[SW-TOR] Indirect Service of the Republic [Finished]

[Gith]

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.

[Gith]

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.

[Gith]

"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.]]

[Gith]

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.

[Catri]

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?"

[Gith]

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, 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.]]

[Catri]

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."

[Gith]

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."

[Catri]

"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?"

[Gith]

"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.

[Catri]

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? "

[Gith]

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.

[Catri]

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. "

[Gith]

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; 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 : ) ]]

[Catri]

[[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]]

[Gith]

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.

[Catri]

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.

[Gith]

[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?"

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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 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."

[Catri]

"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

[Gith]

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.