"The man we... Hrmmm... Search for... Hmmm... Is great warrior?  Hrmmm... Warrior peoples... Hrmmm... respect great warriors.", asked Oglo.  The group was told where to find this veteran of the Clone Wars.  No one ever said he lived with the Sand People.  That would have been a good detail to know before heading out to the crack of nowhere to find him.

"Yeah, and they also like starting fights with them to see who's better." Lyla pointed out, not convinced that the Sand People would leave Tallon alone if he was in there. They hadn't left the people of Fort Tusken alone. They didn't leave anyone kind and decent alone. She'd seen the slaughtered farmsteads, the tortured bodies in the desert. "They'll attack anybody."

Lyla stood and approached one of the cairns and closely inspected it, peering through the cracks to see what lay inside, though trying not to disturb or touch it. She didn't see much of interest though. She was hesitating, stalling.

"That's a long way to go for a dead boss," she replied to Tera. "And I don't figure you for the vengeful type. What's your stake in this?" Lyla was scared to enter Sand People territory and wanted to know why the others weren't, what their reasons were. If they were going to enter the valley of death together, then this seemed a reasonable thing to know.


OOC: Search the cairns, Perception 12

Whoever set the markers was thorough in their destruction of each piece that made it. The equipment is all wrecked. There is no sign of any bodies, except the occasional bone that was too big to be from a Sand Person, Human or any other humanoid alien that you know of.

Tera spoke softly "I'm not a vengeful person. I seek justice. My boss was a gentle man, who gave me a chance. Without him I would not have thrived here. I owe him a debt. I will pay it by bringing his killer to justice." Tera started walking towards the fort.

"Okay." Lyla said. She couldn't say she understood, though, not having had anyone like that to rely on and feel indebted to for a long time. Only herself. "What about you, Mallox, Oglo?" She walked slowly after Tera.

"Looks to me... Hrmmm... Like killer lives... Hummm... with Sandpeople... Hrmmm... Great warrior... Hummm... earned respect... Hummm... Of Sandpeople.", answered Oglo.  "I came... Hrmmm... With hopes... Humm... To convince... Hrmmm.... great warrior... Hummm... To join Rebellion.  Hmmm.... But now?... Hrmmm... Great warrior... Hummmm... sounds like... Hrmmm... Bad person. Hummmm... Oglo conflicted."

The Ithorian never came to for a fight.  He came to parley.  But from what he has heard about Sandpeople so far, parley is not an option.  Now he didn't know what to do, but turning back was starting to sound like a good option.

"Tera don't go!... Hrmmm... Entrance watched.... Humm.... Find other... Hrmmm... Way in... Hummm... Or wait till dark.", he warned the Human woman.

"What choice do we really have, Oglo?" Tera replied "Day or night, this is the only way in, so it will be watched constantly."

Oglo had choices to consider.  Not knowing the temperment of the man he was pursuing, or how to get a peaceful reaction from Tuskin Raiders, Oglo had no idea which course of action was best.  There really was no way to resolve the question without meditating on it for a little while.  He always felt that if he sat down and had a good, long think then the best solution would become a apparent.

"Oglo must think.", he burbled as he eased himself down onto the ground in a cross-legged meditative thinking position.  He then began to murmur and burble softly to himself.  To outsiders it just sounded like a bunch of muttering that could be some sort of alien mantra.  But it was his own language.  Oglo had a bad habit of talking to himself.  It came from years of living like a hermit.

The first option, and the one he thought was safest, was simply to leave a message and walk away.  Hopefully their man will get the message and come to The Oasis to parley.  The second was Tera's favorite, which was to just walk straight in, likely with all guns ablazing since they would be crossing over into the heart of Sandpeople territory.  That would be a territory violation that couldn't go ignored.  The warning signs were all around, and Oglo thought it foolish to ignore them.  The third option was to find another way in, although he had the feeling that the only other way in was to climb the cliffs.  The fourth was to set up camp right here.  Hopefully, Tuskins and their man in particular would get the notion that they're only here to talk.  The fifth option would also involve setting up camp, but also creating dummies using the local garbage and their bedding.  Then slip through the gap under cover of night.

OOC:
 Oglo Obwatt rolled 24 using 1d20+8. UTF (Search your Feelings #1).
 Oglo Obwatt rolled 22 using 1d20+8. UTF (Search your Feelings #2).
 Oglo Obwatt rolled 21 using 1d20+8. UTF (Search your Feelings #3).
 Oglo Obwatt rolled 11 using 1d20+8. UTF (Search your Feelings #4).
 Oglo Obwatt rolled 23 using 1d20+8. UTF (Search your Feelings #5).
This message was last edited by the player at 19:25, Wed 29 May 2013.

Lyla shrugged. "I'm only here because of orders and bad luck, nothing personal. But I'm also here to make sure we get out of this desert alive." That was the only reason she had for waking into that gap in the wall. It would have to do.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 05:03, Thu 30 May 2013.

The Force flows through all things. When Oglo opens his mind he sees many choices. Whatever road they would take the Ithorian mind caller saw no immediate harm coming to them. He knew that entering into the Sand Peoples land would be fraught with danger, they were a warrior people. However whether they travelled by the path in pass or climbed to the top they would still be trespassing. This would also be true during day or night as well.

In his meditation Oglo saw the rocks and sand around were ancient but would not last forever. Oglo saw Tatooine as it once was millennia ago, a lush and verdant world. The true insight was that the Force is always in motion, it flows and all living things must flow with it. They must continue onwards.

OOC One thing to note is that Sense Surrounding only lasts 10 minutes for more detail you need the Force Talent – Visions which can look up to a year in the future or even the past.

Oglo's time in meditation didn't tell him anything he didn't already know.  To proceed, whichever way they choose to go, is fraught with danger.  Oglo feared that the others didn't risk a bad sunburn to come all this way only to turn away from danger.  It was only the Ithorian who shied away from danger.

With a sigh of resignation, Oglo concluded, "To proceed... Hrmmm... Is dangerous... Hummm... Safer to... Hrmmm... Leave a message... Hrmmm... Return to Oasis."

"Orders?" Tera queried as she continued walking towards the entryway and deeper into the unknown.

"Thank you, Oglo." Lyla exclaimed drily, glad the Ithorian agreed with her. But she doubted that, when it came to it, they'd do the safest or wisest thing. They were still walking after all. Tera and Mallox were set on the path, and Lyla couldn't leave anyone to wander unguided and unprepared in the desert. That was her rule, and like it or not, she'd stick to it.

Tera's query didn't come as a surprise; Lyla had been dropping hints for a while now. It was too late to deny anything to Tera and would only be a problem later. "Didn't you hear? We're the Rebel Alliance." the twi'lek answered with an ironic laugh. "We've to come rescue Tallon from the clutches of the Empire so he can lead us to victory."

"They didn't tell you I was on the planet?" Tera asked nonchalantly "I guess they didn't want word of me to spread. It's no matter, with all of the bounty hunters here, it's probably time I left. Could I impose upon you to take me with you when you leave?"

Lyla stopped short, stunned. "Wait. You're a Rebel too?" It was too sudden, too convenient, too out of the blue.


OOC: Perception 23 - is Tera telling the truth?

"What Lyla means... Hrmmm...?", Oglo tried to explain in terms that Tera might accept.  "Tallon has... Hrmm... Committed crimes... Hummm... But if he fight... hrmmm... against Empire... Hrmmm... He could atone... Hummm... Swift, brutal justice... Hrmm... Is the way... hrmm... of the Empire."

"No, I escaped here with the assistance of some in the Rebel cause. I uh... the Empire has some issues with me. Tattoine was seen as a quiet backwater in which to place me. When I saw the bounty hunters here I actually thought they were after me."

"Huh." Lyla said. She wondered Tera had escaped from that Tatooine seemed like a good idea, but that level probing into eachother's backstories could wait for another time. But it sounded so familiar. "Last time I was here, some Imperials picked me up for giving directions to Mos Eisley to old Ben Kenobi, the Skywalker kid, and two droids. Dunno why. Apparently those were the droids they were looking for or something..." Lyla began to explain, thinking back to those hard times. Her voice grew bitter with how she'd been screwed over by bad luck, circumstances, and the Empire. "Anyway, they questioned me a while, discovered I'd also led some crashed spacers out of the desert, and charged me with aiding the Rebellion of all things. Apparently they were Rebels who'd survived some space battle. They were going to send me off to Kessel, but don't think they had me down for spice mining... Anyway, those Rebels broke me out and we got off planet. But I was a wanted criminal after that, so I had no choice but to stick with the Rebellion."

"See, Tatooine hasn't been a backwater for decades. If it was, the Hutts wouldn't be here."

"We're not actually here officially, though. The others had an idea to get Tallon after we stumbled across word of him, so here we are. But I'm sure you could come with us."

Tera's lips quirked in upset. "Not here officially." she drifted off in thought before saying. "Oh, I was charged with genocide."

"Oh." Then Lyla choked, apparently on some sand. "Genocide?"

Tera paused as she walked. She was going to have to explain. "I used to be in the Imperial Navy, involved in medical and biological research. My research was taken out of my hands and context and was weaponised by the Empire. The Empire chose to implement the weapon and lay the blame for the event at my feet. Before I could make my version of events known, they'd already gone with the Butcher of Bokur story."

Lyla was silent for a long, long time as she processed Tera's account. "What." she said flatly, turning to look at her. Then she asked, sounding almost puzzled over her surprise and concern. "All those people? You?" Her hand tightened on her blaster rifle. She became unreasonably angry at Tera, even if she claimed she wasn't — directly — responsible, for her involvement, for being an Imperial officer, for being the enemy.

Tera raised an eyebrow at Lyla's furore. "You too? Lyla, I was researching medicine for the indigenous population. I was working on medication application vectors and genetic sequencing. I had nothing to do with what happened. My vocation is as a healer."

Oglo watched on, totally forgotten, as the two women shared the darkest secrets of their pasts.  It seemed strange to him why people would recall the darkest moments of their pasts just before they were to face death.  He would have thought that people would want to think about the best moments.  Like Oglo would think about the time his father first showed him the right way to plant a seed.  He wouldn't think about how he took a whole season worth of crop seeds, cast them about the fields, only to watch them become a feast for the birds.  Oh, how his father got so angry at Oglo for that.  He almost struck him with his fist... almost.  Although Oglo's head throbbed from the subsonic frequencies put out by his father using his fourth mouth.  That's just the thing Oglo wouldn't think about.  Although with this talk of massacres with biological weapons, that's where his mind was beginning to go.  He couldn't take it anymore.

"Let's go through already!", he bellowed at the two women.  The Ithorian really can talk loudly and quickly when he wanted to.  It's just that anything worth saying is worth the time to say it.  This he didn't feel was worth the time.  He didn't care about the volume of his voice.  One thing his visions told him is that it didn't matter which way they entered the canyon: by day, or night, loudly, or quietly, walking, or climbing.  It would all result in them being discovered and attacked by the Sandpeople.

"We all deserve to die!  Hmmm.... I get that... Hummmm... Now let us... Hrmm... Face that... Hummm... With dignity.", he continued so say while he calmed down to his more leisurely pace of talking.

"Right." Lyla said flatly, still not sure how to take Tera's admission. Then she tried again, more understanding now. "Right." She sighed. Tera wouldn't have said anything if she was guilty, especially while being alone with a group of Rebels in the desert. Tera was almost as much a victim here as the people of Bokur. "I'm sorry, I was just... shocked. If you weren't responsible, that's okay." Of course, once they got back to base, Lyla could always check in with the commanders and confirm matters.

Oglo's outburst came as a surprise to Lyla, not least because it came out at a normal pace. "Alright, we're going." she snapped back and started walking again, feeling hot more from anger than the two suns. "I'm scared, alright? Bounty hunters, Sand People, Tallon and his gang. This just feels like... the end of the road." she admitted, then muttered "Now come on. If I'm to face death, I'm going to do it kicking and screaming." as she picked up her pace.