"Fascinating," Mits responds to Ikea, "You are quite right that I had not heard about Endor nor it's moon before now."

Ikea finds innumerable such events then narrows it down to one that will be nearby and soon.  The primary planet below will be holding a welcoming parade in honor of it's new Imperial governor and an organization known as "Bug Spray" will be picketing the event.

"Mittens is very happy to hear her new friends are brave and bold enough to take the more direct approach!"

Ikia says, "We are not trying to avoid all troopers. Just the ones who were talking to us." she then looks up at Mittens. "Thank you, but I am not sure bravery would describe my actions." She leaves it to others to fill in the blanks. "I found something. The planet below us is about to have a welcoming parade at its capital in honor of its new governor and there will be picketers. Let's get going."

  "I wonder if there's a point to their name, or the ones they wanted were just already taken?" No, The Empire are pests don't you get it argh nobody understands.

  "Our goals are to talk to strangers, not people we know, got it."

"Yes indeed," Mits cheers, "Yes indeedy doo!"

She follows along.  "I can make a few guesses, but it would likely be best to get answers directly from the source.  Speaking of, what would you call it if not bravery?"

An affordable shuttle to the surface isn't hard to find.  Nor is the parade.  Throngs of thousands cheering can be heard from quite a distance.

Ikia says, "I would call my actions necessity. Neither bravery nor cowardice. I do what must be done. However, when my actions go into immediate risk, such as running at a trooper who is shooting at me rather than find the safest route to run from him, I would likely call that bravery."



Ikia nods to Matt. "Correct."

  "My conscience occasionally promotes stupidity, which to an outside observer look like bravery."  Now Matt, if that were true you wouldn't bother with those deflection checks in the first place.

  He sees Ikia easily handle his commentary as usual, and decides against 'searching his feelings' in favor of using his eyeballs on the massive crowd.  Sith don't care about good eyesight, but emotional shortcuts may get more attention of there are particularly paranoid inquisitors.

"Mittens is unsure what to make of her new friends' unexpected definition of bravery, but decides against continuing a semantics discussion.  Instead, I shall simply reserve the right to compliment them regardless of what self-deprecating stance they may take on their actions.  Compliment: You're both modest."

When the group arrives, the noisy parade can easily be heard.  A hover bus arrives at the landing area and people begin filing off while others line up to get on.  A voice calls out from the bus loudspeaker, "Hold on to your bus token!  All passengers who disembark at any stop ahead of the parade may have their fare reimbursed at any available Moth Welcoming Committee booth.  (Some restrictions may apply.)"

Mits heads for the line to get on the bus.

Ikia looks at Matt as he calls his actions "stupidity", then looks back to Mittens and says, "I will at least admit I am not proud. So your modesty assessment has merit." To Ikia, Matt is obviously saying he tends to act more on instinct and not think things through. But she does not voice this thought.

Ikia gets in line also. Like Matt, Ikia is looking around. Using the force for a short cut is not only the way of the dark side, it is exactly what her teacher taught her NOT to do during this day and age. Sadly, there are way too many people here for her nose to help her much with spotting anyone hiding.

  As Ikia tries to look around through the crowd of those mostly taller than her, he says "Would giving you a shoulder ride stand out too much?  Or not worth the time unless the bus line is really, really slow?"

A Human at the front of the line can be heard saying, "They're filthy, Rebel-sympathizing animals that spread disease.  I say we put 'em all on an asteroid and blow it up."

"Meh," the guy behind him says, "I don't buy into the 'alien epidemic carriers' hoopla.  Don't know a single soul that got so much as a cold from an alien."

"Your assessment has merit," Mittens echoes in a monotone, metered voice, "Statement:  Ikea sounds way too much like a Je..."

She glance-glances at the people in line giving her weird looks, most of whom leave in a hurry upon laying eyes upon her or Ikea, covering their mouths.

"...Academic.  Methinks you should loosen up."

"It speaks Basic," one of the fleeing people mutters, "Remarkable."

Mits grins and frames her face with two thumbs-ups.  The wait to get to the bus entrance is very short.  Each passenger without passes receives a bus token as they get on.  The driver is a droid and is very polite, however it shuts the door on Mittens before she can get on.  It then broadcasts, "Empire Health Law forbids alien species from boarding public transportation on this planet.  Please visit your nearest Empire Public Health office for more information.  The bus heads off.  Several passengers make rude gestures from behind the windows.  Mits looks like she was about to make a Force Choke gesture, but quickly switches to merely returning the same rude gesture she was given.

Ikia watches as the bus closes and drives off. Then looks up at Mittens and replies in a calm tone, "I do not need to loosen up. Loosening up for me would mean that bus would no longer have a tire and we would be needing to run from the law. I try to keep my emotions in check for times exactly like these. This is one of the most alien-intolerant places I've seen. I've seen worse, but those are either war zones or places run by martial law."

Ikia looks around. "Speaking of; if this place is so xenophobic, how did we even get to the surface without being told we are not welcome? I vote we leave, mark this planet as one we can not go to, and then look for the next rebel demonstration. This place is, at best, going to be a roadblock for our quest. At worst, a trap for killing aliens like you and I."

  Matt comments "Wait, the Empire officially recognizes cooties as a health hazard?" It WOULD explain everything wouldn't it.

  At Ikia wondering how they reached the setting in the first place, he comments  "Because if they didn't let you in, they couldn't go on about how lame you are to your face all day.  Though yes, a galaxy wide organization if it is to be believed, would probable be more convenient to find when people aren't looking for silly excuses to deny you public infrastructure or arrest you for shedding in a non shedding zone."

Mits grins at Ikea.  "Wow!  Glad to hear I'm not the only one who's pissed off at our mistreatment."

Mits hails a cab, but the driver ignores her and picks up one of people who fled the bus line.

She laughs at Matt's cooties comment.  "I'm sooo tempted to pick up some fake barf and pretend to barf on random xenophobes we pass by.  I'm not worried about being in much danger...  well...  No more than normal.  So long as we keep our tempers in check.  Master said that while he sensed there would be a good chance for some action soon after we make contact with the alliance, at which point he encouraged me to show off, before then standard restraint should be enough to keep us in the clear.  So I'd hate to waste the trip only to wind up in another place just as bad or worse."

She tries to hail a cab again and an Ithorian cabbie pulls up.

<Ithorian>"Where to?"</Ithorian>

Ikia hops in and says, "To the welcoming parade, please."

She buckles up, then looks over and up at Mittens and says in a calm, but sturdy tone. "I will entrust my life into your words, Mittens, and the words of your master. That said, I will defend myself. If someone uses physical force on me, they will be met with physical force. I have played it safe by not venturing into these kinds of places, but I have a zero-tolerance policy when the line I have drawn is crossed. There is no gray for me. Only on or off."

  Matt passenger seats up.

  "I don't think passive aggression was quite what was meant for keeping tempers in check, but it remains to be seen if you or I are the bigger problem there."

  He shrugs in regards to Ikea,  "Self defense is always considered a heinous crime by those people are doing the defending from, that doesn't just go for the Empire."  Those stormtroopers are shooting back! The bastards!

"Zero tolerance for those trying to kill you," Mits echoes contemplatively, "So unreasonable!  That was sarcasm.  And yes.  Silliness is not just an Empire thing.  Nor villainy.  Nor virtue.

"'You're surrounded, out numbered, and out-gunned.  Surrender!'
'Never!'
'Jerk!  Die!'

"But admittedly, I would rather my enemies choose death over surrender to save me the hassle of taking prisoners."

<Ithorian>"If I may ask," the cabbie pipes in, "Am I to understand that you all hold no love for either the Empire or Rebellion?  Mercinaries, perhaps?  I may have overheard a lead you could cash in on.  I'd only ask the small finder's fee of 30 credits from each of you."</Ithorian>
This message was last edited by the player at 04:01, Wed 04 Mar 2015.

Ikia doesn't bother with a speech about how precious life is. Mittens may have admitted preferring killing over dealing with prisoners, which is honest enough, but she insinuated that she would take prisoners because surrender means she HAS to bother with prisoners.

Ikia answers the Ithorian, "30 creds? Very well." and pays up. "Speak freely."

  If you go by his character sheet, Matt has 35 credits.  Alas, The Force is telling him this is where the plot leads.  "Some days you just take what turns up, really."

Mits hands over her 30.  "I reserve the right to demand a refund if the tip turns out the be something stupid like, 'Tip: The parade organizers will hire garbage collectors after its all over,' or 'Tip: Don't slam the Empire so openly.  Even oppressed aliens might rat you out.'"

The Ithorian points at the registration code on his dash.  "Not many Ithorian cab drivers here.  I know better than to cross the kind of folks who can track me down and take their refund out of my hide.  No, the tip I have in mind should more than quadruple the small fee I asked for.  And maybe you'll be happy enough to become repeat customers."

The cabbie is living up to the "Ithorian talk slow" stereotype, so Mits interrupts, "Gettothepoint, man!"

The Ithorian nods.  "Big Shoes is hiring muscle.  500 credits each.  Today only.  Till the parade is over.  Human.  Alien.  Doesn't matter.  His office is on the is on the way.  If you want to stop by, I can wait for you outside."

"Seriously?!  This guy's going to try and shakedown folks during a huge Imperial march in broad daylight?!"

"I doubt that's what he's planning.  He's not stupid.  But you'll have to ask him what the actual job is.  I don't know."

Ikia says, "Thanks for the tip." she didn't realize they EACH had to pay 30 creds. But if the tip is right, and she believes it is, it will pay for itself shortly. "Where do we find Big Shoes?" She gets the feeling asking anyone else will cost more than whatever the ithorian charges.

  Admittedly, Matt can only blame himself for buying a blaster on a Jedi's budget (which could not afford a spare lightsabre either).

  "I have some of my own suspicions, but like he said we would have to get there to know for sure."  Well, or consult force powers, but the party is trying to avoid that as long as reasonable possible, on top of actually meaning that unlike most Jedi trying to lay low.

The cabbie parks and points.  <Ithorian>"You're welcome.  You go up this alley and take the first left.  you should see Eyebrow sitting outside the door.  He'll ask what you want.  You'll tell him you're here about the job.  He'll ask what's the password.  you'll tell him, 'yellow shorts.'  He'll probably toy with you some - don't let him know I warned you.  Just insist you're positive that you're right.  When inside, Gloves will hold your weapons while you talk with Big Shoes.  Don't worry about staring.  He's rather proud of the size of his feet.

"I'll wait here.  If you don't come back in 30 minutes I'll assume you don't need a cab."</Ithorian>

Mits looks impressed.  "Huh.  I'm beginning to feel we're getting our money's worth."

She gets out and pays the fair.

Ikia says, "Thank you." and takes the lead, going straight for Eyebrow.

She proceeds to do exactly as instructed. "We're here about the job."

"Oh yeah? ...well... what's the paassworrrd?"

"Yellow shorts."

http://i.imgur.com/HbFLI96.jpg

  Matt refrains from commenting on why the shorts might be yellow.  Nobody would take them seriously if they talked about mustard accidents out loud.

  Well, maybe that time he caused a guy to be maimed just with a bottle of musta-wait wrong setting and wrong character.  The sort when told they will have to pay the hospital bill asked if they could pay the second one in advance.