The Dark Academy on Korriban

It could be brought back to life but not with what they have on hand.

Jo'ren looked at the droid and then back at his Rodian comrade. "Well, we could take it back too the academy, power it up, and come back tonight if it has anything worth knowing?"

He walked a shirt distance away, thinking as he paced, and checked the message.

She looked about.

"There is no one else here. Let us leave it for now and keep looking. There must be something more interesting out here."

She paused and breathed in, realigning her connection to the Dark Side ever so slightly.


/ooc

Committing a Force Die to my Seek power, for upgrades to Perception and Vigilance.

The message reads, “Hello just checking to see if you are still alive, not out of concern. Just you know, general Jedi compassion.”

Both aspirants hear the surge of engines over head and modified assault freighter favored by Mandalorians touches down some two hundred yards away. The craft kicks up dust and crimson sand.

Jo'ren replied. -For the moment, thanks. I'll get back to you on that in an hour.-

He nodded at Grenda and moved over towards her as the freighter flew overhead. The goggles were pulled out and placed on his head. Dialing in the magnification he set himself up in a position from which he could observe their activities.

"What are Mandalorians doing out here?"

"Mercenaries . . . either searching for something . . . or someone. You haven't annoyed any important people with the money to hire Mandalorians have you?"

She remained vigilant for trouble.

"Not that I'm aware of. You?" He confined to watch what was going on.

She shook her head slightly.

"No. Unless having success as an alien is enough to raise someone's ire."

Three Mandalorians come down the ramp dressed in similar styled armor. They are heavily armed and one pauses at the end of the ramp looking in their direction; the trio stops and talk for a bit.

They then begin marching in the direction of the aspirants.

"It seems they want to . . . talk."

She quickly assessed the area for prospective sources of cover. You know, just in case.

He nodded. "Sure looks that way." Grenda's idea seemed sensible.

(OOC: Are these the same Mandalorians from the Day 1 event?)

There is plenty of cover to take, the Mandalorians stop some fifty meters away. One takes a shot to grab the attention of the aspirants and two crouch down behind cover while their leader speaks. The blaster scores a rock a few meters from Grenda.

Using his suit he speaks in a digital voice that booms across the landscape, “You can go sith, we just want the rodian.”

Jo'ren turned to look at Grenda. "Well that answers that question.". He called on the force, committing it to enhance his senses before shouting a response.

"The Rodian is a Sith Aspirant. Who wants her and why?"

"I don't remember killing any Madalorians. Perhaps one of my former Bounties had family with money?"

She judged the distance, deciding internally if it would be a carbine or a shoto fight.

“You don’t want to get involved kid, this is business.”

The Mandalorian adds in the booming voice, “Grenda, a mutual friend says you reneged on a request. I get paid if you are alive or dead. So your choice.”

OOC: The Mandalorians are currently at long range.

"Ah that makes sense now. Seems I have taken too long to put Ensign Hines in his place. I should have known a Hutt would not understand patience."

She shifted stance ever so slightly, favouring her carbine.

"And who gets paid if you are incapable of collecting? Or you could just pick up Ensign Hines himself, or has that already been dealt with? I hope not. I was planning something spectacular for him involving a long drop, no parachute and definitely no repulsors."

The Sith turned to Grenda and lowered his voice. "We could pretend to surrender and kill them all up close? Blaster fight's not my scene."

He looked back at the Mandalorians and added: "Fucking Hutts."

“Your funeral then,” he says as he raises his disrupter rifle and then pauses and turns to look back to see a silver protocol droid scrambling over the roughshod landscape in a comical manner.

The droid scampers up toward the two aspirants and then pauses a scant ten meters from the two of them and says, “My apologies for this misunderstanding, the Mighty Dojuro the Hutt believed you had rejected her gracious offer. Ensign Hines has grown much more entrenched and Dojuro’s primary agent Gram Xen’tali has gone missing. Business has suffered.”

The Mandalorians stay where they are standing ready.

Jo'ren looked between Grenda and the protocol droid. "Who the fuck is Ensign Hines?" He smiled tightly at the droid. "And what's the reward?"

"Ensign Hines is someone who didn't pay what he owed and then thought he could run to where Dojuro the Hutt could not reach. He forgot she has a very long reach. He's in Security here. Difficult for me to get at where I could apply the correct pressure."

She looked at the protocol droid.

"Although I was under the impression I was a lone agent of Dojuro the Hutt here. Now I learn she not only has these three enterprising gentlemen but she also had someone else here?"

The big sith shook his head. "Sounds like this guy Hines is a security issue and a liability. Probably easier for me to get to him, or at least draw him out, given everyone seems to like me around the Academy."

He looked from Grenda to the droid.

"Yeah, that's a lot of expense. Hiring a Mandalorian hit squad, blackmailing a Sith Aspirant. What's it worth to your mistress to see this guy dead?" AKA: what's in it for me?

“The expense will be added to Grenda’s debt. Dojuro in all her majestic glory wishes to express her concern that Ensign Hines has become such a issue. She was under the impression you had taken her request as and ignored it,” the droid responds.

“So she is prepared to allow you twenty four standard hours to deal with Hines or the Mandalorians will finish the job and collect your corpse. In the spirit of friendship she believes this is more than enough time to settle this matter.”

The droid turns to Jo’ren and adds, “You already have at least one willing compatriot.”

Jo'ren ran through a few options of ways in which this could be twisted to their benefit beyond helping a Hutt. He turned to look at the droid. "Just so we're clear protocol droid, I want to know exactly what this Ensign Hines is guilty of, and how he came to be indebted to a Hutt." He tucked his hands into his robes and hit record on his comlink.

OOC: Skullduggery or Deception roll at Average, spending a Destiny to upgrade the difficulty for sneaky recording.

Although his thick robes concealed the action it wasn't really that successful.

Day 7. Skullduggery, upgraded, boosted: 2eA+1eD+1eC+1eB 0 successes, 2 threat