Kalidyn gave a small shrug. Like he had thought - not physical force, but still unlawful entry. He stepped back to make sure the droid had room, and pulled his own pistol as well, just in case.

He glanced at her. "Why? Too stressful?" He grinned. "Or is it the company you keep?"

"We could very well be the difference between success and failure of the Resistance, and it's coming down to whether I can find a missing friend that's very fond of routine. To say nothing of being accompanied by two wizards with powers I don't understand and who tend to attract attention. So, ya, I'm a little stressed."

The door opened swiftly, and Tess moved in an instant inside. Her Zabrak friend was absent, and the room looked to be a mess. There was a lot of artwork on the wall, some of it damaged. Conspicuously, on the far wall was a poster of a holovid. Front and center, was a starkly familiar Zeltron, dressed to entice and armed to kill. Seeing the two side by side, it's no mistake who that is.

Kal spoke up with a mock-indignant tone but a grin on his face, "Hey! You know very well that I attracted attention before I became a..." He hesitated over that last word as he wasn't exactly sure if it was an insult or just a descriptor, "...wizard."

He looked from the poster to Tess and then back again. "Huh. Something seems familiar about that woman...but I can't put my finger on it..."

Even as he made the joke, he looked around to see if there were any clues as to where the Zabrak friend had gone.

"Kal, if you keep oogling at that thing I'm going to shoot it, or you" She spoke from over her shoulder, looking through drawars for any possible sign of foul play or a clue. Her hand was closer to her blaster pistol, the holster strap unbuckled.

"That person died when the bombs fell. You're stuck with me, so do your Jedi whatevers and help me figure this out, or go stay by the ships."

OOC: Make a Perception check and/or any other roles you feel appropriate at this time.

Kal turned serious for a second as he looked over at Tess and somberly replied, "While I could say I'm sorry I never met her, that would be untrue. I only know the one Tess, the one I am familiar with, and as you well know, I am more fond of her than I should be already, and certainly more than she would like."

He then went back to searching in earnest for clues. He even tried to see if he could use his...connection with the Force to try and make sure nothing was hidden, but he felt a twinge in his temple for his troubles.

20:50, Today: Kalidyn Sunrider rolled 26 using 1d20+7.  Perception.
20:56, Today: Kalidyn Sunrider rolled 4 using 1d20+1.  Use the Force (Sense Surroundings why not).

You feel some latent Dark Side energy associated with Tess. It's cause or target is beyond your insight at this point, but it does drop as you speak.

"I don't know about that" Tess started to say, meekly "getting to know me better doesn't sound so bad, I guess. Let's just try to get this mission wrapped up before we start scheduling date night, if you Jedi are even allowed to have those"

What you notice in your search of the space, is how little there is to notice. The only things of value here are the furniture that would have been too bulky to be taken out of the space. There's circles and dust shadows of smaller items that had sat here that were removed. There's also no indication of either forced entry or violence inside. Whatever happened here was recent, deliberate, and likely planned and peaceful.

Kalidyn looked a bit surprised, though his back was to Tess as she spoke, looking around for clues as he was. He hadn't expected that. He had thought it would be harmless flirting that wouldn't go anywhere. If it actually started to go somewhere, well, that might end up being dangerous for them. Professionally at the very least. He wasn't sure about Jedi and romantic entanglements, but he guessed it was probably frowned on or something.

He didn't want to make a big deal out of it though so he just said, "Okay. Mission first, though, right."

He finished his search. "I'm not finding anything that indicates...anything, really. Or I don't know what I'm looking for maybe." He let out a sigh and shook his head. "I think we will need to go out and ask around and look for your friend."

He glanced at DD. "Unless you have a way to find out anything."

"Ya, maybe some old coworkers will know. Might be tough, guy was a homebody, there might not be too many others who keeped in touch him. He wasn't the type to go out to the clubs, seeing he was stingy with his cred.."

Tess stopped her thoughts partway, as she looked around again at the office. "Oh. That explains it."

Kalidyn perked up at the mention that they might get to meet some of her 'old co-workers'. Maybe they would get more information on what she used to do for a living. That poster was very intriguing, but a little vague on the details.

He paused with a frown, "What? What explains what?"

"I think he went broke. Maybe he was evicted, or he got wrapped up in some bad business. Who knows, but I think that's something to look into."

Kalidyn looked around slowly. "Hm. What makes you say that? Because he's not here?"

He frowned. "When you get evicted...do they normally keep all your stuff in the place? I would have thought it would be cleaned out and rented to someone else pretty quickly to keep money rolling in." But this wasn't his area of expertise so he looked for confirmation. "...Right?"

He then shook his head. "Regardless, I don't think we're going to find any clues here so...lead the way to who we should talk to."

"If the furniture was rented out than it would make sense for it to stay" the Elder added. "Anything of value that could fit through the door looks like it's been removed. Public records may have an answer. Unfortunately, it doesn't bode well for him either way."

The explanation Demarchus gave sounded more than plausible and Kalidyn looked slightly embarrassed at not having thought of that at all. "Oh. Sure. That makes sense."

He looked at Tess after a moment. "So. Ready to lead us to talk to people that might know what happened and/or where they are?"

"I'm not exactly eager about it, but ya" Tess responded "If we're right, this means breaking a guy out of jail, or freeing him from gangs, neither of which sounds great for our future."

"Hey, guys. Jedi can feel people through the Force right?" Tess was quickly and uncharacteristically dour and uncertain "can you do your meditation thing to, you know, make sure my friend is even still alive?"

Kalidyn gave Tess a sympathetic look. He didn't know what happened in her past - and it wasn't really his business unless she wanted to share - but he could sympathize with dealing with the past or people he didn't want to.

At her question he looked surprised and very uncertain. He looked at Demarchus. "Uhhh, that's a YOU question, sir. I don't know how any of it works." He frowned. "Though...would you need to know a person, if that was even possible? I don't know."

Demarchus simply and quietly sat on the floor, his knees in front of him, sitting on his feet. He motioned forward with his hand "That's an US question, Padawan. I know things have been a struggle, but you have me to help you here. You're also not under threat of being attacked. Knowing the person is helpful, but not a requirement. Come, let us see what the Force will tell us."

Kalidyn's eyebrows rose up in surprise. He hesitated slightly, wary of trying the unknown and failing when Tess was counting on him. But he drew in a deep breath and calmed himself. It didn't hurt to try, and learning was something he needed to do.

He slowly moved to sit opposite of Demarchus. "Alright. What do we do?"

Tess, lacking a better option, sits with the two of you as well, her eyes darting between the two of you, trying to follow on.

"We clear our minds. The Force is always trying to speak to us, but we must silence our own minds to hear it. Now, close your eyes, take deep breaths, and focus on nothing but my voice. With each word, allow yourself to relax. Do not try to compel the Force into submission, but open yourself to the direction that the Force wishes to move through you."

"There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge,
There is no passion, there is serenity,
There is no chaos, there is harmony
There is no death, there is the Force"

Make a UTF Roll, plus any Force Points of Destiny Points you may wish to use.

Kalidyn listened and did his best to follow the instructions. He tried to clear his mind, though it was no easy feat with so much having happened and so much going on! But he kept his eyes closed, kept his breathing slow and deep. He tried to just...open himself up to the Force. He followed the voice and the words.

First, you were mostly just conscious of the environment around you. The sound of the air circulation systems, the pressure of your own body sitting on itself, Tess' perfume. Slowly, those began to fade away, and you became aware of the world outside your own body, and outside of the room.

You see, you feel, you hear, The Force. It is a strange thing, but it quickly becomes familiar. This feeling you've had before, your entire life, as far as you know. A tiny voice behind a wall of cacophany, at all times.

As soon as it becomes known to you, it vanishes, but in a vivid manner. You see through your minds eye a Zabrak man. Dark, dirty, exhausted. Pushing something heavy in a large cavernous space. The last you see is a jacket on his back, with a hastily painted logo of some kind on it.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:33, Sat 24 June 2023.

Kal wasn't honestly sure what to expect, or if it would even work. He wasn't trained in the ways of the Force, after all. But he tried...and then something happened! He was himself, but so much more. He was himself, but connected to so much more. It was...well, it might have been overwhelming had he not been sort of meditating and embracing it. He did still have to force himself not to break the connection in surprise when it happened.

His voice was quiet and he spoke almost absent-mindedly. "I see...a Zabrak male. He is...dirty. Tired. He is pushing...something, something heavy. In a very large space. I can't...tell where he is."

He struggled to hold the connection in his excitement, but couldn't hold it. "He had like a...symbol or logo on his jacket." He tried to both describe the logo he'd seen and sketch it out. "Do you recognize it, Tess?"

"Yaaaa" She said, "But it doesn't make sense. That logo's from a movie. Some of the dregs started wearing it and tried to form a gang, but they were nobody's. Speeder jacking, purse snatchers, stuff like that. Last I heard a few started dealing in death sticks but that was the worst of it, and they'd gotten caught. That they went from petty crime to forced labor? There's gotta be something we're missing."

"He's alive, so that's a start. Thank you both"

"I mean, you're welcome, though I'm still not a hundred percent sure how that worked and all."

Kalidyn thought about what Tess said for a moment before finally giving a shrug. "Sounds like things might have changed while you were gone? Maybe the gang's gotten bigger and/or changed." He rubbed his chin. "Was your friend the gang-joining type?"

He shook his head. "Do you know where they might be at, hang out, or...someone we can ask without causing an incident?"

"No" she shook her head "He was about his work, sometimes obsessively so. I don't think he liked most folks. He'd go days sometimes without leaving this place."

She started to sink a little bit "This is starting to feel like it's my fault. I knew he was a little...different. If I stayed put, I coulda kept him out of trouble..."

Kal moved next to her and put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. his voice was soft and full of support and compassion when he spoke. "Hey. Don't do that. Don't beat yourself up. This isn't on you. You can't be the only thing standing between someone and the choices they make."

He squeezed once more and pulled his hand away. "Besides, you don't know what happened, so focus on what we know and can do for now until we know more. Okay?"

He headed for the door. "Come on. Let's see if you can find us some place to learn more information, yeah? A bar? A club? A street corner informant? Something?"