Shard nods.  She's pleased by the results thus far, and the tech has begun to calm.  Better yet, he's slowly regaining the sense of superiority she has experienced in most Imperials in her lengthily career going against them.

...you rebel scum...

Her eyes flick to Haarmon; the young man looks nervous.  Almost nauseated.  "Look for calm," she whispers.  "But don't deny your fear; we feel it for a good reason."  It's all the instruction she has to give him right now; later, they'll talk.  About this, about his feelings, about what he experiences.

But that's later; for now, back to the tech.

"Thank you for the truth." Her voice raises a touch.  "That's what he understands of it, in any case.  He still hasn't put things together, I suppose.  Does anyone have any specific questions for him?"  Those dark eyes remain fixed on the man before her.  "Questions germane to our current situation?"

Rhijans glanced at Jalt and Kourene.  In a low voice, he said, "Probably no sense asking about the distress beacon...it's something he likely wouldn't know about, if it is an Imperial trap...unless he knows they're doing them in specific areas.  Doesn't seem likely a tech would be in on that, though..."  He nods, as much to himself as to either of them...he didn't generally verbalize his thought process, the constant stream of 'If/Then' scenarios he played out in his mind, but he figured this situation warranted it.  If they disagreed with his assessment, they could speak up...

"Tracking devices," he declared, loudly enough to be heard.  It was possible, though unlikely, that the Empire had somehow tagged the ship as a standard procedure, when it was brought aboard...a tech, even if he wasn't involved, would likely know about such procedures...

The tech starts at the mention of tracking devices.  Then, "No.  At least n-not yet."  He tilts his head towards a storage case in the corner of the room.  "I have one.  B-but I hadn't fi-fitted it yet.  It's in there.  Not activated."

"The stormtroopers wanted their information before I did anything else."

You-Why shuffles into the room and remarks, "If you require any help, I am proficient in over 35,000 interrogation techniques.  Some of them are actually quite amusing... "

Shard nods as the tech confesses the presence of the tracking devices.  "All true thus far, as much as he knows.  Though we ought to check the device just to be sure - maybe one of his friends activated it before they came on board, without his knowledge."

She cocks an eyebrow at You-Why.  "That's...quite a lot of techniques." One probably has to do with a piece of cheese and a string, she considers, and shudders.  "For now, our prisoner is cooperating; we'll save you for the hard ones." Her eyes snap back on the technician. "I think this one has figured out that he can't put lies past me, given what he saw before."

Before, when she and Juragga brought down his escort.

"Do you know anything about faked distress beacons in this sector?" she continues.

You-Why bows slightly to Shard.  "As you wish.  Though I do find that amateurs tend to obtain results which may not be totally useful.  Please let me know if he proves to be recalcitrant."

"No, no-nothing.  I'm a tech, I repair things, set up equipment, and d-do scans.  They don't d-discuss strategy with me."  The tech is sounding calmer, though he does keep glancing at UY-3PO.  "I think your d-droid is defective."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:56, Mon 27 Feb 2017.

Rhijans gave another grim smile, unseen by the tech.  His voice echoed from beyond the medical area, "Funny, he seems to be working perfectly to me.  I certainly can't argue with his results..."  He let an unpleasant tone twist into uis words as he,said the last.  He hadn't seen what You-Why had done in uis interrogation when they were hunting the mole...but it had been undeniably effective.

"I'd be careful with that line of argument..."

"He's being very cooperative thus far," Shard clarifies, hoping that will continue.  She's running out of questions, in any case, and the tech really shouldn't be expected to know a great deal.  Returning her stare to the man, she leans forward, elbows on knees.  "Relax.  You've been a help and really?  You've not given us anything we couldn't have figured out with a little more time, so don't start feeling guilty.  You're in a bad situation, and need to make the best of it."

Her gaze sharpens.  "But...don't start getting ideas.  That's dangerous for you.  Try to be wise, not clever.  Wise will keep you alive, here.  Clever?  That'll get you killed."

Leaning back, she glances at Haarmon, then fires a look over her shoulder. "Anything else?"

Rhijans looked from Jalt to Kourene, questioningly.  "I don't have anything more to ask him...either of you?" he asked in a low voice.  Focusing on Kourene, he added, "Might be a good opportunity to ask some strategic questions...long-view, what-does-the-Empire-know-about-us stuff.  I tend to be pretty focused on here and now and how to get to what comes next without dying.  It's your job to worry about long-term plans and strategies."  Again, as so often, his words were coldly, almost brutally analytical...no sign of humor, recrimination, or pride colored his observation.

Kourene shakes his head, and says quietly, "He's just a tech.  In my experience the Empire doesn't brief its lower echelons on strategy.  In fact, as a tech, they barely count him as military.  They'll teach him how to operate and repair equipment, and that's it.  As far as the Empire is concerned, he doesn't need to know about strategy, so he doesn't get told anything about it."

"Because the less he knows, the less he can reveal if he's captured.  Remember that the Imperials wouldn't consider running a daring mission to rescue him, so to cut the chance that he gives us information, they wouldn't give any to him."

Jalt interrupts, "I'm not picking up any Imperials in the area.  Do we commit to trying to reach this beacon or not?  I've got a rough fix on it, and if it's a trap then it'll be sprung if we get much closer."

Haarmon opened his eyes and shook his head sadly at Shard's question. "Nothing. Got nothing." He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved.

He took a moment to think before commenting on Jalt's news.

"Shouldn't we, you know, get the Colonal to safety before we start sticking our necks places? Like, sorry, Colonal, I know you're not a maiden in distress or a lost kitten or anything, but speaking long-term, aren't you more important than whatever we're likely to find at the end of that beacon? Even if it isn't a trap?"

He was a little uncomfortable talking tactics. That wasn't usually his game.

Shard puts her hand on Haarmon's shoulder. "Don't worry about it.  This sort of thing takes time," she quietly assures him.  Failure is only another step of the way towards success, from her perspective (not all teachers are of that opinion).  "It'll come."  Glancing back toward Rhijans and the colonel, she shrugs. "I don't know if it's worth keeping him.  He's a tech.  He doesn't have any serious information.  At best, he can describe us all, and we know cursed well they already HAVE our descriptions."*  A shrug.  "Keeping him will tie up resources."

A slight pause, then she realizes people might misinterpret. "I say we find some way to turn him loose.  Let him find his way back to wherever he wants to go."

Haarmon's question bounces the ball back to the discussion of the distress call.  Shard slowly nods.  "A perfectly understandable perspective.  Laudable, I think, to look on it that way."  Another nod to Haarmon.  "There's a math at work - a cursed important math.  Considering the entire galaxy, considering the stakes, and considering that even the slightest advantage might push things in the wrong direction, I completely understand making that decision."

Pushing herself to her feet, she moves to the medical counter, puts her hands on it and leans over it, back to the room. "But...I've never been much good at math."  Probably why I'd make a lousy commander, much less a general.  "It's a cry for help, that beacon, and if it's not a trap then there are people who need us.  I'll abide by whatever the colonel decides, or the consensus...but my vote is on the beacon."

So many more things she could say that would explain her point of view, but they'd sound like judgements on the other perspective.  Shard doesn't want that; when she states she understands it, she speaks the truth.

*Part 12: Osmur

Rhijans nodded, and looked at Kourene.  "I'm with Shard on this one," he said, perhaps unexpectedly.  "I'll follow your lead on this...but my inclination is to check out the beacon.  At the very least, get close enough to get a look at it and see what kind of problem may arise for anyone approaching."  He didn't offer any explanation for the decision, just stood there, looking askance to the Colonel.

Haarmon kind of half-shrugged with a crooked little smile. He wasn't really expecting anything different. And truth be told, he would have been disappointed had anyone listened to him. Math or not, they were the good guys. And this was their job.

"Side quest accepted," he muttered, mostly to himself.

Kourene sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger.  "You're right, of course." he says.  "If we don't investigate this, then we're as bad as the Imperials.  Jalt, go for it, but be ready to jump clear if it is a trap."

"Got the new hyperspace calculations just about plotted, Colonel, just in case." the pilot returns.  He adjusts the Bantha's course, "Twenty minutes or so, and we should know if this is genuine or not."

"Now, what exactly do we do with this tech?  We have choices, and some are better than others.  Basically they come down to kill him, maroon him, lock him up, or just turn him loose."

Rhijans answered without hesitation.  "We can't let him go...he knows too much.  The Bantha would be hopelessly compromised if it became known that we didn't just steal it out of convenience...as it is, Jalt likely can't use her anywhere near Imperial space.  But he also knows we've got a woman with a lightsaber, who knows how to use it, and travels with a Wookiee.  Any female human who even stood close to a Wookiee would be instantly flagged...we'd never be able to operate as a team."

He shrugged.  "The most practical option would be killing him...but I have no doubt that several of us would object to that.  So, keep him or maroon him...and marooning him would require finding an appropriate spot to put him down.  Keeping him is the simplest viable option, right now."  He might as well been discussing fuel allocations for a combat group...his tone made it sound like simple math.  To him, it was.

"Lock him up somewhere, and lose the key." Jalt opines, agreeing with Rhijans.  Admittedly he seems a little distracted, concentrating on homing in on the beacon, as he is.

"Find somewhere remote where they have a workable cell.  Take his uniform, so he can't be easily identified as an Imperial, unless somebody gets close enough to talk to him.  Then you can... "

"Uh oh... I have a bad feeling about this."

Kourene glances at him, "What is it?"

"Well, we're either going to have to fly through an asteroid field, or our beacon is in the middle of it."

Rhijans scowled.  "How long to detour around the field?" he asked.  Asteroids presented a myriad of problems, beyond the pure danger of trying to navigate a cloud of debris in space that could have objects travelling at different speeds and different trajectories.  If those problems proved real, the go-to plan of a hyperspace jump to safety became useless...going to hyperspace amongst asteroids was insanity, of the suicidal variety.

"If we can fly around it, we can get a better read on where, exactly, the beacon's coming from...and if someone's waiting to get the drop on us, we'll have a better chance of seeing them if they have to keep moving to stay hidden."

Haarmon listens to the discussion about what to do with the tech. He knows about this sort of thing, of course. He's seen enough vids, and by now, enough action, to know that in war, sometimes morality is really just hard, cold math. And when you add this one up the ledger tells a pretty clear story: us, or him.

And that's not really any kind of choice at all.

"I think we need to keep him. At least for now." At least he was in agreement with Rhijans. That was usually a good sign.

The news that they had to go into an asteroid field shut him up. He ran over to the cockpit and looked out the windows.

"How bad is it? Is this, like, speeder-without-a-seatbelt unsafe? Or more like naked-in-a-rancor-pit?"

"Oh, it looks bad." Jalt responds, "I'd say it makes being naked in a rancor pit look like a blue milk run.  Lot of variation in the field density.  See here?  And here?" - he indicates two locations on the display - "Extreme concentrations of rocks there, with lots of collisions causing vector shifts that propagate out through the field."

"I'm all for flying around it, until we can triangulate on the beacon.  With any luck, we won't need to go in there.  Going around could add an extra couple of hours, depending on how far we have to go to get a fix on the signal."

Kourene sighs.  Too many problems all at once.  "We keep him under lock and key until it's safe to release him.  At the same time, I don't want him at the base, in case he escapes.  He's a tech, he could sabotage a lot of vital systems if he got out of his cage.  Not to mention getting off world with information on the base location."

Rhijans nodded to Kourene.  "If we can't find a place to tuck him away before we go back, I'll make sure he's under close supervision.  He does anything that even makes me suspicious, and he'll go from prisoner to corpse, on the spot."  He made no effort to conceal his words from the tech, and even shot a look at him, before adding, "Starting now."

The look he gave had no malice or anger in it...it was pure calculation, weighing the point at which the man went from nuisance to liability...and left little doubt that Rhijans was, indeed, quite serious about the promised change of prisoner status.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:09, Fri 17 Mar 2017.

With the prisoner warned, and apparently heeding that warning, the discussion about what to do with him continues for some time.  Jalt continues to skirt around the asteroid field, getting a fix on the beacon, while listening in on the conversation with half an ear, and offering his own opinions.

"The problem would be finding a place to keep him away from the base that you could guarantee would stay secure.  There are plenty of places I know of where you could put a package, but most of those places would sell it back to the Impies for a good enough offer."

"You need to find some contacts that can hold on to him, and will stay trustworthy.  Probably not the Hutts."

Rhijans snorted softly.  "DEFINITELY not the Hutts.  They'd start a bidding war to see whether it was worth more to us to keep him held than it was to the Empire to get him back with any potential intel he's collected.  We don't exactly have an abundance of resources for this kind of thing, right now."

He scowled for a moment (vaguely in the direction of the prisoner, just to remind the man how much of a problem he was already presenting and how slim the margin was between 'held prisoner' and 'shot as a liability'), then offered, "What would REALLY be best would be sending him off to some other sector...he doesn't know anyone to contact for help, doesn't know where to go for sanctuary, and if he does get away, he doesn't have any information to help the Empire in that sector."

That would solve a lot of problems.  However, being an easy solution to a complex problem, Rhijans was doubtful that there was any such connection available...

Relief that the prisoner won't be dealt with harshly suffuses Shard.  She's also heartened by Haarmon's support of the mercy plan, despite his earlier proposal. "I'm totally in agreement with the lack of Hutt involvement." Rhijans, as usual, has cut directly to the heart of THAT issue. "We'll work something out," she optimistically states (a rare thing for her). "For now, we'll have to work up some kind of makeshift cell onboard the ship.  AFTER we deal with the current problem," the older woman clarifies.

Said problem being the asteroids.

"I've never been naked in a Rancor pit," the woman muses. "Though it has been close from time to time.  This mess could be the reason we HAVE a beacon.  I'm all for taking more time for the rescue; doesn't make sense to get ourselves killed in the attempt; no help to anyone."
This message was lightly edited by the player at 16:51, Tue 21 Mar 2017.

"I could see if the other Alliance group that we contacted could plsce him with somebody that they know." Kourene muses.  "They seem more widely connected than us, which was one reason I was so pleased to contact them.  I'll get a message to them as soon as possible."

"Found it!" Jalt interrupts.  "The beacon's on a large rock close to the outer edge of the field."  He makes an adjustment to his instruments.  "Not to dense around there - the rock's gravity has swept up a lot of the smaller rubble, I guess.  It should be easy enough to manage."

"I'll head over that way."

"Keep your eye open for any stray energy signatures..." He was sure the pilot already had such things in mind, but it never hurt to speak up.  "If anyone's got a weapon-system operational, or they have to reposition a ship to stay hidden, there should be some kind of give-away signal."

He looked over at Kourene.  "I'm not altogether ready to believe that we just happened to stumble across a random accident out here...but stranger things have happened."  Like them managing to walk in and steal a high-value target from the heart of an Imperial Star Destroyer...or pass themselves off as Imperial personnel long enough to get access to the vital innards of a massive shield generator, and blow them up.

But he wasn't about to say anything about that in front of the tech.  Right now, all the man knew was that they'd stolen a captured ship...he might have guessed at Kourene's identity, but thus far, nobody had confirmed it.  The less the man knew, the better off they all were...including him.