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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.

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.

(http://rpg.avioc.org/webimages/starwars/puk.jpg)

"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?"

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.

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.

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

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.

"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?"

:ooc: 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."

"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.

"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?"

:ooc: 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?

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?"

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.

---

:ooc: 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.

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."

"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."

"I agree," Kaida nodded. "Whether he is working against the Empire and harboring force users, remains to be seen. Even if he is, there are bound to be Imperial spies watching him closely. We should be cautious."

Caden nodded, "All right then, when the Aegis gets into comm range, we'll drop from hyperspace and transmit an encrypted message to Organa. If it looks, and feels safe, we'll arrange a meeting."

Aboard the ISD Vigilance, Moff Thieraan stood looking out of the massive bridge viewports down on the silent planet of Bakura, and her northern polar cap. He had brought in a second of his Venator-class destroyers to maintain a hemispherical Imperial presence over the planet, while the investigation of the two senators' deaths was conducted. It stretched his remaining forces thin in their coverage of his sector, but he figured an expiditious close to these crimes better than them dragging out and involving any outside Imperial aid. He had already heard that Vader was making his presence known on the Outer Rim. Thieraan gave a faint shudder. He had no desire to deal with the Emperor's apprentice.

To the matter at hand, Wilhelm now bent his thoughts. What had they learned? With Ranie and Seelig's deaths, he had uncovered an abuse of the namana production here on the planet along with an arm of death stick trade. Each of the drugs led down different paths - to the Hutts and to the shadowy, mysterious organization known as the Bando Gora. Thieraan had heard nightmarish tales of what the Gora clerics did to their acolyte followers - transforming them into terrible spectors of their former selves and creating a hive-like mindset where they willingly fight and die for their own. It was said that the cult had been broken up years past, by Count Dooku, with the death of Komari Vosa, but Thieraan knew that it only took a new leader to re-invigorate an organization. He wonders who, or what, would have taken over.

As the governor mused, a deck officer approached. "Governor Thieraan, I have a report from the Bureau of Ships and Services... it appears, sir, that a Loronar-class explorer named the Aegis landed on Cloud City in Bespin, some weeks past and has never left."

Thieraan allowed a smile to crack his face, "Wonderful! Then we shall prepare to jump to Bespin and capture our subjects before they leave."

The officer spoke hesitantly, "Sir, there is already an Imperial presence now over Cloud City. Darth Vader's fleet of destroyers are currently in the process of delivering the Emperor's message of unity."

Governor Wilhelm Thieraan's stomach went acid. "Now what?" he thought to himself.

Quote from: Jingo on Sep 14, 2010, 08:55 PM:ooc: 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?

:ooc: Okay, Jared... I finally can answer the question.

First, I added a timeline thread to our game so you guys can see where our story sits in the midst of Star Wars universe canon.

Second, the answer to your question... Organa would most likely have tried to extend aid to your parents as well as other anti-Imperial nobles of Commenor, in as subtle a manner as possible. It was in 19BBY that Organa and Mon Mothma began discussions of rebellion, and senators of Commenor may have been present. We can use this as part of our story -arc, in regards to what Kaida may learn as the game progresses. Anyway, that was 5 years ago (in game) and Kaida has been on the run since. Also, the info on Commenor is somewhat vague during these times so it makes for a good, canon-free world to work with for gaming.

The Force Unleashed story isn't for another 12 years, Vader is essentially training the boy right now, and the foundation of the Rebel Alliance starts the same year. But all these years, Organa is doing what he can to work against the Emperor, all the while protecting (and teaching) his adopted daughter, Leia; helping to hold the Senate together; and keep Alderaan as Empire-free as possible.

Eight hours after their decision, the Aegis dropped from hyperspace and came to an almost complete stop - Caden only keeping steerage with the sub-light drives. They were still a distance from Alderaan, but well within communication range. In fact, the explorer vessel was now deep within the Core Worlds and the new Imperial Order. It made most of the crew restless.

Caden walked to the comm station with the rest of his companions looking on, and began to scroll through prior message transmissions to acquire the transmit address of Senator Organa - the one which he had communicated with him when picking up Dan Qinos. It took only a few minutes to go through the cache of memorized electronic broadcasts that the Aegis had sent, and there it was. Caden loaded up the frequency into the comm system and prepared to transmit. He looked over his shoulder at the rest of the party, "Here goes... Sam, remember to use the best self-extracting encryption that you can when this sends. I want to make sure that only Organa can get it and hear it."

The droid nodded.

The transmit button was activated, "Senator Organa, this is a friend whom you had employed not long ago to run an errand of great concern for another friend and colleague of yours. Times have become precarious and it is of utmost importance that I am able to speak to you in confidence." Caden emphasized the last word. "I can only give you one word to explain our relation... Qinos. I will await for word back from you over this channel, and via this encryption, for a period of 2 hours."

Caden released the transmit button and looked again to Sam, "Were you able to encrypt it securely?"

---

:ooc: All right, Sammy... I need an encryption roll with a DC of 20; if you succeed, the transmission is sent with encryption. The good thing is, to hack into it will require a DC of whatever your roll is plus 10.

I also will roll a Persuasion roll from Caden to see if Organa is interested/willing to respond (there are many Imperial ferrets trying to draw out any traitors to the Empire).

Caden Persuasuion test
(http://rpg.avioc.org/boards/Themes/default/images/dice_a.gif) DC 18 Persuasion +10, Not visual -4*, Key word +2** = +8
-------------------------

* because Caden is a voice over a transmitter, Organa may be apprehensive
** Qinos is a name that will certainly make a difference

:ooc: Oops! I guess I should have clarified that the Encryption test is a Use Computer test. I also forgot to add the image to the post, but I did not want to modify and lose Caden's roll.

Sam interfaced with the ship to prepare the message for transmittal. A passive scan of communication traffic gave a hint of encryption protocols in place in this sector and this info was used to refine the scramble. He hadn't had much experience with Imperial code-breaking though. They were scarce in the Outer Rim and were rather new and constantly changing to begin with. But it was just complex math problem with some simple string theory derivatives thrown in. Within seconds he arrived at a sequence that had the best probability of success. He gave the command to send, but a sense of trepidation flooded his circuits. He self-diagnosed, but could not lock down a mechanical fault. This was new and he would have to run a filter through his programming during his next shutdown.

Sam's Use Computer roll TN20
Use computer +10

Quote from: tomcat on Sep 18, 2010, 06:55 PM
Caden released the transmit button and looked again to Sam, "Were you able to encrypt it securely?"

:ooc: poop
Another sensation flooded through Sam...dread?...failiure?...Perhaps he was spending too much time with sapients. "The message was sent, Caden. But the result was less than I had hoped for. It will still be difficult to decode and there is so much traffic that it will likely be lost unless someone is actively monitoring the Senator's messages." Sam considered his last statement. The new Empire reaching for control of the galaxy and forcing the former instruments of order in the Republic to bend to their will. Sam calculated the probability that the Senator's communications would be monitored..."We better pick up our scanning."

:ooc: Not that it would matter here, but remember that you guys do have Force Points to use when you need to tweak a dice roll.

---

If there were prying ears out there, Sam, Caden and the rest of the group could only guess. For now, they would need to wait to see if a reply would come from Senator Organa. Minutes passed and as they did the crew of the Aegis began to disperse to different areas of the ship, their minds filled with personal thoughts about their current situation.

Kaida and Britton went to the galley to prepare some food; Brim and Caden also went to the ship's lounge but found other things to involve themselves. Kara stayed on the flight deck looking out at the stars. If they needed to get away, she wanted to be ready. Beside her stood Sam. The droid remained linked to the Aegis and he kept a vigilant watch with the scanners and the other antenna arrayed on the explorer's outer hull.

More time passed.

On Alderaan, Senator Bail Organa was summoned to his office by his personal aide. It seemed the senator had a private communique that had come through channels that were reserved for hightly confidential communications. The aide had not listened to the message - Organa did not allow that - only reported the fact that it was there. Bail had the utmost faith in his aide and did not worry about any others being aware that there was a secret message, let alone a secret back line of communications to him. The channel was isolated and super-encrypted to evade the Empire's efforts in tracking down dissidents, but there was always a need for caution.

Organa looked at the blinking letters on his monitor. He stubbed the receive button and watched as some very basic encryption was unraveled and what was fuzz became words.

"Senator Organa, this is a friend whom you had employed not long ago to run an errand of great concern for another friend and colleague of yours. Times have become precarious and it is of utmost importance that I am able to speak to you in confidence. I can only give you one word to explain our relation... Qinos. I will await for word back from you over this channel, and via this encryption, for a period of 2 hours."

"Qinos?" Bail thought about the name. He remembered now. Kal Ranie had needed help on Bakura. He then looked at the time stamp on the transmittal... "45 minutes ago," the senator spoke out loud. He had time to do a little research of his own. He wanted to be sure of just who he was going to be talking to, and just what kind of problems could arise.

More time passed.

On the Aegis, Kara walked back to lounge and looked at Caden. There was only ten minutes left of the two-hour window that they had given the senator.

Sallo smiled to himself as he plotted the position. The Core Worlds? "So," he thought, "The fools have flown deeper into the web."

The smile on his face suddenly fell away. That means there was more opportunity for others to find them! He needed to move.

Caden could see the look on Kara's face and knew that she wanted to fire up the engines and get them out of there. The time was almost up and there was no word from Organa. Caden sighed and stood up just as the communication system started to drone. Someone was calling them. The entire crew perked up and watched as the Bestinian quickly moved to a comm unit.

Caden looked at the signal and could see it was coming from Alderaan, and Organa in particular. He thumbed the receiver only to have a mechanical voice begin speaking, "This is P81-3PO replying to transmit code 1225.36A. Received. Alderaan no longer viable ground to meet. Jump to coordinates 16523X, 952400Y, 45787Z and await further. Out."

The static hiss followed as the communication ended from Alderaan. Caden moved to another terminal where he could check the star charts. The coordinates led them to an old Republic space station called Jovan. It was a heavily trafficked station for travelers throughout the galaxy. It was certainly an anonymous place.

The pilot looked back to his companions, "It is coordinates for a space station. Do we go?"

(http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090310223856/starwars/images/a/a3/Space_station_SWG.jpg)

Kaida did NOT like the feeling that the Empire was still hunting them--hunting her. But it was nevertheless the reality. They had blasted Tie Fighters out of the sky and exited Bespin in full view of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Surely the ships description had been broadcast very widely across all Imperial controlled sectors. In addition, a skilled bounty hunter was after her... How many others of her family had they found and rounded up over the years?

"There's no way of knowing whether or not this is some sort of trap." She eyed Caden, Sam, and Kara. "Do we know what the Empire's presence there will be? If we do go, I suggest we go fully expecting and prepared for a trap." She frowned slightly and wondered how well one actually prepared for a trap that he or she knew nothing about?

"We'll work through it somehow," Britton said, not sounding terribly convinced.  He then turned to Kaida and placed a hand on her shoulder.  "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."

Kara taped her fingers on the control panel without actually typing in any commands.  She looked at the coordinates for the control panel and shook her head.  She'd been to plenty of space stations, and while all the tourists and nobles always said "oooohhhh" and "ahhhhhh" at the wonders of a space station, she knew what they really were.  The stale air that was constantly recycled and breathed by everyone on the station, the shady characters looking to take you for your hard earned pay, crooked administrators always wanting their cut of any deal, straight or illegal.  Worst of all was the sublevels of a space station, it was times like this that she really wished that she had a solid job somewhere, but it was too late now.  She was on the run from the law in many sectors, the Empire in most of the galaxy, and who knew what other forces.  Space stations were probably the closest stationary place she could feel safe anymore.

Looking at Caden she shrugged.

"Could be worse, he could have wanted to meet in the Imperial Senate building."

Sam and Brim had yet to answer, but already Caden was starting to feel a group compromise. "It will be impossible to know what the Imperial presence will be, but I can make only two assumtions -- if Organa did send us the message in good faith, then the location must be remote enough, or off the beaten Imperial path that he feels safe to use it. If it wasn't Organa, then we should get an idea of whether or not to approach once we get close enough to get a look see." The Bestinian then turned to their droid companion, "Sam, see if you can discreetly tap into the holonet and see if there is any information on the Aegis leaving Cloud City. We must be making news of some sort it the ship was recognized... maybe. I am hoping with our new registration and licenses that the Aegis landed on Cloud City and disappeared."

Everyone liked Caden's mindset, but they all knew that the Aegis' engines gave off an automatic transponder code. If they were scanned as they left Bespin, the ship could have been matched back up with the docking manifests. But that sky was overwhelmingly busy and there were many freighters trying to get away - it was possible that they had slipped through the cracks.

Caden turned to Kara, "Okay, let's get to the deck and start plotting the jump."

---

:ooc: More to come in the AM, but dialogue as you please. Star Trek will be updated then, too.

Sam stayed silent on the matter of their destination. Probabilities and permutations gave little comfort when they seemed beset by copious amounts of ill favour or dumb luck. It was the extremes that threw predictions off kilter and the soldier part of him found peace in following and reacting as things came up. He was fine wherever they went. Like few droids could say, he did so of his own free will.

Sam could quickly and efficiently process large amounts of holonet data, but he had little ability to access restricted info or worse, hide the fact that he had been looking for it. With a brute force approach, he searched countless streams of data for mention of their ship or anything similar.

Sam's net-fu
Use Computer +10

or (potentially) worse,

Gather info check
Gather info +3

Quote from: ZehnWaters on Sep 21, 2010, 05:07 PM
"We'll work through it somehow," Britton said, not sounding terribly convinced.  He then turned to Kaida and placed a hand on her shoulder.  "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."

Kaida sighed and nodded gratefully. She had been on the run alone for so long, it was hard to really trust anyone. But perhaps they were all in this together, she a noble on the run and this group of misfits and "criminals". She gave him a grim smile and shook her head wryly. "You know, Britton, that's a promise that could get you killed," she gestured out at the vastness on the other side of the view port, "what with the Empire and this mysterious Bounty Hunter on my trail." She hoped it was only one bounty hunter.

Kara followed Caden and waited to see if Caden wanted her in the pilot area again.  Once seated she would wait till Caden was ready to help with calculating a jump to the station.

"Take it," he said, nodding towards the pilot chair. Kara did awfully well the first time, he had to admit. And there would a good chance she'd need to haul their tails out of here again, too.

They had gotten very lucky - he knew that - lucky that his first jump to was Alderaan, and lucky that Senator Organa was willing to meet them.
Caden didn't pretend to be important to the man - he was nothing but a hired hand to him, after all - but the senator seemed wise, and bold.
More importantly, he had seemed trustworthy, something that Caden felt more confident about after receiving these coordinates. After all, if Senator Organa wanted them captured or worse, one message in this part of the galaxy could have accomplished that in moments.

"I think we're getting somewhere," he said, to no one in particular. "Where, I don't know... but somewhere."

Sam had successfully, and discreetly, connected to the holonet. Unfortunately for the droid, he was unable to find any real information regarding the Aegis and its time on, or departing, Bespin. After almost twelve hours of processing data, Sam resigned from his task.

On the flight deck, Kara monitored the controls as the Aegis traveled its second jump from the day prior. Both she and Caden had taken shifts of watching the ship as it made the long trip out to the Gordian Reach Sector. Senator Organa was taking no chances. He had them flying once more to the Outer Rim, but on the complete opposite side of the Galaxy from where it all began on Bakura. The ship was quiet with everyone still resting, but soon they would arrive and the crew would be about.

Kara enjoyed the quiet. It had been some time since she had drugged herself, and she had a craving, but the Aegis was in her care and she thought the better of it. If she was going to be an addict, at least she was a mindful one. The console in front of her began to beep - they were approaching the Jovan system fast and would be dropping from hyperspace in ten minutes.

Kaida opened her eyes after a much needed sleep. She stretched and looked around. There were a few people milling about the ship that she could see, and one was Caden as he passed her door on his way to the flight deck. The Aegis had dropped from hyperspace and now cruised on sub-lights towards the planet Jovan - more toward the massive space station that hung some distance above and away from the planet.

Caden listened to the few questions and requests made by the flight control of Jovan space station, and breathed a sigh of relief when they gave the docking bay where his ship could land. It was obvious that this station was a massive travel center as the control officer was very unconcerned about transponder codes - he only wanted the registration and captain's license. The forged documents had passed all the needed tests.

It was not long before the landing ramp was once more lowering for the crew to exit the ship.

Kara headed to the fresher.  She splashed some water on her face and was tempted to go off and buy some more deathsticks or anything else that would get her high.  She splashed some cold water on her face and then headed back to the cockpit.  Kara looked at everyone else.

"Well, like every other backwater station they are sure to have a cantina that is dark and sleazy and a casino with a bunch of cheats.  I'm going to have to check this out."

"We should avoid straying too far from the ship before we receive our instructions. Sam, would you mind linking to the local station communications network to see if there is an encrypted message waiting for us? Our contact might not want to send anything directly to the ship."

Quote from: watanabe on Sep 26, 2010, 07:19 PM
Kara headed to the fresher.  She splashed some water on her face and was tempted to go off and buy some more deathsticks or anything else that would get her high.  She splashed some cold water on her face and then headed back to the cockpit.  Kara looked at everyone else.

"Well, like every other backwater station they are sure to have a cantina that is dark and sleazy and a casino with a bunch of cheats.  I'm going to have to check this out."

"Yeah, well, don't have too much 'fun', OK?" Caden didn't have any interest in becoming Kara's babysitter, but if she was going to stay with them - and fly his ship - then he was going to make some effort to keep her on the straight and narrow. "Nasty habit," he thought - and he wasn't referring to her gambling. "It's gonna get her killed someday."
He just hoped that someday wasn't a day he was with her.

"I'd like to meet the Senator and get moving again," Caden said to Brim and Sam. "Whatever he's got for us - wherever it takes us - has got to be better than sitting in the middle of the Empire's backyard."

Sam checked for an encrypted message, as Brim suggested, and prepared to head out with Caden and the others.  He synched with the ship's remote communicator to receive messages unobtrusively in case  they were being watched. He did his best to hide his battle droid parts with coverings and secured his blaster.

:ooc: Station rules on weapons? Allowed or no? If no, Sam will stash his blaster in his locked, concealed internal compartment.

Quote from: donimator on Sep 28, 2010, 07:49 AM:ooc: Station rules on weapons? Allowed or no? If no, Sam will stash his blaster in his locked, concealed internal compartment.

:ooc: You guys are on the Outer Rim, so it is pretty much standard to see people toting weapons, although the Empire is trying to crackdown on non-Imperial personnel having them.