Jubali had had enough of this nonsense.  She spun, twirled and struck again.

OOC 19+3=22 5+2=7 dmg

Jubali wounded the guard's shoulder, but he fired back anyway, but Jubali was too agile and ducked the blast.

The other guard took aim and fired again at Traest, nearly taking him out.  Traest fired back, but his wounds were starting to get him and he missed.

OOC: Jubali's turn.

Jubali moved to attack but her lightsaber slipped in her hands and her swing went very wide.

OOC 1+ it doesn't matter it misses.

The guard tried to take advantage of Jubali's mistake, but she recovered too quickly, using her agility to dodge the blast.

Traest and his opponent again exchanged blaster fire, with neither one finding their mark.

OOC: Jubali's turn again.

OOC 8+3+6(FP)=17 5+5=10dmg

IC Desperate to end the fight and aid her friends, Jubali called upon the Force to guide her strike.

Just before Jubali delivered the final blow to her foe, eight Dorin Security Force officers rushed into the room, weapons drawn.

"Everybody freeze," one of them said.  "Drop your weapons until we can determine who you are."

Both of Pakyu Meni's security personnel immediately dropped their weapons and raised their hands.

Traest looked longingly at Jubali first, but then complied.

Jubali was hesitant to comply but did so, placing her lightsaber on the ground and raising her hands into the air.

Before the DSF officers could start their pat downs and inquiries Master Tabret and Ranger Cardosa came into the room.  "Don't worry about these two," Ranger Cardosa said.  "They're with us."  The lead DSF officer gave a nod of acknowledgement and indicated that Traest and Jubali could pick up their weapons.

OOC: Any comments?

"What happened?" Jubali asked Master Tabret.

"There's no place to get down from the balcony," Master Tabret started, "so Pakyu Meni and his bodyguard were actually heading to another office to come back in and make their way to the stairs.  We slowed them down, but could never quite stop them.  Of course, we were surprised to find one of the security guards following us," Master Tabret gave Jubali a chiding look, but the glare quickly faded.  "But he didn't end up causing too much trouble for us.  Anyway, just as Pakyu Meni and his bodyguard reached the stairs, DSF showed up in force.  So it looks like we did our job, we stalled them long enough."

"But where is Pakyu Meni now?" Traest asked.

"Come see for yourself," Ranger Cardosa answered, leading them out into the lobby area.  There you saw Pakyu Meni, his bodyguard, and the security guard that had followed them, in binders, surrounded by DSF officers.

"I don't understand," Pakyu Meni said as he saw the four of you approaching, "How did you know?"

Jubali leaned over, placing her hands on her knees so she could look Pakyu Meni on his level.

"I think that's a little secret we're going to keep," she said.

All of Jubali's companions seemed satisfied with that answer, but as the quartet turned and started walking away, Pakyu Meni started mumbling, "I don't understand he said no one would figure it out, not even the Jedi.”

Master Tabret stopped dead in her tracks, a look of fear coming over her face.  "Sonora, ignore him.  It can't be what you're thinking," Dane said.  But Master Tabret turned back around and stalked toward Pakyu Meni, with Dane not far behind her.  "Who told you that?" she asked her voice rising slightly.  "Who helped you plan this, but told you the Jedi wouldn't figure it out?"

Pakyu Meni hesitated for a moment, but when he saw the look in Master Tabret's eyes, he finally answered softly, "The Paladin."

Master Tabret gasped, putting her hand to her mouth.  She shook her head in disbelief as she said, "No, it can't be."  Ranger Cardosa put his hands on Sonora's upper arms, and said to the DSF officers, "Get him out of here."  The officers immediately dragged him and his conspirators off.

"What was that about?!" Jubali asked, stunned.

"It's nothing, Jubali," Ranger Cardosa said.  "Just a lie Pakyu Meni made up to blame somebody else for what he has done."

"Is it?" Master Tabret asked, having gained a modicum of composure.  "Isn't this just his style?  Chaos and confusion?"

"But why would he come back now?" Dane countered.

"Why else?  Why does he do anything?  He's bored.  For the last while he's had the Stark Hyperspace War and the Invasion of Naboo to entertain him, but now there's nothing." Master Tabret answered.

"I think your wounds are starting to take a toll on you," Ranger Cardosa said, somewhat changing the subject.  "We need to get you, all of you," he said including Traest and Jubali, "to a hospital and get you healed up."

Master Tabret seemed as though she was going to protest but then thought better of it.  Instead she simply nodded her head quietly.

OOC: Any comments before I summarize the next few days of healing and events?

Jubali decided WHO it was they were talking about could wait until later.

The Republic envoys were treated even better this time at the hospital because now they were heroes: they had restored order and justice Dorin.  It took a few days for all of them to heal up.  During that time, the heroes learned that Payan Kai had been elected chief judge.  Even now he was appearing on the local holonews.  "It pains me to say, that though he is my brother, Pakyu Meni was the one who murdered my other brother Pahor An.  As my first act as chief judge, I have sentenced him to death, the execution to be carried out by the end of the local week."  Holocameras started flashing and reporters eagerly raised their hands.  "Will you witness the execution?" one asked.  "No, it is painful enough to have to deliver the sentence and deal with losing two brothers in a short period of time."  "How was it discovered that Pakyu Meni was the murderer?" another queried.  "With the help of some representatives from the Republic, we were able to..." and the image vanished as Dane pushed the power button on the feed.

OOC: Any comments?

"Hey, they were just about to talk about us!"

"Yes...and we already know what happened, because we were there." Dane replied, not understanding the complaint.  Traest just shrugged.

"Besides," Master Tabret interjected before Jubali could protest more, "it's time for us to go."

But before they left, the holocomm in the room chimed.  Dane answered it and a miniature, blue image of Senator Kon Uuln appeared.  "Good, I was hoping to catch you before you left.  I wanted to thank you for handling this issue  with such tact," the Senator said.  "It is too bad that such a thing as fraternal homicide could take place on Dorin.  I know that Payan Kai will be a tough, but fair chief judge.  I also wanted you to know that should you need one, you have an ally in the Senate."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:03, Mon 04 Jan 2016.

"Thank you Senator," Master Tabret replied with a slight bow.  "We look forward to working with you in the future."  The Senator's image disappeared and all four of them left the hospital and headed back to their ship.  On the way back, Traest commented to Jubali, "At least we won't have to wear these breath masks anymore."

"It's the simple things in life, isn't it?" Jubali replied.

Traest chuckled at this, and even Master Tabret cracked a smile, which in turn made Ranger Cardosa smile.  All in all the company was in good spirits when they returned to their ship.  After removing their breath masks and getting settled in, Master Tabret activated the holocomm and contacted the Jedi Council.  Miniature images of Masters Yoda, Windu, and Mundi appeared before the group's eyes.

"Masters," Sonora said, giving a slight bow of the head.  "I wanted to report our success in discovering the murderer of Dorin's chief judge."

"Heard of your success, we have," Master Yoda said.  "Congratulations we give."

"Yet there must be some other reason for you to be contacting us," the intellectual Master Mundi added.

"Indeed, there is." Master Tabret said solemnly.  Ranger Cardosa shook his head slightly indicating that Sonora should not continue.  But she did anyway: "I believe the Paladin was behind this plot."

"The Paladin?" Master Windu said incredulously.  "First Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan discover that the Sith have returned, and now you think the Paladin is back?"

"What evidence have you?" Master Yoda asked.

"Nothing solid," Master Tabret admitted.  "But Pakyu Meni claimed the Paladin was the one who gave him the idea.  And it does seem his style."

"Indeed," Master Yoda agreed, "Chaos and confusion are his weapons."

"Well, with the immediate matter settled, I'm afraid any further investigation into this will have to wait," Master Windu interrupted.  "We have another task for the four of you."

"Yes," Master Mundi chimed in, taking over the explanation. "We have received a distress signal from a starship named the Stellar Damsel.  The ship was working for Republic Intelligence and we believe they have discovered some information of importance.  Unfortunately they reported being attacked by pirates, who damaged their ship before they were able to jump to hyperspace.  Something must have gone wrong with their hyperdrive, because a short time later we received their distress signal coming from the Miro Asteroid field."

"You are our closest assets," Master Windu continued.  "We need you to rescue the ship and crew if you can and make sure we retrieve the information they obtained.  We have no doubt that the pirates are still pursuing them, so you must work quickly.  Are there any questions?"

"Do we know anything about the pirates hunting them?" Jubali asked.  "Is the sector known for certain pirate activity?"

"Unfortunately we know nothing about the pirates," Ki-Adi-Mundi replied. "They either had no markings on their ship, or the Republic's agents did not report them.  Also, the sector does not usually have any higher accounts of pirate attacks than any other sector, and that is the reason our people were caught unawares."

Jubali nodded.

"If there are no more questions, then be off," Master Windu concluded and the image of the three senior Jedi Masters disappeared.

OOC: The adventure will continue in "Damsel in Distress"...