Session 15: A Deadly Game, Part XI

General Summary

Day 6, night
Lem, Tomla, and Lyshea prepare for the meeting with Vass Manduc on the beach at ViGureni. While Tomla and Lyshea stand out in the open, Lem hides in the treeline in ambush. They are waiting for Rin to return with the ship so that they can make a quick getaway once they incapacitate Vass. Rin and Rosk 5 confront each other at Prime Coromon (Thread 1.3.2: Rosk 5). While Ro Mibb and Rosk 5 slowly maneuver their way around Rin to surround him, he sees he is outnumbered and takes off toward The Mynock's Wing at full speed. Ro gets one good disrupter shot to his back before Rin bounds up the ramp and hits the button to close it behind him. Too late - Ro is close behind and climbing onto the closing ramp, ready to take another shot. As Rin dives for cover down the hallway, Ro opens the ramp to let Rosk 5 in. Injured and outgunned, Rin tries to get S19-A1 to do something, but realizes that there isn't much the little droid can do. With no other options, the pilot abandons ship, leaping down the ramp to save himself. The moment his Duro feet touch solid ground, the entire ship is enveloped in a powerful electrical field and Rin hears two soft thumps as the field dissipates. Peering up the ramp, he sees his two foes unconscious on the floor of the freighter, and Salty in the background beeping about how well the secret anti-intruder shock system he installed worked. Rin is so relieved at having his life - and his ship - saved, he doesn't realize just how much Salty is going to enjoy holding this over his head. Not does he yet realize that the ship's systems were completely overloaded by the shock and he's going to be quite delayed meeting his friends for their ambush. Meanwhile, Vass and two of his associates arrive on the beach in a speeder. Vass asks Lyshea to come back with him, offering that all of this can be over if she agrees. She quietly, but firmly says simply: no. He laughs at her. as Tomla beams with pride for her new friend. As the banter continues, Lem sneaks around behind the parlay and gets in the Tigers' speeder. Taking a deep breath and drawing on the force to guide him, the tech-averse padawan is somehow able to pilot the speeder like a pod-racing pro, bringing up to speed and fishtailing the rear end in a single, deft motion that takes out all three criminals in a smooth motion. As Vass start to stand, still stunned from the unorthodox attack, Tomla uses the Force to toss a stone into Vass' hip, knocking him back to the ground. To end the negotiations, Lyshea calmly walks up to her former enslaver and tormentor and decks him in the head with a single, trained punch. By the time They have Vass tied up, the Mynock's Wing still hasn't arrived, so they take the speeder and head to Prime Coromon. When they arrive, they find Rin talking to the ISO authorities who are hauling away Rosk 5 and Ro Mibb. As Rosk 5 tries to undo his gag to say something, Rin uses the force to keep him quiet. As The Initiates swap war stories, Lem puts Vass in one of the ship's storage rooms. The Incom engineers and Rin continue their work to get the Mynock's Wing operational and finish switching the transponders before the rest of the Onyx Tigers know what went down. As they do, Lem and Tomla discuss the best way to deal with Vass, concluding that they need to "disappear this guy, but in a Jedi way." Kritia Haccor comms the ship and they fill her in on what happened. She says that she is sorry about the attack on Prime Coromon, but the two Onyx Tiger lieutenants they captured should give her a good opportunity to convince one of them to become Vass' malleable replacement and develop that formal relationship she has been looking for. Rin tries to protest, but Kritia assures them that she knows what she is doing. As they get ready to leave, Tomla notices that Lyshea, who she expects would be happy that they succeeded and are about to leave Fresia, is actually a bit forlorn. She knows that soon she'll have to leave the three Jedi, and although they've had their ups and downs, she is sad to no longer be a part of something that feels so important. Meanwhile, Lem goes to meditate in front of Vass, testing his focus in the Force. Despite the crime lord throwing every insult and threat possible at him, Lem maintains his calm and peace. They give the signal to the decoy ship to take off and then leave Fresia's atmosphere in a different direction. It doesn't take long for the decoy ship to be intercepted by four Z-95 Headhunters and easily destroyed. As Salty begins making the calculations for a hyperspace jump to Khomm, Rin continues flying nonchalantly in the hyperspace lane departure corridor. Eventually, the starfighters get close enough to the ship to visually identify it as the Mynock's Wing, but before they can open fire, a sudden blast from one of the Mynock Wing's turrent blows one of the Z-95's into debris as Lyshea lets out a loud cheer. Lem gets the hint and starts firing his turret as well, and Rin pushes the ship into hyperspace. After days of non-stop, exhausting adventure, the tiny crew finally has the chance to rest for a few short hours before they make it to Khomm. They check on their prisoners and get some rest. Day 7, Afternoon
Salty wakes them all up just as they are coming out of hyperspace. Ahead of them is the planet Khomm. Lyshea also notices a large, red ship orbiting the planet that matching the description of the The Alderaan Raiders' mobile base, the Dead Reckoning. The Khomm Central Arriving Authority contacts them and gives "The Carthage" permission to land. AS they make their way toward the port on Khomm 1, they reach out to Master Dal Konur. He's quite busy at the moment, but he promises to meet them on Khomm within the day. They land at the Khomm 1 port and check in, experiencing the unique sameness and utilitarianism of Khommite culture as they do. As they begin to head out, the update their personal datapads with holonet info about the city, which is when they find that Kritia has sent them each a message. She thanks them for their help on Fresia, wishes them the best, and puts 15,000 credits into each of their credit chips in appreciation. Resisting the urge to immediately go shopping, they instead head to the Khomm Central Population Planning headquarters in the government district, as that's who Dorsk 82 was supposed to be working with while on assignment here this past year (Thread 1.4.3: Investigating Dorsk 82). Upon arriving, they tell the receptionist that they are there to meet with Dorsk 82, which flusters her greatly since his calendar does not show any appointments, and that is IRREGULAR. She heads off to find her supervisor to help her deal with this inconsistency, giving Rin an opportunity to take a peak at the workstation. He sees that Dorsk 82's calendar is blocked off from 5 days ago until the end of time. When the receptionist returns, she says that Brell 142 will meet with them shortly. Soon after, a well-dressed Khommite emerges from a turbolift and introduces himself as Brell 142, the Second Adjoinant of the KCPP. He asks The Initiates to follow him to his office, which means that they must go through security. Brell 142 allows them to keep their lightsabers, but Rin has to give up his blaster. They also must all go through a full genetic scan. They take a turbolift up to the 11th floor of the west wing of the KCPP facility and then walk past a bland sea of cubicles before arriving at a large meeting room with large windows. Brell 142 reveals a communications jammer that he activates. He apologizes for the secrecy, but "things on Khomm are not as they once were". He starts the meeting by asking, "So, have you found him?" When the party replies with confusion, he will explain, "Dorsk 82 - I assumed you came to tell us that you had captured him." When they express further confusion, Brell 142 gives an exasperated sigh. "It seems that you are just as in the dark as we are. Very well, allow me start from the beginning. Two days ago, Dorsk 82 was discovered as an anti-hegemony conspirator, working with The First Born, a group of anarchists determined to prolong the chaos that we have endured on this planet for far too long. By the time he was found out, he had already left Khomm, and we have been unable to reach anyone at the Jedi Order. I take it from your reactions that Dorsk 82 was not acting under the direction of the Jedi Order in a plot to disrupt the internal affairs of Khomm?" When the party shake their heads in the negative, he continues: Brell 142 continues. "The First Born have been conducting raids in cities around Khomm, mostly in or near Khomm 1. They steal technology, data, and even raw genetic material. It's all part of an Adaptation League effort to lead Khomm away from the perfectly harmonious society that we have enjoyed for over a millennium. Dorsk 82 had been working with me and others at the KCPP for the past several years on our efforts to rebuild the Khommite population back to what it was before the devastation, as well as serve as an ambassador of sorts for the Jedi Order. As the Adaptation League grew in popularity, Dorsk 82 took the lead on hosting conversations between the two sides. While he initially seemed to be impartial, he slowly grew into an advocate for some of the Adaptation League stances, especially those on allowing more "natural" mutations and development of Khommite clones. I think he wanted more Khommite Jedi to emerge. Over the last few months, he had taken multiple leaves, going off-world for what he called 'Jedi business'. During the last raid by The First Born on an KCPP facility in Khomm 12 two days ago, Dorsk 82 was seen on holo as part of the group." Lem expresses doubt that a Jedi Knight would conduct himself that way, causing Brell 142 to show them the holo recording as proof. "And as I said, by the time we knew to look for him, he was gone and the Jedi Order was out of contact." "So, I have to ask, if you didn't know anything about Dorsk 82's activities, why are you here?" As the party is in the process of answering, they hear a claxon and their meeting room door audibly locks. "Oh no," says Brell 142. "Another raid. And here?! The audacity!"