.

Shandra did have a lot of work ahead of her. After Val left she once again contacted the Jedi council with news of the situation. Master Naa had told them nothing of the information she sent him, but their reactions were only slightly better than his. They requested that the Republic government send troops to arrest and replace the weapons dealers, but they refused to do anything about the corruption in the local government.

A few weeks later Shandra was ready to turn the rest of the investigation over to the new soldiers. When she approached the Ord Mantell shipping yard for what she hoped to be the last time she sensed the smugglers and corrupt troopers being led onto a Republic military ship. The Republic government felt it was best to prosecute them off world. Shandra felt a familiar Zabrak female approaching her. Lieutenannt Nelani Olan had grown up near the Jedi Temple on Coruscant where her father was stationed as a guard.

"You really made some waves here, Shandra. This case will be tied up in court for months." Nelani said. "It sounds like it was about frakkin time someone stepped in, though. I met General Thorn when I was in training. Don't know how the mother kriffin son of a sith harlot stayed in the army so long let alone got promoted."

"This still doesn't fix the corruption in the government here, Nel. How can you stay here and fight the sepratists knowing that they may have valid complaints?"

"It's not easy, Shandra, but it comes down to this. They're ways of expressing those valid complaints are endangering Republic citizens. It's my job to protect Republic citizens." Nelani replied. There was a moment of silence between the two women. A crowd had formed to watch the former Republic soldiers as they were led away in shame.

"Headed back to Tython?" Nelani asked.

"Yes. I'm going there until my next assignment, or until...well, until I decide how I feel about the political situation."

"Thinking of leaving like Master Kraylo did, are you?" Nelani chuckled.  "Well, I'd better get back to work. Take care, and remember this isn't Coruscant ."

" May the Force be with you, Friend."

Shandra walked toward the transport that would take her to Tyhton. She thought about the stance the Order had taken about the situation on Ord Mantell. Perhaps Val was right and politics were getting in the way of their effectiveness.Either way, she had done everything that could be done on Ord Mantell for the time being. As she left the area she could hear Nelani talking to the crowd of onlookers who had gathered.

"Move along people, nothing more to see here."