”I see no problem my good friend.” Caleb says in a gently tone to the droid. ”Just be ready to defend our cargo in case they try to take it from us.” he smiles mischievously checking his blaster and hiding list lightsaber.
The Droid guides the freighter into bay 7 with the fighter escort and you are safely ensconced on the Resolute.
As you disembark there are several corporate sector soldiers there waiting for you, eight in all they appear relaxed blasters in their holsters. One nods curtly, "Commander Gunnar Vryce will be along shortly, you will wait here for his arrival".
Gunnar walks into the cargo bay, barely able to suppress his nervousness and excitement. He'd not felt a disturbance in the Force for years.
Gunnar looked over the crew of the shuttle before speaking. His lightsaber was clearly visible.
"Greetings. I'm Lieutenant Commander Vryce. If you'll follow me, there's a conference room that we can use to talk. I sense we'll have much to discuss."
”Awfully bureaucratic, isn’t? It feels like I’m on my way to meet my long waited bride!” Caleb laughs about his own joke, but as soon he steps out of the ship, he adds ”…not my idea of a party.”
”Hey there Cap.” he looks at the others before poking the newcomer. ”I could follow, we could chat, but there’s medicine to deliver, suffering to relieve and that’s a nice toy you have there.” he says finally indicating the lightsaber.
"Affirmative. "
"I can help facilitate terms."
I am trained in the art of negotiation and am more than happy to provide any aid which I can says the counselor.
Gunnar quirked an eyebrow at the man's non-sequitur, then shrugged.
"Very well. Let us negotiate. What do you have for us?"
"We have a freighter full of medical supplies, you have a planet wide outbreak, the solution seems to present itself, likewise our involvement ends upon delivery of the supplies to the planet, it is our singular task here."
Force Persusaion
Calling upon his connection to the Force, Quen will use the same argument that the droid used, We are here in peace and to bring succor to those who are ill. We have medical supplies and want no trouble. We are here on a mission of mercy.
The soldiers under the command of Gunnar do not seem to notice the lightsaber he has strapped to his belt or are simply used to seeing it there.
The four of you enter a room and begin negotiations.
Gunnar taps his chin thoughtfully.
"I was not planning on giving you trouble at all. In fact, I think there are ways that we can be quite helpful to each other. We do, in fact, have several parties pressing for us to send search parties down to the planet. They've sent along some people with inoculations...if you are all truly here on a mission of mercy, then perhaps we could join forces. Maybe a trip down to the planet to investigate and deliver aid to those who need it most is in order?"
There is indeed strength in numbers especially since you know the lay of the land down on the planet as well as what we might encounter, that sounds like a sound plan states the counselor with the Force behind his words
Force Persuasion UTF
Gunnar nodded.
"I'll transfer all relevant information to your data pads. Do you need to rest before we start?"
"I piloted the ship and saw to the needs of the occupants, they are well rested, give us some time to review the information. I do assume that joining a search party planet side does include delivering the ship we came in at the same time."
Yes, being able to review all of the relevant information should be helpful. Quen says, nodding in agreement.
Gunnar makes the necessary arrangements.
You return to your ship to await the return or Lieutenant Commander Vryce and review the data that he has provided to you.
The locals trade in animal products and geodes. The local government has ties to the Corporate Sector due to the geode trade. However, the local governor is rather weak and as a result the planet became a haven for smugglers and other scoundrels looking to escape one authority or another.
The only major city is Tel Bollin with some scattered settlements around it. Mining operations though are scattered about the planet so it is possible the Hutt could be anywhere as presumably he was here to negotiate mining rights of some sort.
With the onset of the plague the local authority may well have been swept away so conditions socially and politically are not clear at the moment.
The Plague is believed to be airborne and those who suffer from it become physically weakened The symptoms include fever, dehydration (accompanied by a crusting about the mouth and eyes), general fatigue, and the thickening of the fingers and tongue. We indeed have a vaccine which should work for at least two weeks but may last up to a month. The plague is relatively new so it is not entirely clear how long you will be protected.
You report to Commander Kryn, she smiles at you "So were those the Hutt emissaries or just some other group of fools who believe that we are not taking this blockade seriously?"
Gunnar smiled back at Kryn.
"Yeah, they're from the Hutt. I'd bet my last credit that they're here for more than a mission of mercy, though. Hutts aren't exactly renowned for their optimism. But their supplies all check out, so we may as well see where this leads. I'll accompany them planetside to keep an eye on them."
"Begging your pardon, we are not emissary's of the Hutt, we are persons who accepted a singular employment goal that was agreeable to the group as a whole in order to earn our way. A goal soon to be realized after which we are again free agents."
The counselor nods at the droid's summation.
"Ah. My mistake!"
Commander Kryn frowns at the group and looks stunned by Vryce's suggestion, "Wait, you want to allow them onto the planet Lieutenant Commander!!!"
"Sure. Mission of mercy gives much needed supplies to those who need it. It's altruistic, doesn't cost CorSec anything, and it's good PR. Plus I'll be along to ensure everything is on the up and up. What's not to like?"
Kryn shakes her head and retorts forcefully, "We are supposed to ensure that the plague stays on the planet what if someone heads down there and catches something?! The Hutt wants his son back, you cannot bring him back up for fear that he too is infected!"
"Of course, Commander. I do understand quarantine procedures. But these inoculations will protect us from the plague. With proper equipment, we could scan anyone we need to, and take live samples for testing and developing a cure."
"The cargo was checked and double checked the word of the freighters owner was not taken. The scans, readouts, sensors and samples all confirm the contents and the need for them."
"Conclusion the Hutt determined it more cost effective to cure the planet than to extract a sick individual from an afflicted planet, requiring only a ship to land, not both land and depart."
"As sign of good faith I could disable the ship as soon as we land, preventing mass flight from the planet."
Since the CorSec would not be risking any of their men or resources this really is a win win situation for them. If we fail they can disavow knowledge of what transpired. states the counselor adding the force of the Force to his words.
Force Persusasion
"I don't know about the cap Vryce over there, but we are inoculated against this disease, otherwise we wouldn’t even be here. " he adds, just to make a point.
Commander Kryn turns to Quen Pah "Though he has only recently joined us, Gunnar Vryce has worked his way up the chain of command steadily. I consider him one of my men".
She sighs, "Still if you believe this is a wise course of action, I will allow it. The Hutt must be brought here first to the quarantined part of the ship to be given a full physical before I will allow him to leave this sector, assuming that he still lives.
If they have inoculations Commander I suggest you take one before you hit planet side".
Kryn turns to AJTD1, "Yes, it would be wise to disable the ship, if someone tries to steal it and leave without the right coordinates we will blast it out of the sky stranding you there and no one here will work to convince me that they should rescue the rest of you!"
"Shall we move then? There's a disease that needs curing, a bargain that needs fulfilling." Caleb says preparing to board the ship again and finally gets to the planet.
The Jedi knight wanted to question the other guy, this Gunnar Vyrce, but he would not do so while inside a possible enemy base. Best get him separated from his allies, aboard a ship to an infected planet. If anything happen, they could always blame the locals or simply say the man didn’t survive the disease.
But the man was a fool; to expose a light saber was to put a reward on his own head. If he was a jedi, then fortune had smiled at them, but if he was a Sith Lord, disaster would follow.
Time passes and as time passes innocents suffer from this plague. I agree we must be off to the planet itself. recommends the counselor.
AJ begins the pilot duties for the ship. "As we bargained, as soon as we land I shall endeavor to disable the ship, to what degree should we do so before opening the doors?"
"I can either attempt to lock the start and encrypt the key, or I can do something to a physical system, or both."
"It mostly depends upon how long we want it to take for us or others to restart and take the ship."
Which would be easier to fix? Depending on what takes place, we may need to make a fast get away. asks the counselor.
"Obviously an encryption key would allow me to nearly immediately start the ship, and would be bypassed only by one with sufficient hacking skill as to do so. I could add the proper key to one or more data pads, but then anyone with the pad could swiftly bring the systems back online.....for a physical disruption the amount of time to place the item back into the slot and secure it would take the same amount of physical effort and time regardless of who was seeking to make the ship operational."
AJTD1 fires up the ship and it lifts off from the hangar on the Resolute. A single fighter pilot escorts you to the atmosphere where the pilot break in on the Comm, "Good luck Lieutenant Commander".
The wide table land of Endregaard spreads out before you in a panorama of reds and browns. Cathedrallike spires jut thousands of meters into the air, and dark strings of dried-up riverbeds thread among the buttes, undercutting them in massive, shallow caverns. The land is dotted with dark green vegetation adapted to barren terrain. High cumulus clouds bunch together like banthas along the horizon. No cities or settlements are visible, at least on the horizon.
Oblivious to the possible safe or dangerous places to land in the quarantined planet, Caleb focus his mind to the other problem at hand. Sith? Jedi? Or just a crazy lightsaber wearing person?
As soon they are clear and a safe distance from the CSI ship and other possible enemies, Caleb draws his blaster while instructing the droid. ”Kill the communication.”
Not breaking eye contact with the newcomer and dropping his easy-go-luck attitude he suggests ”Hand over the light saber and tells us how you acquired it.”
The counselor raises his eyebrow as Caleb uses the Force to attempt to sway Gunnar's actions.
The droid not knowing this planet from any other does a fly over and applies his knowledge tactics to determine possible landing sites....
"If no one has any suggestions on a landing site, I am going to fly around recon possible landing areas."
Gunnar was excited. It had been so long since he'd really been around other Force-users! He wondered who they were, where they were trained, and couldn't wait to find out their stories...
And then Caleb drew a blaster and tried to assault Gunnar's mind.
Gunnar's eyes tightened in anger. He drew deep on the Force, turning aside the suggestion and focused on Caleb, issuing his own command.
"No. I think not. I think, instead, you're going to drop your blaster, then apologize. Profusely."
Caleb slowly grabbed his lightsaber and thumbed it on, the green blade humming to life. He looked down at it for a moment, the cockpit now awash in the verdant light.
"You could have just asked," he said, sadness and anger warring in his voice. "I know better than anyone how cautious we have to be. But we're supposed to be better than that. My Masters...my parents...taught me that using the Force, to harm someone physically or influence them mentally, was a thing that should only be done when your life or someone else's was threatened. It's been so long since the temple was destroyed. And I was so excited to find other Force-users, maybe even Jedi!"
Gunnar closed his eyes, sighed, and thumbed his lightsaber off.
"And the first chance you get, you try to rape my mind."
Gunnar scowled over at Caleb.
"My name is Gunnar Vryce. I am a Jedi Knight. I built this lightsaber as proof of my knighthood. And if you try to touch my mind without my permission again, I will not stop at wringing an apology out of you."
He glanced over at Quen and AJ.
"For those of you that aren't jerks who think that people's brains are your playthings, I have a few suggestions as to where to land. This still needs to get done."
Caleb slowly grabbed his lightsaber and thumbed it on, the green blade humming to life.
"Not a chance..." Caleb grins at the man outburst and starts to say, but then stops assuming a formal position and continues ”I apologize for my behavior.”
The scoundrel blinks several times, as the suggestion leaves his mind and without putting away his blaster he continues ”So, do you mind telling me why would you be imprudent enough to even hint at your Jedi training when that only put your head, and those around you at risk?”
A snigger comes to his lips as he thinks about the situation: A pseudo moralist, don’t do it to me, but I can do it to you in my anger.
Thinking to himself that this escalated rather quickly the counselor will attempt to Force Persuade the group, Come, we can talk about these things in a more civilized manner. I sensed no dark side influence prior to our arrival when I did a scan.In the end both parties are correct, the mind trick was used unnecessarily while the flaunting of a lightsaber is also a most imprudent action.
UTF
Greetings Gunnar Vyce, I am Quen Pah of Naboo, survivor of the Jedi Purge of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. Knight of the Jedi Order, of the Healing Tradition he says as he reaches out his hand in welcome.