Episode 3: Answers and Allies

[tomcat]

STAR WARS: BLACK SUN

Episode 3: Answers and Allies
Dark times - the galaxy begins to understand how this
new Empire shall rule. The Emperor along with his servant,
Darth Vader have clenched many key systems in their fist and
begun to squeeze. Those that do not abide this new government
are swept away, and those that do find they have lost all control.

Having tried to disappear into the vastness of the Galaxy,
the heroes found that there are forces that seek them out - for good or ill.
With no other choice, they aim themselves back to the one who set them on
their path to try and find answers. And so by doing, they hope, too, that from
it shall also come an ally.

[tomcat]

It had been Kaida's question that had made them all take pause, after the Aegis had entered hyperspace. Where were they jumping to?

Caden had not realized where he was plotting, only that he was, and now that they had disappeared from Bespin's system did he look. He had drawn up an older plot, one that was still in the nav computer - the one that had set these changes in his life in motion. With things calm, and everyone able to think, Kara looked at her navigational screen and saw the jump in relation to time and destination. Alderaan... and they would not get there for another full day. The Aegis was heading back into the core of the Galaxy, where the Empire maintained its strongest hold and Kara wondered if that was a good plan.

She looked up to see that the entire group now stood on the flight deck, and were congratulating one another for their successes. Her eyes went back to the nav screen, then to Caden who sat silently through it all.

[tomcat]

The doors to the small cantina opened and a shadow entered the smoke-filled room. The hood was drawn up over his head and there was nothing but darkness obscuring the face. The shape pushed through the crowd, some even made room for his passing, until he came to a table where sat a lone figure.

"I do not take lightly to orders," came the whispered voice.

"Well then, you should see to it that the jobs you are paid for are completed," answered Puk. The Rodian looked up at Shade with a bit more defiance than might have been safe, but relaxed his guard when the dark jedi sat down. Around them, the cantina went back to its normal rancor of conversation and music. Shade drew back his hood and Puk made a grimace at the ghoulish face that now stared at him. There were new tattoos covering the jedi's face all the way to the hairline, which was drawn back tightly into a short pony tail. Puk continued, "Varta has obtained new information from a series of networks. It seems that Ranie's investigators ran to Bespin after they left here. The BOSS has record of a Loronar explorer, named the Aegis, was docked there for almost a month. Last word is it departed quickly when the Empire arrived. It seems that Vader is making face out here on the fringes... you might want to be careful."

Puk smiled at his joke, as he raised his hand to order another drink. "Anyway," he went on. "Where they have run to now is yours to deal with, but you might have some competition. A bounty hunter named Sallo is now on their trail, too. Seems that these heroes have picked up a noblewoman from Commenor. I guess that when the Empire started its crackdown of anti-Imperial order, Commenor and it aristocratic rulers were one of the first to go. Oh well... Varta doesn't care about the noblewoman - Sallo can have her, but he wants the rest of them silenced."

"Why does this Hutt care? What can they do to him?"

"Well, nothing I guess. I think it is just a matter of slight. They messed in Varta the Hutt's business and he has been offended."

"Really? That is all it takes?" Shade asked with a sneer.



"Sometimes," was the short answer. "Needless to say, you have been paid and the job must be done. Maybe you should not have been so quick to send me off of Bakura."

The Shade suddenly stood up, a dark-cloaked menace that now towered over Puk. He wrenched the table out from between them both. "Here is what I think... you were a fool to try and cover your tracks of your assassination by pegging it to the Black Sun and now maybe, just maybe, Varta has new pressures on him that he never intended. My own sources have confirmed that the Imperial Governor has taken up the investigation of the two senators' deaths on Bakura and he has also stymied the namana production there. I even hear that he has cracked down on the death stick distribution which has the Bando Gora stirred up. So with one foolish kill, Varta has offended the Vigos of the Sun, the strange cult of the Gora, and involved the Empire."

"What of it!" Puk cringed under the shadow. "None of them compare to any of the Hutt Kaijidics. Varta has more resources deeply rooted and has nothing to fear!"

The bright flash of Shade's lightsaber illumniated the immediate area and Puk's head rolled from his shoulders. The rest of the body slid from the chair to crumple on the floor. "He has only to fear the stupidity of his own servants," the Shade said to the dead Rodian. He deactivated his lightsaber and looked around at all of the patrons staring at him. There was fear in the room as thick as the smoke.

Shade breathed in deeply and then drew his cloak up over his head. He strode out of the Cantina and onto the streets of Mos Eisley. He would finish this job, if not now for the Hutt, for his own desire. He would need an ally though, someone good with computers and electronic systems. The dark jedi activated his comlink, "I am looking for Hacks... you know where I might find him?"

[watanabe]

Kara looked at the screen again... Alderaan.  A peaceful planet, but there was an Imperial presence there, as there was everywhere.  She looked at Caden with a raised eyebrow.

"Alderaan?  We are heading back towards the core?  I have a bad feeling about this..." her words trailed off as she looked through the cockpit watching the elongated stars streak past them.

[Jingo]

Kaida could only nod her head in agreement. Alderaan? What was Caden thinking? She crossed her arms and leaned against the bulkhead listening to the conversation. Very likely he wasn't thinking, she frowned. The core... It was suicide. But she would hold her tongue and find out what was going on.

[ZehnWaters]

"Alderaan?!"  Britton shouted.  "The Core?  What were you thinking?  We just escaped the Empire, now we're walking into their front yard?

[donimator]

Sam's scavenged protocol droid circuitry calculated the odds of survivng a trip into the Empire-held core. His battle droid processor, though, knew when to keep his vocalizer muted.

[BrianM]

"An interesting choice for our destination, friend Caden. The Rancor's reach is long indeed, yet we move in close where it cannot grasp. I had thought our quarry was at Tattooine, yet fate takes us to Alderaan. What is there that will help us?"

[tomcat]

Okay, I am going to take over Shawn's PC's so we can move the game on. Not sure when he will be able to play again, if at all, but will continue playing Caden until I hear from him. I do know that he stops in daily, so he is out there.



Caden looked a bit surprised. Alderaan? It had not been intentional, nor was the course set in stone. They could drop from hyperspace and calculate another jump at any time, but maybe there was something else guiding them.

The Bestinian looked at the nav computer and then back to all of the questioning faces, "It wasn't my intention to take us back into the Core... it was just a coordinate that was in the computer and I just wanted to get the Aegis out of there. I wasn't too concerned as to where the end of the line would be. But now that we are on our way, maybe it might prove useful."

Caden could sense all of the incredulous looks, though they were hidden on some faces. "Now wait..." he said, holding up his hands. "I was originally called to aid my friend Ranie on Bakura, and he wanted me to transport a fellow off of Alderaan. Some of you knew him - Dan Qinos - who died when Ranie's mansion fell into the sea. Well, Ranie was friends with his fellow senator, Bail Organa, on Alderaan. Ranie thought that Qinos was some kind of Jedi... and Organa must have believed it, too. Turns out that that was news to Dan, although he seemed to be Force-sensitive..." Caden could tell that he still needed to explain to his companions, "Well maybe this jump to Alderaan could prove useful - maybe we can get some answers, and maybe some help, from Senator Organa."

[tomcat]

"It seems that there has been some questions made regarding your mark," said the unattached voice over the ship's comm system.

Sallo sat back, "Yea, who?"

"Some Hutt security guard, named Puk. Seems he was collecting information through multiple channels, including the Guild's."

"So the Hutts are interested in this ship?" Sallo thought out loud. "Seems so," was the reply.

"Well maybe I can capitalize on this good fortune... maybe this Loronar explorer just became a ship full of marks." Corbin went to thumb his communicator off, "See if you can get me a meeting with this Hutt."

"I will try."

"Oh, and by the way... let me know, too, if you hear anything more about Fett looking into the Guild's marks."

"Yea, sure..." and the comm channel filled with static as the voice disconnected.

Sallo turned back to his scanner. His ship floated in the vast nothingness of space, waiting. He just needed Kaida and her friends to drop from hyperspace, and then the homing beacon that he had attached to their ship would commence transmitting. It was nothing but basic noise that would be picked up by the many interstellar comm relays that were scattered throughout the Galaxy. His ship's scanners were tuned to the particular frequency and once they picked it up, he would be able to follow it to them.

The bounty hunter looked out of the bridge view canopy at the stars that glimmered so far away. He grunted at his mind's introspection and decided he'd make better use of his time by going to the galley. Corbin stood, stretched and walked off the bridge deck and into the ship.

[Jingo]

"Senator Organa?" Kaida mused outloud, her eyes fixing on Caden. She knew Organa openly professed loyalty to the Empire; of course it was foolish not to do so these days. Yet, she couldn't help wondering, how much was perceived loyalty and how much was an act? For a moment she wondered how much of her own life the past few weeks and months would have been different had her home planet of Commenor tried to work within the system, to perhaps undermine the Empire from within...

She pulled her mind back to the present and frowned. "Do you think we can trust him?"

Wondering if her father would have had contact with Bail Organa since the bio on him in "Force Unleashed" book says he "...worked behind the scenes to aid the nascent resistance movements sprouting up across the galaxy..." but maybe that's in the future?

[watanabe]

Kara put her head in hands and shook her head as if saying no would make this situation going away.

They were going back to the core.

To a world with Imperial presence.

And now they wanted to meet with a Senator.

She had half a mind to just do an emergency shut off on the hyperdrive and let them try and find a new location to go to, but somehow she had the feeling that it wouldn't go down well with the rest of the crew.  Kara started thinking about the wanted posters that would probably be up by now, the Empire was efficient, and would surely be able to track the coordinates they left from in hyperspace.

"Call me crazy, but might it be smart to come out of the system a little bit early, just in case the Imps are waiting for us?"

[tomcat]

Caden thought Kara's idea was sound, and as for Kaida's concerns, "Can we trust him? I am not sure, but if he is harboring jedi, or Force-users, he might be. Maybe as Kara suggests, we drop out of hyperspace early and then we send a discreet message. See what that does."

The Bestinian looked around at his companions to see if they agreed.



Hey Jared, let me get a firm timeframe of our game in comparison to the Force Unleashed story, and canon - I know I have this game during the Rise of the Empire, but I forget what dates I posed.  I will look on Wookipedia to see how long after the Clone Wars that Vader rampaged the Galaxy, before he took his apprentice, and before the initial talks of a formation of an Alliance.

I will get back to you whether or not your family had communications with Organa. I should get an answer back to you before the end of the day.

[BrianM]

Brim sat quietly, listening to Caden's explanation for their surprising trip to Alderaan. So Dan was a force user. Deep down the Rodian had known it all along. He stared at his hands, feeling the newly awakened forces within them and throughout the rest of his body, all on account of his encounter with the mysterious shadowy jedi and the murder of his friend. Perhaps this Bail Organa would understand what was happening to him.

"Alderaan it is then. I for one would like to meet this senator. We all have many questions, and perhaps through him we will find the answers we seek."

[watanabe]

"I don't know about force users, Jedi, and all those other made up religions, but if the senator can help us out, we should send him a long range encrypted message first.  For all we know, this could just be another Imperial trap."