"Powerful spice indeed.  It was much more than that.  There is something much greater than ourselves and it has a purpose for us I think."  Zeic keeps the portion of fruit in his hand obviously not able to consume it.  His sits and close his eyes feeling the texture in his hands, moving it from one to the other.

Zeic feels the 'fruit' in his hands. It seems to have lost a lot of its energy. Now it seems to be a simple crystal, of little significance except as a memento.

Jevery does not seem to be satisfied. "From what I understand, both you and these others seem to consider yourselves heirs to the Republic. We knew the Republic as scholarly and peaceful when last they visited. They were not prone to destroying forests or capturing villages. However, if you are the true heirs, why did you not know of the Tree? Was the knowledge the scholars discovered lost?"

"I don't know much of that history, but assuming what we just experienced is what the Jedi drew their power from we are all now in grave danger.  The Jedi are all but gone and most of the knowledge likely with them.  Chances are you know more of this ... force than just about anyone else in the galaxy now.  This place needs to be kept secret.  Apparently the Jedi even in their prime felt the same way since the Sith have not come here?  I would imagine if they knew about it they would have been here in force.  Zeic considers what he just said as he puts the crystal in his pack.

Forim tucks the fruit into his flight suit and takes a few snapshots of the tree from his datapad.

He says "is there any other information you have?  Books, videos and such? There are those within our organization that would like such information.  At least one would probably want to come back, is there anything your people need, or some aid we could provide you?"

Xyklo, still with his hands resting against the tree trunk, turns to Forim.
“I don’t want to come across as an insubordinate, Flight Officer. But can we even trust our own commanders with this? It’s...  unique.
This needs to be treasured. We shouldn’t...   I dunno...   we shouldn’t spread this around. In case of spies.”

After a moment more thought, distress creases his face.
”We need to stop that woman, the Imperial one. She might be able to find the tree,” he was buzzing with life. It was almost as if he could reach the collective hive mind of all life. It gave him energy, fluid and electric. Not the adrenal panic he was used to but a more relaxed vibrancy.

"It's never insubbordinate to offer an opinion.  And I don't fully disagree with you.  But this shouldn't be hidden and hoarded either.  Luke will want to see this for sure."

The Verpine nods his agreement with Forims wisdom.
”And the woman? I don’t think she will let this go...”

Jevery smiles indulgently. "I doubt that the 'Empire' will be able to reach the Tree. The Aki-Varshi will stop them. Even if they cannot, they will never find the entry point without the Master Warden's help. If they were to enter, I doubt they could pass the challenges that you did. They surely lack compassion, faith, and wisdom."

When Forim asks for information, he frowns. "We do have a record of information, but it is not the sort of thing you can take back with you. Attend me." He begins to walk, blindfolded or not, across the room. Reluctantly, you follow across the bright landscape.

Jevery leads you to the edge of the pyramid. He indicates a short vertical wall that seems to run around the interior of the structure. Through your blindfolds, you can make out that it is decorated. Carvings are etched into the wall, like hieroglyphics.

"I am sure you do not understand our written language, but I will translate. See here," he points at an arcane collection of glyphs. "This is where the visit of the Republic scholars is codified. They were peaceful but wise, and earned their own entry. They took many notes on the Tree, which our Custodian at the time chose to share. Much was made of giving this information to their 'Jedi,' and we were assured that they would return. Alas, they did not."

He points to another bit. "Perhaps you are wondering about a more direct assault on the Tree. Do not be concerned. The mountain is capable of protecting itself. See here? At our invitation, the Republic vessel fired its sky-weapons at the crystal peak. No harm was done!" He concludes triumphantly.

"I hope you are right.  If the Empire finds out it's here it will be in danger no matter what defenses you have I am afraid.  They would be very...determined."

In reply to The Force (msg # 36):

"Would we be able to rest here and recuperate before setting off again ?"


-

"Of course! You might want a few more blindfolds, though," says the Custodian. He points up at the ceiling. "It gets dimmer when the sun goes down, but it never completely darkens. Then when the sun rises again, it starts to get bright once more."

Jeverty says something to his Guardian, who goes away. "He is going to retrieve some food and beverages," explains Jeverty.

Forim nods and says "Thank you"

He turns to his team and gestures for them to gather around for an impromptu brainstorming session.

"Ok, so we have our intelligence, or at least as much as we are going to get.  Now we need to get off planet.

Our choices are to get a military craft and escape the planet or a civilian one.  I am not sure if there are any civilian cities here, however I have to assume that civilian transports arrive every now and then with supplies for the Empire.

If we get a military one, our cause could use the extra ship however it will be more dangerous.

Any other ideas?"

Taking a few steps back Xyklo mumbled
”Sure would be good to rest...”

At Forims request for suggestions he pauses for a moment before answering.
”To attack an Imperial shuttle base would be...  crazy. Just too many eyes, and guns.

So...   we could bait them with a trap? Somewhere hard to reach, where they’ll need a craft to get to, then drop them, steal the ship.
If it doesn’t have a hyperdrive unit, we may at least use it as cover to get into a vessel that does?

They must be dying to capture us by now, right?” he grins hopefully at the CO.

In reply to Forim Luk (msg # 40):

"I am of a mind to take the "easier" option and take a civilian craft. I think what we know is more important to the rebellion then any craft we can bring back, especially if the risk is to high."

-

Forim nods and says "And we did try the ambush a military craft before... it didnt go well" with a sigh.

"I agree that laying low is the best option.  If we attack that just makes them more suspicious of...everything.  Let's let this die down.  They will forget about the whole thing after awhile, and we will be long gone with the Tree safely anonymous."  Zeic relaxes and waits for the servant with the food and drinks to return.

Forim mods and say "I like that idea.  This is a secure place and we have been going full tilt for days now.  Let's rest up here for a few days to heal up and restock our supplies before we head out. When we head out we go for civilian places or depots. then we are what we can get with minimal risk. Any objections?"

ooc: we can role play the xp spend and locals to help train force stuff.  can you re post our goals and what we could still complete?

The food turns out to be a nourishing nut paste and fresh fruit, with a meat & vegetable stew. You are served fruit juice, cold water, and a hot drink not unlike caf.

A pleasant night passes, warm and dry and on soft earth. While you are settling down, you review your datapads with the mission objectives.

Primary Objective:
 - Tech-Procurement: Locate the 'Tree of Knowledge' or any information related to it.

You feel you can tick this item off.

Secondary Objectives:
 - Combat Victory: Capture at least one high-ranking Imperial officer.
 - Counter-Intelligence: Sequester knowledge of a Rebel team on Karhexadine 1.
 - Intelligence: Obtain intelligence on any Imperial strongholds on the planet.
 - Personnel: Prevent casualties among Rebel agents.
 - Political Support: Obtain resources relevant to the mission from local support.
 - Sabotage: Prevent Imperial broadcasts for support.
 - Space Superiority: Destroy one squadron of Imperial fighters.
 - Support: Fulfill as many objectives as possible.

Of these objectives, you feel that the Space Superiority and Political Support objectives may have been accomplished already. You destroyed several of the TIE fighters assigned to defend the system. The Aki-Varshi seem to have provided you with intelligence and led you to the Tree, where you acquired the 'blessings.' Perhaps the groups you have encountered so far, the Geik and the Aki-Varshi, could be prevailed upon for additional assistance.

You wake up refreshed as the dawn breaks, flooding the Tree's habitat room with bright refracted sunlight.

Fruits and nuts are simply a fine finish to one of the most dramatic days in the Verpines life. He sleeps deeply within dreams of mighty forests, and aquamarine rivers.
On waking there is part of him that believes that dream planet exists somewhere in the galaxy. Maybe one day he will get to be there in person?..
Sitting at the breakfast table, breathing softly Xyklo slips the headphones over his antenna and listens to the soft chords of a Geonosian string band. He did this for ten minutes, until others awoke. When Forim appears he smiles and removes his music.
”Captain. I was thinking, I’m not sure it’s good enough to completely assume the tree is safe. If they find out about it they can blockade the system, or possibly destroy the planet from beneath its roots.
We shouldn’t allow this to happen sir...   sorry sir, I meant that I don’t think we should allow it to happen.” he briefly looks down, embarrassed.
”If we need a vehicle, could we not capture an Imperial one, possibly even an officer, or some way of learning how much they know? Then we could leave a false trail, make them think we came for some other reasons, or just found the tree dead?”

He looked hopefully at Forim. Xyklo hadn’t stated which officer he wanted to capture, but Forim could probably guess by now. That woman’s face, and the ship she rode in, were almost imprinted on the back of his faceted eyes.

Forim gives the jam loving insectoid a very smile and says "I'm guessing you have a specific officer in mind? I was thinking the same thing last night"

Forim sits down with a thud and starts having some breakfast.  His skin normally a vibrant blue now more of a dull sky blue.  His movements are slower than usual and his reactions seem to be normal, which is to say WAY slower than his pilots reflexes.

His antenna lift a little.
"So...   I can take that as a yes, sir?"

"We should be careful I think.  We also would not want them to find out about the tree as part of our ... investigation." 

Zeic partakes of the fresh food and considers their position a bit more.

Forim nods and says "Well, I don't hear any other better plans" to Xyklo, shorter with his tone then he meant to, and way shorter then his usual demenor.

Then looking to Zeic he says "I agree.  We might even want to consider a contingency plan to prevent the possibility of capture.

But we should better prepare an ambush point.  And if something doesn't go to plan, we retreat instead of pushing through with the plan instead."

Forim says in a much different rehearsed tone "He who learns to run away, lives to fight another day" as if he had said it many times before.

The Verpine nods his understanding, it certainly wasn't for him to question Forims orders. The Ca-Flight Officer was far smarter than he, and Zeic looked like a veteran too.
"Sir, I might suggest we need to scout south and identify any Imperial bases here. Then you could better make a decision on how best to do this, right? Like we can see if any vessels are more easily exposed to a raid, or if they conduct any kind of routine on transport?
Have to say sir, I'd prefer jumping a well armed base than setting a bait for an Imp response,"
Xyklo sees his plate empty bar a few juices. He slurps them with his snout, then looks down, ashamed.

"We do have some bad experience with ambushes of late.  But statistically we probably have a better chance and ambushinng a dozen imps then sneaking everyone aboard a ship in the middle of thousands of imps.

But you are right, the first step should be intelligence"
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 19:09, Thu 26 Apr 2018.