"As delighted as I would be to help others learn the customs of this world, I'm afraid that I cannot." Joron said, his eyes not once leaving his own datapad. "I have a date. Besides, I thought I gave ample insight on their customs the previous evening..." In that moment, the brash young noble trailed off, quoting what sounded like an intricate proverb in Ryl.

Indeed, had they acted the previous evening and stolen the precious art from the museum, things could have already been in motion - for better or worse. But now, now everything was a mess. Attacked in their penthouse, their numbers thinning, they hadn't the slightest clue on their missing member of the bounty hunter they had hired. However, what they lacked in members and security, they gained in suspicion and paranoia. If the young lord was versed in anything, it was the suspicion of rivals.

"Miss Jorn, why not use your... feminine wiles to our advantage? I'm certain it can help... influence others into netting the desired results." Certainly the Zeltron suffered no compunctions from such a thing. After all, she had just done so with Aadun.

"Aadun, if you find yourself in need of credits to see things through, do let me know." He said, smiling politely at his pda.
[private to GM: Taking 20 on perception for a total of 29.]

Aadun nodded his head at Varis and then turned his attentions to the others in the group.  He walked over to stand behind Narik and was about to study the information when Joron's statement caught his attention.  So, he looked at Joron instead.  "You probably don't want to say that to me," he says with more than enough amusement in his own voice.  "Though having a backer would make my life easier.  Anyway, if you think my idea from last night has merit, Joron, I think we should start getting something together for Brill.  After your date, of course."

"For now, I can humor you, Kala and do some more research, if Varis doesn't have anything else I need to do.  Tonight, I want to go to the 'Lazy Bantha' and scout out for Skaan Distombe.  As of now, we know nothing about him and I want to rectify that.  I don't plan to talk to him or anything obvious, but just observe."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:35, Sun 30 Aug 2009.

"Ahh. So, it would take you the whole day to primp and preen yourself for your date then?" Kala replied, as she smiled over at Joron. "I was sure that if you had enough experience in the political arena, then finding something like what I asked for would be child's play, but if you feel that you don't, I suppose I will have to see if there's someone more competant and up to the task. While you provided insight enough, it has no bearing on what we need now. We need to find that one thing that will cause the clan to be so disgraced that they leave and never even think about returning. Your plan to raid the museum might have worked, then again, as Aadun has said there seems to be nothing on this planet that warrants anything that bad. If you can engage in slavery, what's a few trinkets lost from an old museum? As I stated before, if you are not up to the task, then we'll have to work it out some other way." She finished, as she turned around, and began to ponder the next few moves that she would have to make.

She needed to talk to Varis, alone if possible. She didn't know who she could trust, especially after the attack. Planning on how to trap the people after her was now a priority in her mind.

Krysten nodded to Narik as she stepped over to take a look at the recording.  But at the back of her mind was the fact that she was now out of rockets.  She made a quick entry on her wrist comp to take a look around for a place that might sell them.

08:33, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 25 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 16. Watching the video.

"They're only credits... but if you don't need them..." Joron taunted the Zabrak with an amused grin. "I've already something to deliver him and have factored your thoughts into the... deal. He should find it most suitable, shouldn't he?" With those words, he paused to slyly eye the Duchess. "Also, I'll be keeping my eyes out for something that may aid us during the rest of our stay. Should I find one, you will be free to use it, Aadun."

With words most ambiguous and eyes distracted by the video in front of them, little information as to the what, how, why or when escaped the young lord's lips. Indeed, whether on purpose or not, it seemed Sarrus was speaking as little about his intentions as possible. Perhaps he felt those within their group were no longer trustworthy... or perhaps it was their new surroundings. Or maybe, just maybe, the video was just that darn interesting~ Whichever the case, it kept others in the dark.

Then, as Kala spoke, his lips parted to sound a reply that lacked even the slightest hint of bite. "Oh, quite the opposite, I assure you."

OOC Narik will be looking for anything to identify the attackers. The clothes they were wearing, the type of airspeeders or weapons they were using etc. He will be trying to find something to connect them. Were they hired thugs, mercenaries, or gang members etc?
Perception check 28.

The airspeeders all appear to be Sienar craft, although they're not in top condition, probably acquired secondhand, definitely not maintained to military specifications. Identifying numbers have been scrupulously erased or covered.

The missile launcher on the military grade airspeeder was definitely after-market and looks to be a quick installation piece.

The visible attackers are not wearing uniforms, but they are all dressed in combat fatigues the equivalent of what would be available to a System Security Defense Force. All of the personal rifles they used were comparable, but not identical.

The occupants of the vehicles are all helmets or breathing apparatus, and appear to be two Twi'leks, identifiable only by their lekku, a Kel'dor, and an unidentifiable member as well, most like a near-human with no need for modifications to a helmet.

A flash of light color in the front seat of one of the airspeeders seems to indicate there was a near-human with long blond hair on board as the pilot.

”What do you make of that?” he questioned the others that still showed any interest ”from their dress either military or paramilitary. Comprised of Twi’lek and outworlders.” the soldier stated his own observations before he made any supposition ”we can probably discount any Imperial involvement but we’ll still be casting a big net if we go looking for them on the streets” he shrugged his shoulders at a loss of where to investigate next.

"There are ways to shorten that net." Kala said, as she nodded to Narik. "We have to first think about who they are after, if it's the Lady Varis, or one of us. Once we determine that, then we need to make a list of who the enemies of that particular party is." She finished, as she looked around the room. She knew who her own enemies were, but she doubted they had caught up with her. She could have Aadun try to sniff though her fake identity sometime later, to see how hard it would be.

"So, once we get that kind of information, all we need to do is to leak a little bit of information about where we are going to be to them, and let them send their assassins again. That will confirm who we need to be defending ourselves from." She finished. "All of us have our skeletons in our closets, and no doubt we've offended someone in the past. We need to figure out who would have the kind of pull to hire mercs, either local or offworld? Who would have the resources to have someone disable the security systems, bribe the guards, and knew exactly where we would be? Obviousally, some or all of us have very influential enemies. Shall we start the list with the Distombes?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:59, Sun 30 Aug 2009.

Aadun smirked and responds, "Oh, no, I would love to have more credits.  You'll be the first person I go to when I'm running low."  Even through his smile, his mind is working and wondering what the catch was going to be.  Nobody ever just gave these things away for free without expecting something in return.

He listened quietly at that point as Narik and Kala discussed the attack from the night before.  He looked over at Varis, hoping to catch her eye.  There was something she told him in the hallway, but he hadn't heard her mention it since.

"I think you should put Jaerad Kienaan at the top of the list, Miss Jorn. The Distombes may be a close second.

"And I should probably be the prime target, although I'm not pleased about it."

"Hmm." Kala replied, as she nodded to Varis. "Jaerad might actually be the easiest one to uncover his intentions. If you know of a safehouse he has on this planet, we could attempt to contact him, and inform him that we are on the way to that safehouse. If we get attacked on the way there, then we can be fairly certian, or if when we arrive in the safehouse, we are attacked shortly thereafter. Though, what would Jaerad have to gain from your demise?"

"He has no safehouses here. His presence is minimal, which is why we're here with this mission. As to why he would prosper from my demise... I'm afraid I am subject to a Non-Disclosure Agreements for the time being. That's as much as I am able to reveal."

Aadun studies Varis for a long moment before nodding his head slowly.  "We all have our secrets," he says simply and then shrugs.  "This one could get us killed of course, but if you can't talk about it, then that's that.  Now, how certain can we be that he is the assassin?"  Since his presence is minimal, would he have gotten the firepower together so quickly?  Would he have begun planning this even before we left?"

He knew it was a lot of questions at once, but his mind was racing.

"He knew that we were coming here before I did. How long did he have to plan all of this? It's impossible to say. Maybe there was no rush on his part. I doubt he has the personal resources on planet to have handled this directly, though, so this was more than likely an intermediary agency, probably a mercenary company.

"But even my personal certainty isn't enough to be one hundred percent sure this was Jaerad. It's best if you don't shut down all the other options just yet. I could be paranoid."

With a frown Narik knew he out of his depth. It was usual when in a military unit or on a battlefield you knew who your enemy was. He cast a simple question on there for consumption ”does Jaerad know we survived last nights attack and if so does he know where we are now?” obviously if he knew where they were they could easily be attacked again, if it was Jaerad that had planned the attack.

"I haven't contacted Jaerad. The security personnel weren't mine, though, so it's likely that Jaerad has a spy and has already been informed that we're alive. I made sure they didn't know where we were going when they were assigned to guard the ship."

”Then we can let slip to the security staff a false location of where we are” Narik smiled as a plan formed in his mind”we then set up an ambush to capture whoever comes to get us. We don’t need to stand and fight them all just catch one for questioning later then run. Now as fugitives of our own employer its best we get used to hit and run tactics, we haven’t got the resources to stand up and fight against Jaerad” now more in his own element the soldier spoke confidently.

"We don't know that Narik." Kala said, as she shook her head. "We do need to set up a trap, and find out who those people were working for, but until we do, we can only be cautious about who we interact with. If we find out that Jaerad is plotting against Varis, then we all have to decide what we will do. We still have a mission to accomplish but finding out who is after Varis should be a top priority. Since attacks will probably continue, and might jeapordize the mission and endanger not only our lives, but lives of people uninvolved with the situation."

Narik nodded to Kala ”if we give false information to the security personnel assigned to us by Jaerad and an attack does not come then we can eliminate Jaerad as a suspect. I think its worth a go”.

"So be it. One of you can contact the security personnel and alert them to the 'new' location, in the event of an emergency only, of course."

She looks around.

"Kala has made a good point. You still have a mission to complete. Our new situation and location affect the accomplishment of it somewhat, but it should still be within reach. Kaiten's disappearance is not reassuring, though. I think I'll make it my own goal to locate him."

"Joron appears to be working on the Brill and Sinya situation," she comments and then pauses for a second while he puts his thoughts together.  "Otherwise we need to make a decision about how we are proceeding with the Distombe Clan.  Unless a better idea is put forth, I plan to scout out Skaan tonight.  Even if we are not actually assassinating anyone, I want to get a look at him and see how he acts.  It could be worthless, but you never know."

"Kala also informed me that I also need to do some more research, so if you like I can get started on that immediately."

Narik nodded to Varis, if she would concentrate on finding Kaiten he would concentrate on finding who was after them or her. ”I’ll set something up. I’ll keep my comlink close by” he reassured everyone as he readied to leave.

Using the holonet the soldier searched for a hotel in one of the poorer areas of the city. Narik hoped to find the sort of place someone on the run would go if they didn’t want people asking questions. It would work as a cover story and hopefully be in a place where the hotel security wouldn’t scare off a repeat attack.

When Narik had what he needed he went to the chosen hotel and booked a room. He called it in to Jaerad’s security personnel then he dressed himself in his second-hand all weather cloak. Narik hoped that if he wrapped himself in the old cloak he would have the look of a common vagrant. The soldier then positioned himself on the street corner and watched the hotel for any unusual activity.

Kala walked up to Varis and leaned in as close as she could. "I'm worried the Empire might have gotten their hands on Kaiten." She whispered. "Which makes all kinds of things problematic. I wouldn't suggest mounting a rescue if they captured him... Anyway, if you are availble, we could go walk around in the gardens and chat, if you'd like."

Turning to Aadun, Kala nodded. "If anyone can find what we're looking for, I know it's you." She finished, before watching Narik leave. She sighed a little, wishing someone had gone to back him up, or hoping he had a lot of stun grenades in his inventory.

Having watched the video, and not seeing much of anything that she could add to the conversation, Krysten went about her assignment: scouting.  The first things she looked for were the obvious doors, windows and sundry other places that could be used for entry or egress.  Every door and window that she found was then tested for security; was it able to be opened from the outside, inside or both?  Was it lockable from the inside, and how resistant to attack did it look and feel?

That done, she started searching the rooms they were allowed access to for concealed entries and exits.  Paneled walls were gone over meter by meter, checking for irregularities or hidden access panels, while bookshelves had mostly random books tested to see if they activated anything.  It was cliche, certainly, but oftentimes paranoia lent itself to a certain amount of holodrama-esque theatrics, as if the very simplicity of it would help protect it from discovery.  Stranger things had worked, gods only knew.  Nevertheless, all of the classic "hidden doorway" techniques were checked.

Over the course of the next several hours, she made as many notes in her bracer comp as she deemed necessary, noting the layout of the house, quarters, bathrooms, locked rooms, kitchen(s), and the various other household rooms and locations that might be of any use to her or the group.  She also attempted to extrapolate the function of any locked rooms based on their location and adjacent rooms.

[Private to Varis Rei: As an aside, I'll be more than happy to take as many Perception checks as you deem necessary.  I'm more than willing to admit I'll likely miss something, but I find it slightly more sporting (and possibly entertaining) for both of us to roll for it instead of just taking 20 for everything.  Not to mention, it's more than a little boring doing it that way.

19:00, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 24.
19:00, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 13.
19:00, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 18.
19:00, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 20.
19:00, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 22.
19:00, Today: Krysten Tyner rolled 15.]
This message was last edited by the player at 03:01, Wed 16 Sept 2009.