2.32.4787 Republic Reckoning
We are en route to Binada. Everyone takes shifts watching Nakael, two awake at all times, hopefully with Force of Will up and running. We know that Nakael's Master will be arriving on 3.3.4787, and we hope to recruit as many Jedi as we can to our cause.
We arrive at Binada by evening. It is a sprawling trade center, with archology spires rising out of a shallow sea which covers the entire planetary surface. Most traffic is by boat, slow and cheap, but we're in a hurry and decide to take a flitter to the Administrative Headquarters. The "Guardian" assigned to this world will have to work closely with local government, especially the police, so we decide to start there. Everyone leaves except Altair, Nakael, and To'iir, who stay to repair and refuel the ship.
After waiting in line for some time, trying to be polite, Dabai walks up to the front desk and tells them that we're looking for the Jedi representative on this planet on a matter of urgent emergency. They give us the run around for a bit until they finally just tell us to go through the office area to room 806.
Room 806 is deserted, but a woman from the stenography pool tells us that all THREE Jedi are meeting elsewhere, probably in the mayor's office. It's upstairs about 100 floors. Someone suggests that we should take the stairs, because "Elevators are a way to the Dark Side. They're quicker, easier, more seductive than stairs." It's funny, but not enough to justify 200 flights of stairs. We take the elevator.
The receptionist at the mayor's office is polite, and waves us right through to room 225. Seems we're expected. Quindo wants to knock, but Igashu walks right in. SIX Force users all turn to stare at us. (Three are aliens, three human) No matter where we go, we always seem to run into 3-5 times as many force users as we expect.
Knight Marosia Wolde-Tsadik, an attractive human female, sent by the council to bring us back to Coruscant.
Knight Arvandus Quesnel, balding male human, her second. (A factotum artificer)
Knight Torryn, young male human (Marosia's apprentice?). He's heard of us. He's younger than us but has passed his Knight testing. (Pilot)
Ree Indivari, a Ryleb. He's the Guardian assigned to this world.
Llim Tawron, an Ithorian. Not sure why he's here.
Kenesva, a Teltiore. I don't even know what he is.
We argue for a bit about going back to Coruscant, nobody seems to take us seriously when we insist that Nakael's Master is coming and we're all in deep shit. Marosia thinks it's just a Sith trick, and that Laut and At'!'chk must be the only ones left (and Nakael). We refuse to go with her unless someone does something about the Sith. If they won't we HAVE to, and we're going to.
Finally, she admits that the council is taking it seriously and that a strike team is on it's way to Holgam. They won't arrive until 2 days after the Master is supposed to, but he should still be there. We all debrief the Knights on all the info we have about what happened on Holgam. Dabai takes Marosia aside and suggests tactics, such as ambushing the Sith when they jump into Holgam space and blowing the hell out of them. Marosia listens, but is obviously not listening. She's a bit overconfident in Jedi abilities. We admit that Dabai has had some Force training, but only to protect him for Sith influence. Finally, we agree that, since the Council is acting on the Sith matter, we want to go back to Coruscant anyway.
Dabai -"Sith, Jedi, I'm the guy with the gun."
Meanwhile, Igashu contacts To'iir mentally and warns her of the Jedi plans to take us back. We make plans to transfer Nakael to Coruscant. Quindo remembers to tell everyone about Garek Brynn and his warnings, as well as his insistence that Alexandra Dormamu is still alive. Marosia thinks that this is more Sith misinformation, but we know better. She reveals that there have been some assassinations and sabotage, which may or may not be the work of Brynn's group. Elbram - "Sabotage, Espionage, and Assassination: The Sith Triathalon."
Marosia refuses to acknowledge any validity to Quindo's actions on Holgam, insisting that there is never a justifiable circumstance for working with the enemy. Quindo maintains that his actions were all intended to preserve life and confound the Sith's plans. Arvandus agrees that he can't see a better solution, and that Quindo's actions may yet be vindicated. Marosia also berates Igashu for the death of his prisoners, and especially Elbram for "Starting a War." We all come to his defense, stating that we were all manipulated and that the whole fiasco was just an excuse for the Hutts to force concessions out of the Republic. We challenge her to come up with a better solution to a difficult situation. She does not reply.
We learn that Nakael's Master is called "Belesarius" and that he is the same Sith that the temple was built for on Andijon.
Quindo annoys Marosia by cracking jokes.
Marosia: "Now is not the time for humor."
Quindo: "Now is always the time for humor. If I've learned nothing else from all of this, it's that you must find humor in the most difficult situations, or you will begin to despair. Despair leads to the Dark Side... I'm pretty sure that humor is safe."
Finally, we finish talking, and To'iir has her ship repaired. She meets us on the roof to transfer Nakael. Once Nakael is off the ship, everyone but Quindo (who's watching Nakael) go on to get our stuff. Everyone comes out except To'iir and Igashu, and then To'iir takes off really fast. Marosia wants to pursue, but Torryn claims that he won't be able to catch her. We all get ready to leave for Coruscant. We tell Nakael that we're going to Holgam to meet his Master.
While Torryn plots a course, Nakael checks the coordinates to make sure that Torryn won't fly us into a sun. He notices that Torryn has "made a mistake" and uses Affect Mind to correct the course in Torryn's mind. We enter hyperspace.
2.34.4787 Republic Reckoning
Two days of training, meditation, and rest later, we find ourselves inexplicably dropping out of hyperspace at Holgam. Torryn insists that these are the right coordinates, but Dabai checks them.
Dabai: "Um... these are the coordinates for Holgam!"
Torryn: "How did that happen?"
By the time we figure out what's going on, 2 Hutt destroyers are inbound, and we don't have a clear jump lane. They accuse us of being Republic spies. Torryn claims that we're just having hyperdrive trouble and didn't mean to be here at all! After a fruitless discussion, Arvandus jumps into the conversation.
Arvandus: "Fine, we're on a spying mission; What're you going to do about it?!?"
Dabai: "Now they're targeting us!"
Arvandus: "I was being sarcastic!!"
Dabai: "I don't think the Hutts appreciate sarcasm."
We quickly decide that fighting is suicide. Quindo suggests letting them board, and counter-boarding their ship. Marosia doesn't like the idea of slaughtering a ship full of Hutt troops. But then, Quindo was joking.
Arvandus: "I don't think Marosia appreciates sarcasm."
The choice is to run or surrender. Marosia decides to land on Holgam and wait for Jedi rescue in 6 days. Of course, we get shot down. In fact, we crash in the hills near the old Hutt base camp. Oh, and we know Col. D'han is still in orbit, so we carefully don't mention who we are.
Arvandus: "A beautiful landing for a beautiful woman!"
Marosia yells at Torryn, trying to figure out why we're crash landed on Holgam instead of halfway to Coruscant. Nakael overhears and interrupts.
Nakael: "Oh, I helped him plot the course here. He'd gotten it all wrong."
Marosia: "You WHAT!?! How? You weren't even in the cockpit!"
Quindo: "Psst. Starts with an 'S', rhymes with…. With."
Dabai tries to scout around and accidentally gives away our position to a scout droid. It runs off, firing mortars behind it.
2.34.4787 Republic Reckoning
A little while after the crash landing, Marosia decides that we're going to go hide in the nearby mountain until the Jedi arrive. As we start out, we are suddenly ambushed by 7 Sith attack droids. In the first volley, Altair is gunned down and Nakael is shot in the back. Dabai blows one droid to hell and quickly salvages a recoilless heavy rifle. Marosia charges across the field of fire with Greater Force shield, and cuts one into very small pieces.
Quindo runs out to rescue Altair, he and Bro'jen escort the wounded Knight back to the ship under heavy fire. Both Bro'jen and Quindo take a few small caliber rounds in their flack vests, without injury. Torryn tries to use the ship's turreted laser, but doesn't get it powered up in time. Nakael, pissed at being wounded, calls on the Dark Side and begins tossing droids into the air and crushing them where they stand. Dabai shoots the one he blew up again, before it can repair itself.
Bro'jen, Arvandus, and Quindo coordinate together to attack one droid. I think Marosia gets a second one, and Nakael destroys the rest. Bad Nakael, No Dark Side.
When the battle is done and we're catching our collective breaths, Dabai overhears the Hutts on his military comms. They're going to orbitally bombard the area to keep the droids from reforming. They offer to "extract" us from the planet. We are conspicuously silent, but we get the hell out of the area fast.
Nakael wants to join his Master, who will be arriving on a distant mountain peak in just 4 days. Marosia still wants to hide. Quindo wants to take the fight to the Sith. We vote. "All in favor if sticking it to those bastard Sith?"
In the end, 4 to 3 vote in favor of following Nakael to the other Sith and doing something about them. Quindo wants to wrest control of the droids away from the Sith and turn them against each other. At'!'tchk had the droid controller when we last saw it, so we need to find him.
We encounter a small village. Nakael offers to find out if they're hostile, but Dabai distracts him with a "Sith Courting Manual" (romance novel). Nakael uses the Dark Side to activate cognitive trance and reads the novel really fast. We're not entirely sure where Dabai got it. Meanwhile, Bro'jen, Quindo, and Dabai go talk to the villagers.
Seems that there are some patrols nearby, but the human slaves are willing to help us. They direct us on a safe path around the village where we find a convenient place to camp for the night.
2.35.4787 Republic Reckoning
We travel through the desert for 2 days and into the mountains.
3.2.4787 Republic Reckoning
We evade a droid patrol or two. Belesarius arrives tomorrow at DAWN. We plan to stagger watches with Emptiness to prepare for tomorrow, then leave 3 hours before dawn to prepare an ambush. Nobody objects to making a pre-emptive strike against Belesarius.
"But remember, use the Force for knowledge and defense only, never attack. That's what your lightsabers are for."
3.3.4787 Republic Reckoning
Nakael won't get out of bed because his Master isn't coming. Apparently he's been delayed, searching for a Sith artifact called the "Heart of Darkness". In the meantime, we start making plans to confront the other Sith on this planet, and convince Nakael that he wants to go study on Coruscant.