May The Invisible Hand Be With You - (Star Wars CK2-Style Quest)

[Dr. Snark]

Halls of the Warriors, Mandalore's Pride, Concordia
10:00 AM Local Time

You are Mitth'raw'nuruodo, or Thrawn as your associates have been calling you so as not to embarrass themselves by failing to pronounce your given name. And your day has proven to be quite satisfactory thus far. Being rescued by Lady Ciaran's Abyss Watchers has turned out to be even more fortunate than you initially anticipated, especially given her ambitions and undeniable talent. She will go quite far...especially with your help.

However, that is not as important right now, because right now you are observing a finely-crafted painting of a group of Mandalorian warriors of antiquity fighting against what you believe to be Repubic troops if your information is accurate.

"It is quite impressive, isn't it?" You quietly say so that only the hidden mic you are wearing will pick it up and transmit it to Silencer. Your associate is nearby hiding from sight given that the museum staff would likely not approve of a man equipped for war entering. Never mind the glares that you've noticed some people giving you as you've been walking around; it would seem that the hypothesis that Concordia was the likely home of the Death Watch was proving accurate given the general public' hostility to your Chiss features. From what you were able to read up on apparently the first Death Watch had been exiled to this moon, and even though the official reports stated that they had died out or become more pacifistic...you had seen the attacks and were well aware that you were unofficially not welcomed here.

Ah, but back to the painting. "You can see the Mandalorian pride in this art, how the painter emphasized their belief in the superiority of the Mandalorians by using brighter lighting and colors for the Mandalorian soldiers and dimmer, muted colors for their enemies on the Republic side." The Silencer doesn't respond-you had quickly realized how accurate his name was on the journey here-but there is something enjoyable about having a captive audience as it were. "Not only that, but the way that the Mandalorians are depicted as completely routing their enemies only confirms their sense of superiority. However, if you look more closely you can see that while the Mandalorians may value their pride, they are not ashamed of using subterfuge. You can see that the Republic soldiers have looks of shock and confusion on their faces indicating that this was an ambush rather than a direct battle." You had to admire the Silencer's professionalism, not once did he display any form of annoyance even though you were fairly certain he did not care for your passion for art in the slightest. "At any rate, this is proving to be quite enlightening. Now then-"

"We have company." The Silencer's voice came over your earpiece, and while you did not appear to react in any way as you continued to stroll through the museum you intently focused on his words. "Streets around the building are clearing out and six armed men are incoming." You idly glance around as though you are looking around at the museum and you notice that some of the patrons are quietly encouraging others to leave, along with the occasional security guard escorting people out. An obvious strategy, but an effective one if you did not want to lose public support from accidentally getting civilians caught in the crossfire. "I will stay here and lure them into the main hall. From there flank behind them and eliminate all but one for questioning. If capture is not possible without endangering my life, kill him," you say looking as though you were completely oblivious to the obvious trap.

"Understood."

"And do try not to damage the artwork."

Nothing came over the line after that statement. Ah well. You continue your simulated movement until you hear louder footsteps coming in. "Don't move, you blue freak," you hear one of them coldly say as you turn to look at them. "Now what have I done to earn such an offense?" you calmly say as you put your hands up and look them over as they all point their blaster rifles at you. Their equipment while slightly scarred seemed new, indicating they were receiving modern gear from somewhere. Their armor was painted in muted colors, indicating that they were willing to use subterfuge as your earlier analysis suggested. Good, their mere presence here was already providing useful information.

"You dishonor our forefathers by standing in this place, alien," their (presumed) leader spat out. "This is a hall built by Mandalorian hands to honor the warriors of the past and not a place for someone like you."

"You can't understand what it means to be a Mandalorian." another says.

"Almost in position," the Silencer's voice comes in over the line. Excellent. And with that, you start to chuckle darkly.

"What's so funny?" the leader asks.

"What amuses me is that even though you believe an alien like me cannot comprehend what it means to be a Mandalorian, I was only able to understand you because I was here admiring the warriors of your past." The leader's finger visibly tightens on his trigger.

"Ready. Duck on my mark. 5. 4."

"And I understand that your ancestors..."

"3. 2."

"...would approve of this strategy."

"1. Mark!"

You drop to the ground as you hear the telltale sound of a grenade hitting the floor. Before the Mandalorians can properly react it goes off releasing smoke into the room. After that you hear the sound of five blaster shots going off and the sounds of hand-to-hand fighting for a brief moment before the smoke clears and the Silencer is standing with a foot on the survivor's back and a blaster rifle pointed at his head. Most impressive. You honestly weren't certain whether you could actually get any information out of him given his prior hostility, but it was at least worth the effort to try. With that in mind you strode over to him and reached a point where you could look down at him and he could look up at you. You could hear from his angry growling that he wasn't the leader. Good. Perhaps he'd prove to be less stubborn.

"Fuck you," he growls out as he looks up at you.
"Now there is no need for hostilities. My associate and I simply defeated you in a manner your ancestors would have approved of," you try and calmly explain to him.
"You lie...they would be disgusted by you," he says.

You aren't certain whether it was his own beliefs or the Mandalorian culture that caused him to make such a hypocritical declaration. Nevertheless..."At any rate, you certainly can not return to your comrades. They would never forgive you for losing your honor by failing to defeat me." you comment, which causes him to settle down slightly as the reality of those words begins to set in. "Now then. Where are you getting your equipment?" You don't bother giving him the traditional "answer if you want to live" bluster as he'd likely choose death. It was important to keep up momentum after all.

The warrior looks up at you and coldly says "I will never betray my comrades to scum like you."

"Very well then." You look at the Silencer and nod, and with another blaster round the warrior's life is ended. Not even acknowledging it, he takes his foot off of the corpse and begins to search the bodies. It's quite fortunate that you were working with a professional like him and as you idly glance around waiting for him to finish you confirm that the rest of the museum is undamaged. After a few moments he finishes his work and comments "Nothing that important, but it looks like they may have come from a mine," gesturing to one of the warriors' bodies. You look at the corpse in question and do notice what appears to be dried out dirt on the soles of his boots; with closer inspection you note that it has a particularly powdery texture associated with topsoil from mines. Nodding in affirmation, you look at the Silencer and say "Time to go. Help me hide the bodies; it will be easier to move around if the enemy assumes they have succeeded." He nods and helps you place the corpses in various lockers and storage cupboards which would at least slightly delay search parties and once the task is done he begins to move towards a side exit as you follow him.

While their attack proved to be somewhat helpful it only served to confirm information you already knew. You would need to be more proactive in your investigation if you wanted to resolve the issue. With that in mind, you consider three options: attempting to gain more information out of low-ranking government bureaucrats as investigating the head office would likely raise too much suspicion, investigate some of the mines yourself after correlating them with data on the attacks to narrow down potential bases...or you could try and find the person who was attacking the Death Watch as well. There was that saying about the enemy of my enemy, after all...

[] Investigate Concordia's government. The Death Watch is clearly getting support from somewhere and the local government is the most likely candidate.
[] Search for the Death Watch bases. It might take time, but you would have the benefit of being less noticeable and you have some ideas about where to start.
[] Try and locate the warrior attacking the Death Watch. They might have more information, and the enemy of your enemy is at least worth looking into.

AN: Wanted to contrast with Ciaran's section with Thrawn being Thrawn and a bit of action in there. Enjoy~

 

[Dr. Snark]

Concordian Forests (En Route to Suspected Attack Location), Concordia
2:00 PM Local Time

Four hours ago you had decided that tracking down the warrior attacking the Death Watch was the wisest idea as they were the only truly unknown variable on Concordia at present. Analyzing the reported attacks and correlating the data with the mines on the planet indicated that the next attack would likely take place at one of the smaller mines in the region; perhaps an outpost of one kind, though you couldn't be certain until you arrived. Your path was taking you through a small forest that would not only be a more direct route but would give you greater cover from potential patrols.

However, the journey had been...unexpectedly grueling for you. It wasn't that you were unfit; you valued maintaining a strong body alongside your strong mind. It was just that your relatively rudimentary training didn't compare to a man who effectively lived on the battlefield his entire life and could move incredibly fast in comparison despite being weighed down by various explosives, guns, and other instruments of death. You on the other hand were carrying a sniper rifle; a weapon that would play to your ability to make rapid calculations on the fly and give you the ability to better observe the battlefield should the need arise. It was certainly a bulky weapon and carrying it around slowed you down to at least some extent while the Silencer would never break from his rapid march.

And on that note, it was only the two of you headed towards this outpost. You had suggested calling in reinforcements in case something went wrong, but the Silencer had given you a look of what appeared to be disdain (you weren't quite able to tell through the helmet) before marching off. While his confidence was impressive, you liked to be prepared for uncertainties-

Like how the Silencer signaled you to drop to the ground and stay quiet just now. Doing so you scan the area and notice a small group of local birds flying away, possibly disturbed by a local predator-or a patrol. You wait for a tense couple of seconds as you listen for the sounds of footsteps, but you hear nothing. Even so, you get the feeling that-

"We're being watched," the Silencer says to you, his voice barely even audible as he begins looking around the area. You nod in affirmation; there was some primal instinct inside of you telling you the same even if you had no logical evidence otherwise. You and the Silencer stand back to back with weapons drawn as you look around, waiting. After a few seconds pass and you still hear nothing, you and the Silencer begin to slowly move towards the source of the disturbance, carefully checking around and above you for signs of attackers. When you reach the source you don't see anything at first glance until you notice what appears to be a basic comlink carefully leaned on the trunk of a large tree. You briefly look at the Silencer, who nods and begins to cover you as you move in to pick up the device. When you do so you hear one simple order quietly come in over the line:

"Don't move."

You quickly glance around but can't seem to see anyone in sight. The Silencer begins to look around more rapidly, trying to ascertain the location of the (male, you noticed) speaker before the voice continues.

"I'll keep this brief. You start walking towards east alone and unarmed and I'll meet you along the way. Clear?"

"Crystal," you calmly reply. And with that the line goes dead. You glance at the Silencer and note "If he wanted us dead he would have attacked us already. Which means that he is likely our mystery warrior we've been hunting for." He gives the smallest of affirmative nods before you continue; "Just to be sure; follow behind me after ten minutes unless I contact you sooner or you hear sounds of conflict. All clear signal is 'no further need for hostilities,' under duress signal is 'we have no quarrel here.' Clear?" He nods again before you hand over your rifle to him, then begin walking to the east like the man said.

You walk eastwards at a brisk pace for about five minutes before you feel a cold sensation at the back of your head as you slowly raise your arms up.

"Smart. How long until your friend gets here?"

An intelligent adversary, how interesting. "Ten minutes," you reply honestly as he had clearly predicted your plan.

"Long enough. Turn around."

You did so slowly, and as you turned you finally got a good look at the man. He was wearing silver-colored Mandalorian armor with bright blue trim on his helmet and a dull blue layer beneath the armor. You recognized the man immediately thanks to the color scheme and the cursory research you did into mercenaries and bounty hunters the Watchers were familiar with. He was none other than Jango Fett, one of the deadliest bounty hunters in the galaxy...and he was pointing a blaster right at your head. How troublesome.

"What do the Abyss Watchers want with me?" he asked in the tone of voice that indicated he would likely kill you if you didn't answer. Still, you had no real reason to hide the truth; "My companion and I are here searching for you to determine your intentions and whether or not you may be willing to assist us in destroying our mutual enemy in the Death Watch." You note two things about the current situation as you answer him: first, that he must be aware of the Silencer's affiliation given that you and he had obviously never been in contact with each other up to this point, and second, that his opinion of the Watchers was one of suspicion given the circumstances.

Jango sizes you up to confirm that you are in fact telling the truth. A second later he comments, "You must be new..."

"Mitth'raw'nuruodo, though you may refer to me as Thrawn."

He nods affirmatively before continuing. "Your boss hasn't been too fond of me since one of my contracts involved a friend of hers before it was canceled. How do I know that the Silencer won't try to shoot me in the back when he gets here?"

You simply respond: "Because he is under my command. And more importantly killing you would be a waste of our resources anyway."

"I'm sure you'll understand that I'll need proof of that," Jango coldly responded.

"Of course," you say. "Give him another couple of minutes and he should be within range."

The two of you wait in silence barring the ambient noises of the forest around you before you hear a rustling noise coming from the nearby bushes. "We have no further need for hostilities, Silencer," you say calmly in an even tone.

He still doesn't appear.

You sigh audibly as Jango tilts his head at you in obvious derision. You calmly repeat, "We have no further need for hostilities. Whatever has happened in the past is irrelevant," an edge of irritation creeping into your voice as you speak.

For a moment, it seems like he still refuses to come out of cover, then you and Jango focus to a rustling sound coming from your left. The Silencer moves out of the brush, rifle drawn and pointed directly at Jango who in turn has pointed his other pistol at the Silencer.

The Silencer stares at Jango for a long moment.

Jango stares back, matching the Silencer in intensity.

The air of tension is palpable and for a brief second you honestly wonder whether the Silencer would disobey your orders and try to kill Jango anyway. Then without warning the two men calmly nod at each other and quickly holster their weapons, some kind of non-verbal understanding having crossed between them in that period of time.

It would seem you still have a lot to learn about the rest of the galaxy...

30 Minutes Later

You were glad that you were no longer in public; a Chiss, a famed Mandalorian bounty hunter, and a feared mercenary all moving together in one group would have raised many, many questions. Still, Jango was at least willing to consider you and the Silencer to be allies of convenience. In exchange for more information on the Death Watch, he had requested a favor from you in the form of aiding him on his most recent attack. Jango had admitted that the outpost he was planning to attack was relatively small but he refused to tell you more of what he knew until you had finished with the raid, explaining that it would be "payment" for the information he had. He was still willing to at least confirm or at least support the information that you had gathered thus far as a sign of good faith. Jango confirmed that the Death Watch was in fact based out of the Beskar iron mines scattered across Concordia, and while it was possible for them to manufacture their own goods with said iron, the evidence he had found in his attacks indicated that they were getting outside aid, though again he refused to give any more details.

Which is why the three of you were leaning over a ridge overlooking a mine that definitely showed signs of activity with thirteen soldiers patrolling the perimeter, as well as a pair stationed in front of the shaft that led deeper into the mine where presumably the rest of the soldiers were. Jango notes that based on the size of the patrol and his past experiences he estimates that there are about thirty-five more soldiers within the mine itself. Judging by the activity of the group they had no idea that you were coming. Excellent. With those observations the three of you crawl back and begin discussing a plan.

"Could you identify the base's leader?" you ask Jango.
"Easily. They tend to dress themselves up to make them look like they're 'true' Mando."
"Very well. The objective is to quickly eliminate the outpost's occupants; I don't believe you need any further information from their commander Jango?" He shakes his head. "Very well then. Would you be willing to follow my commands for the purposes of this battle?"

"So you're more of a strategist, then?" Jango notes with some curiosity present in his voice. "That depends. I'll at least hear out your plan if you have one."

Of course you have one, in fact you have a number of plans. The question is which one to use...

[] All-out assault. You've seen the Silencer in action and by all accounts Jango is an equally deadly fighter who's won against the Death Watch repeatedly. Sometimes the simplest plans work the best.
[] Quiet elimination. Try to eliminate as many guards as quietly as possible before moving in; odds are that between the Silencer and Jango they might even be able to do it without raising an alarm.
[] Divide and conquer. Have the Silencer draw off and eliminate as many guards as possible while Jango moves into the mine in the confusion to finish off the enemies inside.
[] Write-in.

How much do you actually plan on participating in this battle if at all?

[] You'll hang back and only provide spotting and general command. You're not keen on getting too involved in a heated firefight in any real capacity.
[] You'll at least provide sniper support both here and when they start moving into the mine. You'll admit that you're not quite as skilled as your companions but you can certainly provide some support.
[] You'll go in alongside the Silencer and Jango. You're fully aware that you would be a liability at best compared to the two of them if you tried to fight alongside them.

AN: This totally counts as Monday, right? I was planning on moving past this part but then I realized this was starting to get really long so I decided to break it up a bit. Don't worry; the next update will contain significant amounts of murder no matter what. There should only be one more mini-arc update after that.

Three other things: first, Thrawn directly participating is locked out because I figure he's smart enough to realize how outclassed he is compared to the guys he's with right now and by extension how much of a liability he'd be. Second, the main difference between this option and the base (since they might seem pretty similar) is that the base would have had a lot more dudes and would have been more stealth-oriented. Third, for those of you who think that the odds here are unfair, you're right.

The Death Watch would need twice as many men to even begin to stand a chance against Jango Fett and the Silencer.

 

[Dr. Snark]

Beskar Iron Mine, Concordia
2:32 PM Local Time

"The general plan is that the two of you will eliminate as many guards as you can silently while I act as a spotter," you explain to Jango and Silencer.

"So you're not going to fight yourself then?" Jango asks though more out of curiosity from what you can tell. You simply shrug and answer "In all sincerity I would be a liability to the two of you on a mission like this. My talents would be best applied to battlefield command instead of placing myself in unnecessary danger. I have faith that the two of you can handle yourselves," you dryly finish.

"Alright then," Jango says, no real reaction noticeable in his voice. "So what exactly is your plan?"

10 Minutes Later

You were barely looking over an outcrop surveying the area with viewfinders. While you had been observing the patrol patterns and had formulated a decent strategy for eliminating them all quietly, it was always worth preparing for uncertainties.

"Red, Blue, check in."
"Red here." The Silencer came in over your comlink.
"Blue ready." Jango's voice followed immediately.
"Very well. Begin on my signal. Three...two...one...mark."

With that Jango and Silencer moved into the crater from opposite sides towards oppositely-placed duos of patrolling guards. From what you could see the both of them moved with a predatory grace, staying low to the ground while still rapidly moving towards their targets, who were stationed on the outermost edges of the base relatively out of sight from the other guards. From there though the differences between the two were obvious.

The Silencer was the definition of brutal efficiency, quickly moving in close behind his first target before reaching out and breaking his neck. When his companion started to turn around, the Silencer stabbed him in the throat with a knife, quickly killing him and preventing him from shouting for help. Certainly brutal, but it delivered results.

On the other hand Jango's version involved more finesse in comparison. As he moved up towards his targets he shot the first one in an unarmored joint with a dart from what you could see; presumably coated with an extremely poisonous substance as the victim dropped to the ground almost instantly despite it not hitting a major organ. Similarly to the Silencer's victim the other guard reacted but instead of a knife Jango deployed blades from his wristbands and delivered a fast slice across his throat resulting in his death.

Four down, eleven to go.

"No indication of enemy activity so far. Continue with the plan," you calmly announce over the comlink.

The next two groups of patrols were slightly closer to the base, but they were still quickly dealt with in short order. It was the central crater base and mine shaft itself that were the problem; the seven guards remaining had large fields of vision thanks to the flat terrain making direct approaches difficult. So approaching undetected would require a distraction of some kind. Such as setting off a small rockslide on on of the base's flanks to get the pair of guards' attention. You watched the two guards on the opposite side of the shaft guards notice said landslide and radio it in, with one of them moving in while the other kept watch. This would require perfect timing to eliminate them both and create an opening.

"Red, Blue, guard incoming. On my mark. Three."

The first guard had gotten a third of the way there.

"Two."

Two-thirds, he was starting to look around more carefully now as he slowed down.

"One."

He ended up taking the bait though and moved just close enough.

"Mark."

A dart flew out across the canyon and struck the guard who had stayed in place, killing him. Meanwhile, the Silencer leaped from the ridge he was on, knife in hand and slammed into the guard beneath him, burying his knife through the victim's visor. With that, the two of them quickly ran across the open field and took cover against the wall of the nearest building.

This was the part that would require your aid the most; it was impossible to fully predict how the guards would react to the two not responding, but you assumed that given their paranoia it would not take long before someone panicked and raised the alarm. You quickly glance around the area and notice that while the majority of the guards were staying calm there was one pacing around the middle of the base saying something into his comlink. The external commander then, it was difficult to tell at first from what you had seen everyone was wearing the same armor. But now that you had confirmation...

"Leader at center, kill now," you quickly say. The two move quickly, rounding the building and closing in on the guard. He appeared to be close to getting ready to send out another call before the Silencer took the lead, moving in and knifing him in the throat.

Unfortunately, one of the other guards seemed to have heard some noise from that and had begun to move in from the right side.

"One from the right," you quickly say as Jango rushed towards the path of the oncoming guard. As he rounded the corner Jango surprised him and launched forward with an upward thrust from his wristblade, burying it in the throat of the too curious guard. You were beginning to become more curious about the way he fought, from what you could see you felt as though there was something more to it but you weren't quite sure what...

At any rate, there were only three guards left-two actually as the Silencer had eliminated the only other guard not in front of the main shaft while Jango was busy. It would have been a problem to deal with the both of them as well...until the two of them decided to fan out after the local communications had gone silent. You relayed their locations to Silencer and Jango, and between the two of them they were swiftly eliminated. Looking around, and confirming the situation, you announce "All clear. Moving to your position."

After quickly joining up with the two of them, Jango comments "Not bad. You were a good spotter and your plan was simple but effective." You bow slightly and simply say "Thank you. Is there any way I can continue to assist you in the mine or should I stay out here?"

Jango chuckles at that and comments "Not really. Just stay out here and shoot anyone who tries to flee in the back." The Silencer simply nods in agreement with Jango. Trusting in their expertise, you reply with a quick "Understood."

With that, the two of them confidently walk into the base as you lean against the wall and wait for them to finish.

A minute later you can hear the sound of an explosion coming from the shaft, followed by the sounds of shouting, screaming, and blaster fire. Three minutes pass and a random warrior runs out of the mine screaming and on fire before you put him out of his misery with a shot to the back. Five minutes pass and it starts to get quiet again. Ten minutes pass and you start to get slightly impatient before Jango and Silencer walk back out, blaster scars on their armor.

"So I take it things went well," you dryly comment.

"There were some stubborn ones in there, but yes," Jango responds. As usual the Silencer doesn't say anything, prompting Jango to glance in his direction before looking back at you. "Alright, you helped me, now I can help you."

"And help yourself in the process," you note.

Jango shrugs before starting his explanation. "The Death Watch has traditionally been supported by the Vizsla clan in recent years, and given the outside help I can all but guarantee that the one supporting them is the local governor, Pre Vizsla. He has almost full autonomy here which lets him support the Death Watch with little to no oversight." There seems to be a slight note of bitterness creeping into Jango's voice as he explains this but he doesn't seem to let it affect him as he explains the situation. "As for Vizsla himself he's an egotistical hypocrite. He may say that the ways of old were better but he only believes in the Mando ways of honor and glory when he knows he's on the winning side." Certainly useful information, though you easily detect bias in it. However...

"Do you have any direct evidence of Vizsla's involvement?" you ask. Something doesn't seem to be adding up here, and you need to know what.

"No. Thanks to public support here a lot of that information tends to 'disappear' often, and I haven't been able to recover anything conclusive from the Death Watch bases yet," Jango responds.

"Why haven't you killed Vizsla yet?" you try and fish out of him.

"I can't tell you," he simply says. "My client paid a lot of money to keep the details of this contract secret."

You raise an eyebrow in response to that statement. "From what I can tell, this seems rather personal to you judging by the venom in your voice when you talk about the Death Watch in general." Jango doesn't seem to react and you continue. "I take it you and them are acquainted?"

He doesn't say anything for a few seconds and then:

"They and I go a long way back," he says in the coldest tone possible. "And that's all I'm going to tell you."

You contemplate the situation for a moment and start to get a grasp on the situation at hand. From what you can tell whoever hired Jango wanted the Death Watch destroyed but didn't want Concordia to be destabilized which is why Vizsla was still alive despite the fact that Jango clearly wanted him dead. However, if there was a way to connect Vizsla with the Death Watch Jango's contract seemed to imply that Vizsla would no longer be protected. And if he died, even with access to the local mines the Death Watch would rapidly follow if Jango's successes were any indication.

You had found your target. The only question was how to eliminate him.

[] Get an engineered confession from Vizsla. Judging by the company he kept Pre Vizsla is a man with delusions of grandeur and egotism; getting him to rant about how the Death Watch are what Mandalorians should truly be like or some drivel along those lines should hardly be difficult.
[] Locate incriminating data on Vizsla's activites. You are a part of an intelligence-gathering organization now, and from what you've heard there's very little in the galaxy that they can't find. And if they can't find proof, they're equally as adept at creating proof.
[] Assassinate Vizsla yourself. Noting so overt as shooting him in the head of course; your plan would be to make it look like an accident or possibly even pin the blame on the Death Watch in the eyes of the public. After all, who would believe a group of terrorists?
[] Write-in.

And then there was Jango Fett. There was definitely much more to the man than met the eye, perhaps he might be willing to aid you in exchange for a chance to kill Viszla himself?

[] Have Jango assist you in dealing with Viszla. Jango's grudge against him might let you gain more trust with him if you give him a shot at killing the governor himself, and he is beginning to pique your curiosity...
[] Let Jango continue on his mission and handle Viszla yourself. His mystery client might be an enemy of the Abyss Watchers; letting him in on your operation could lead to further trouble.

AN: Close enough to Wednesday, right? Also I feel kinda "meh" about the stealth bit but I think I captured the tone well enough.

Also if the guards' reactions seemed off to you just pretend that they were on loan from whatever MGS organization. That should explain their actions perfectly.

 

[Dr. Snark]

Beskar Iron Mine, Concordia
2:55 PM Local Time

"Very well then," you say out loud as Jango looks at you with what appeared to be curiosity. "I believe we can handle Vizsla, though I would like to offer you the chance to deal with him yourself, Fett."

Jango is silent for a few seconds before he responds with an icy cold "What's the catch?"

You chuckle darkly. "This is more of a reciprocating of good faith; I can tell that you wish to kill Vizsla yourself and I can give you the chance-."

"Through the Abyss Watchers-" Jango tries to interrupt-

"Most of whom have no real grudge against you," you counter, quickly silencing the counterargument before it can gain momentum. "In fact, you killing Vizsla at this point would benefit the organization even if you are doing it on someone else's behalf, and they would certainly be more inclined to trust that you are not an enemy...especially if you had someone testify on your behalf that you had no quarrel with the Abyss Watchers." You began to circle around Jango as he looks off into the distance, clearly judging his actions. "You can have your revenge. You can be reassured that you have one less enemy in the galaxy. And most relevantly, you will be able to complete your current contract more easily." You finish circling around him and stand in front of him, staring directly at his eyes. "The choice is yours."

A second of utter silence passes as Jango matches your gaze with equal intensity. Two seconds. Three. Then-

"Why are you doing this then? What do you gain?" he asks, no noticeable emotion in his voice.

You smile broadly. "You are a fascinating individual, Mister Fett. There is certainly more to you than being a simple bounty hunter and I believe that there is much I can learn from you. I would hate to see that opportunity go to waste because of irrational paranoia."

"...Is that all?" Fett asks, beginning to sound earnestly baffled.

"Yes. That is the absolute truth," you say with conviction. The silence lasts for another few seconds before Jango simply nods and says, "Alright then. You have a plan?"

You smirk and pull out a comlink. "Better. I have the Abyss Watchers."

Oracle, Mandalore System
Same Time

On board the Oracle, Gulan Terrek was a very busy Bothan. On top of all of the other things the Abyss Watchers were involved in now he had to keep tabs on the Jedi visit to make sure they didn't stumble onto something they shouldn't, not to mention the Death Watch which were starting to become a massive problem.

It was why he was buried in paperwork, information requests, and a general deluge of incredibly stressful shit that he had to deal with himself. So when a call came in over his office's comlink, he was not happy to hear it. Groaning, he reached over and activated it. "This is Gulan, what's the problem now?" he said not even bothering to hide his frustration.

"Oh come now Gulan, is that how you receive anyone who calls you?" Thrawn's said, his refined voice coming in clearly over the comlink. For his part Gulan sighed, breathed in deeply, and responded, "Look, do you have something to report or what?"

"Oh yes." Thrawn responded, "I have discovered that the local governor of Concordia, one Pre Viszla, is the source of the support for the Death Watch." That news got Gulan to sit upright in his chair and focus in on Thrawn's report as he continued. "While the Death Watch are gaining supplies from the local Beskar mines, eliminating Viszla should be enough to cause them to go on the decline."

This was the best news Gulan had heard all day-a problem about to resolve itself. "But you need evidence so that he won't be seen as a martyr or something," Gulan realized out loud.

"Precisely. How long will it be before you can find or create something?"

Gulan quickly moved to his computer and began typing out orders. "We've can get blueprints of the Concordian governor's office in a heartbeat, so it shouldn't take too long to get a team over there to find and extract or plant data," he said, shifting to a position of authority. "Between the team arriving, prepping for infiltration, letting the Mandalorian government "find" the data and so on...I'd say you'd have a couple of days you'd have to lie low for before we can make a move."

"Understood, though do not send a team to deal with Vizsla himself. I have an associate with me who would much prefer to deal with him himself."

Gulan froze in the middle of his typing, swore under his breath, and with forced calmness asked, "Who did you find?"

"Jango Fett." Gulan groaned at the fact that Thrawn had complicated the issue further as Thrawn continued. "For the record, he is more concerned about retribution from the Watchers and has no reason to attack us. And-"

"It's fine." Gulan interrupted while burying his face in his hands. "It's fine. You can tell the boss herself the details, it sounds like it's not my problem anyway. Anything else?"

"No. Please let me know as soon as possible when we can make our move." And with that the line went dead as Gulan sank back into his chair and groaned. "Force help us all, why are there two of them now...?"

Mandalore's Pride, Concordia
Two Days Later

"Attention people of Concordia. Martial law has been declared. All citizens are to return to their homes immediately or they will be considered hostile and shot on sight..."

The public speakers echoed through the rapidly emptying streets as a torrent of rain descended upon Concordia's capital and thunder echoed through the air. Distant shouting and air raid sirens could be faintly heard as you hid from sight in the Governor's personal hangar, having infiltrated it with the Silencer and Jango just before the announcement of martial law had come in.

You had agreed with Jango that while you would assist him with any traps or deceptions that Viszla would come up with he would be the one to strike the killing blow. Which was why he was positioned ahead of you and Silencer hanging from the ceiling, waiting for the moment to strike.

There was no way Vizsla would escape-his ship was already filled with explosives ready to go off with the touch of a button in the Silencer's hand. A fact that Vizsla would learn shortly as he stormed in dressed in full Mandalorian armor barring the helmet he held under his right arm, followed by a pair of guards. No doubt the rest were left behind to hold the line. A wise move, albeit completely useless as he was about to find out.

"There's no way that coward Satine could have found out about this," you can hear him say over the din of the falling rain outside. "but that doesn't matter now. We have to-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the Silencer pressed the detonator causing Vizsla's ship to explode. The shockwave buffeted and disoriented you for a second as it was considerably larger than you had anticipated, but that was nothing compared to the effects it had on Vizsla and his guards who recoiled in shock. Before anyone could realize what had happened, the sound of two blaster bolts echoed through the hangar. When everyone had come back to their senses, the guards were dead, the ship a smouldering wreck, and Jango stood in front of it, the inferno behind him serving to make him look more menacing as Jango stared Vizsla down. To his credit, Vizsla's expression was not one of fear, but of rage as he tried his best to kill Jango with a glare alone.

"You..." he growled out. "I should have known that a traitor like you was behind this."

"Close," Jango calmly said as you and the Silencer stepped out from your hiding places. Vizsla's response was to seethe in rage for a second before spitting out, "Of course. You ally yourself with outsiders who want nothing more than to-"

"Shut up." Jango interrupted. "You just can't stand that you were wrong and that you lost. The Mando don't want you or your Death Watch."

"You have the gall to say that to me!?" he screamed out. "You, who not only stole the title of Mand'alor, but abandoned it as well!? I would have led the Mandalorians back to glory, where they would have been warriors once more."

Jango was silent, though from what you could tell it wasn't because he had nothing to say but rather that he was simply that furious. And then after a pause, he said, "Fine. If you really believe that..." He holstered his blasters and settled into a fighting stance. "Then I'll at least give you the chance to die like a Mando. They won't interfere," he said, tilting his head slightly towards the two of you.

Vizsla didn't respond with words, but rather put on his helmet and drew out what appeared to be a sheath before he flicked a switch and ignited the blade. The weapon resembled a lightsaber, but the blade was pitch-black and framed by what appeared to be a glowing white sheen, not to mention the high-pitched whine coming from it. It was truly a work of fine art.

"Nice toy," Jango sarcastically commented, clearly unimpressed.

"This is the Darksaber," Vizsla calmly explained. "The symbol of the Death Watch, a weapon that many Jedi have fallen to," he said, flourishing the blade as he spoke causing it to make an unusual whistling sound. "Now...you will join them."

With the sound of thunder seeming to punctuate his statement, he activated his jetpack and rocketed towards Jango. As he came in for the first strike, Jango rolled to the left dodging under the blade before activating his wristblades and stabbed at Vizsla's jetpack. Vizsla quickly turned out of the way and swung down trying to punish Jango for overreaching, but he quickly pitched himself backwards and briefly activated his own jetpack, moving him out of the way of Vizsla's strike and putting a small amount of distance between the two. Vizsla responded quickly and chased Jango down after he settled back onto the ground, lunging forward with a brutal and rapid flurry of strikes. Through nothing more than his own sheer agility, Jango managed to duck and weave through Vizsla's jetpack-boosted strikes. Suddenly he was able to exploit an opening, rolling behind Vizsla and managing to stab his jetpack before Vizsla could react. To his credit, even as Vizsla's jetpack began to malfunction and go out of control, he remained calm and quickly disengaged himself from it, dropping to the ground as the rogue pack slammed into a wall.

The two briefly stood off, settling into matched circular movement as the lull allowed you the chance to finally put together what fascinated you about Jango's fighting style. While Vizsla's was certainly the result of training and skill, it was brutal and relied on force. By comparison Jango relied on quick, agile movement; there was a grace involved in it. That was not all though; there was an art in the way Jango fought; an expression of something greater than himself in the way he fought. It made everything up to this point completely worth it if only to see this duel unfold.

And it continued as once again Vizsla rushed at Jango with a series of brutal attacks with the Darksaber. This time around though Jango clearly had the upper hand as without the gains in speed and height from the jetpack Vizsla wasn't able to keep up with Jango as well. Then as Vizsla overswung Jango quickly moved in and grabbed Vizsla's sword arm. He twisted it and disarmed Vizsla before slamming him down onto the ground, knocking the air out of him. Vizsla tried to get up, but before he could Jango had recovered the Darksaber and stabbed it through Vizsla's chest.

The sounds of rain and thunder echoed through the hangar as nothing else could be heard for a brief moment before Vizsla weakly moved his head up, saying something to Jango that you couldn't overhear. Then, he dropped to the ground, clearly dead.

Jango simply stared at his corpse for a long moment before removing the Darksaber from his body and deactivating it. You simply walked forward and began to applaud, the action clearly confusing Jango before you spoke.

"I was right about you," you said as you regarded him with earnest respect. "That was truly artistically done."

He was silent for a moment before he shook his head, choosing to ignore your current comment. "Are you done here?" he asked, trying to break the tension. You nodded and responded "Between your attacks on the Death Watch and Vizsla's death, my presence here is no longer required."

You walk forward and move to shake his hand. He grasps it for a moment and gives a shake before the two of you separate and you say, "It was truly a pleasure, Mister Fett. Though I have one final request-may I have the sword?"

Jango glances at it as though he had forgotten he had it to begin with. "Sure," he says, handing it over to you. "It'll demoralize the Death Watch if they can't find it and I don't need it anyway."

Excellent. A work of art like that should not be hidden away. With that you nod, and the three of you leave the area as the sounds of transports coming in are heard.

AN: Whew, that went way longer than I thought. Hope you guys enjoyed the fight scene, it's the first time I've tried to do something like that.

Denouement should be coming up in a day or two, I need a bit of a breather after this.

 

[Whumbly]

The following information is Classified Level Eclipse Sigma Black. Please enter the necessary clearance to view the content. Failure to do so will result an employee ethics review which may result in Reduction of Financial Support, Reassignment to Exploration Corps or Immediate Termination of Employment without compensation.

Username: *************
Password: ********

Welcome Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo.

The following is a manifesto of the contents of The Vault, a private gallery for the upper echelons of the Abyss Watchers, gathered from past operations. Please note to refrain from discussing The Vault outside of those with the proper clearance. Remember that access does not equal clearance to know the details of the collection.

Private Addendum: Thrawn, I believe we can accommodate your request to move your main office adjacent to The Vault. However, installing a hidden entrance may take an extra two-three weeks as we find those who can be trusted not to talk. Please accept the token in the left second-draw, a private tour of the Senatorial Gallery.

Manifest:

- Poster Advertising The 'Diamond Deception' Cantina, Donated by Owner: Ciaran
- Chiss Holocron dating to Old Republic Era, Gifted by Unknown Smuggler
- Holo-Map of Spinnaker, Drawn by Gulan Terrek
- Recordings from Force Sect Datachips, Donated by Damask Holdings
- Black Sun Flag, Acquired from Operation Eclipse
- The Magnus Charter, Historic Naboo Document, Acquired during Operation Emerald Dream
- The Crown of King Tapalo of Naboo, Acquired during Operation Emerald Dream
- The Lost Orb of Phantasticora, Sacred Gungan Relic, Acquired during Operation Emerald Dream
- Medal (Sapphire Order), Awarded by the Royal Government of Naboo for Humanitarian Contributions to the People of Naboo
- Letter Congratulating Humanitarian Efforts of Lady Ciaran, From the Personal Desk of Chancellor Sheev Palpatine
- Copy of Mercenary License for Abyss Watchers; Dated 3623 ATC, From the Republic Ministry of Galactic Service
- Carbonised Ashes of Unknown Huk Captain, Acquired by Silencer during Second Huk War
- Izvoshra War Mask, Gifted by Qymaen jai Sheelal, known better as General Grievous, as a symbol of Eternal Gratitude
- Medal (Hero of The Republic), Dated 3624 ATC, Awarded by Chancellor Palpatine for Role in Hukgate
- Darth Vectivus Holocron, Donated by Silas Cata
- Holo of Lady Ciaran, Count Dooku and Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, Taken 3625 ATC, Corusant Residence
- 'Jedi' Robe of Lady Ciaran, Used for Kamino Operations
- Unknown Jedi Artifact of Cold War Era, Discovered by Lady Ciaran
- Collection of Articles on Ciaran Assassination: Dated 3626 ATC
- Collection of Preserved Heads of Various Species, Acquired during The Shadow War
- Galactic Games Banner, Dated 3627
- Self Portrait of Hego Damask, Bought on Black Market
- Sereno Landscape Painting, Acquired from Count Dooku's Office, Left Replica Behind
- Medal (Esteemed Patron), Awarded for Exemplary Services Rendered to the Trade Federation
- The Preserved Corpse of Granta Omega, Acquired on Korriban
- Painting entitled 'The Foundation of the Confederation', Gifted by Dooku
- Collection of Holos of Seperatist Afterparty, Taken by Lady Ciaran and Viceroy Gunray
- Letter of Summoning, Sent by Jedi Council
- Letter of Apology, Sent by Jedi Council
- Seal of the Chiss Ascendancy, Acquired in Unknown Regions
- Pre-Republic Era Hutt Statue, Gifted by Hutt Cartel
- Wookie Carving, Gifted by Chief Engineer of Alaris Prime
- Seal of the CNS Unified Military Command, Gifted by General Grievous
- Medal (Galactic Humanitarian), Awarded by Galactic Senate
- Mutant Skull, Acquired during Operation RESI
- Darksaber, Acquired from Death Watch
- Pre Vizsla's Mandalorian Armor, Recovered from Concordia

 

[Dr. Snark]

Oracle Meeting Room

"So that's your report," Ciaran neutrally commented.
"Indeed," Thrawn responded.
"You caused martial law to be declared on Concordia."
"It was necessary to ensure no one would take Viszla's place."
"You allied with an enemy of the Abyss Watchers."
"Who as I have stated was more concerned about retribution than attacking us."
"And you stole a priceless artifact from the Death Watch."
"To be fair, it was given to me by Fett."

Ciaran glanced down at the report and the Darksaber set next to it before she looked back at Thrawn...and smiled.

"I knew you would fit in here perfectly."

Slave I, Unknown Location, Concordia

"Martial law has been declared on the moon after information confirming that Pre Viszla was supporting the terrorist organization known as the Death Watch was discovered. Viszla himself was found dead in his hangar, though there is no sign of any..."

The news report droned on over the Slave I's speaker systems as Jango idly cleaned his armor and restocked his supplies to continue his mission. He still had a contract to finish; the Death Watch were certainly wounded but not dead yet. And a cornered beast was always harder to kill even if it had been weakened.

"Y-You...even though you've won it doesn't matter. No one will ever follow you again, false Mand'alor."

Jango shook his head, trying to clear Viszla's last words from his mind when an alert came up for an incoming communication. Quickly moving to the cockpit, he activated the comms and responded with a simple "Go ahead."

"I wanted to thank you for being proactive in this matter," his current employer responded. "While I regret that the situation could not have been handled more...subtly...you have gone far and above the terms of your contract. I will be sure to include a bonus when it is completed."

"Don't," Jango coolly responded. "You paid me to destroy the Death Watch, I just made sure that they would stay dead."

"If you insist." The employer didn't say anything for a brief second before asking, "Did the Abyss Watchers learn anything from you?"

"Only that I was here to kill the Death Watch. Nothing else," Jango calmly explained.

"...Good. I would hate to cancel your payment at this point after everything you've done for Mandalore."

"I understand. Anything else?"

"No. Good luck on the rest of your mission." And with that the line went dead.

Jango leaned back in his seat for a moment, Viszla's last words once again sprung up in his mind unbidden. But after that another memory came to the front...

"There is certainly something more to you than being a simple bounty hunter and I believe there is much I can learn from you."

With a grunt, Jango got up, reequipped all of his armor and weapons, and set back out into the jungle to continue his hunt.

"Whatever happens in the future...right now I have a contract to finish. After that...we'll see."

Final Results of Mini-Arc:
-The Death Watch are massively on the decline due to the loss of support from Viszla, active attacks from Mandalorian government forces, and are continuing to suffer casualties from Jango Fett as well. It is expected that they will be wiped out within the next few months if not sooner.

-Martial law has been declared on Concordia and the Mandalorian central government is taking more direct control of the moon until further notice, though the local government is expected to be restored in short order.

-Under Satine's orders, Prime Minister Almec is given temporary control of Concordia to help restore order. He quickly moves to ensure that no government soldiers cause abuses as well as direct counter-terrorist operations against the remaining Death Watch bases. Jango's intel makes this go considerably more smoothly than expected.

-Due to said sudden declaration of martial law, Obi-Wan and Anakin are to stay on Mandalore for the duration to ensure that no innocents are hurt because of it, as well as foster good relations with the CNS in the meantime. The mission to continue to observe Ciaran's activities remains despite the sudden changes.
-Anakin has stayed quiet about the key details of the meeting he had with Ciaran, telling Obi-Wan that the two of them simply discussed local politics and culture as well as her activities in the CNS, though not in-depth. Obi-Wan believes him but notices that Anakin has become more contemplative lately...
-The Jedi Council are still suspicious of Ciaran though the martial law declaration on Concordia has forced them to temporarily shift their priorities in the area. Privately, they believe that Ciaran caused it as a distraction to draw attention away from her other plans.

AN: Aaaaand we're done with the mini-arc! The first real turn of the new thread should be up by the end of the week. I'm sure you guys will have plenty to mull over in the meantime. I'll also get around to updating Thrawn's traits on the front page; some changes are definitely in order after this arc.

On a similar note: How did you guys enjoy the mini-arc? Would you want to see this kind of thing happen more often or have it be more of an occasional thing if they even happen at all? Feedback would be super helpful on this front!

 

[NexysDhyArchen]

Politics and Posturing: Part I

The Hall of the Preserver, Sundari, Mandalore
9:13 AM Local Time

Outside the main entrance to the Hall was beautiful atrium dedicated to various Mandalorian heros of note. Some were other Mandalores, both before and after The Preserver, many were simply great Generals and Warriors who'd served with The Preserver in his campaigns under Revan. The displays consisted mostly of carvings and statues displaying the Mandalorians, often simply displayed in their armor posing in valiant stances of victory, combat, and victorious combat. Though paintings and, surprisingly, music was not absent from the collection as Ciaran was currently experiencing.

The partial Miraluka stood in an alcove just to the side of Hall's main entrance, listening to a distinctly enjoyable operatic score dedicated to some campaign or other where a solely Mandalorian battle group scored a dramatic victory over Force users. Whether Sith or Jedi wasn't especially noted. Odd. But the ambiance of the piece was soothing and distracting enough that she could patiently sort through her thoughts as she waited for Anakin to finish having his world view shaken up. Thoughts and plans about what to do about events in the galaxy were tumbled about, sorted, examined, and re-evaluated according to the potential for profit, danger, or hilarity. Thoughts that helped distract her from how absurdly bright Anakin was in her force sight, which made keeping an eye on the young man through the walls easy. Ciaran stood within the sound enclosed alcove and plotted absently as she waited for Anakin to finish thinking alone in front of the Surik display she'd shown him. It was clear from how his light flickered and shifted that the young padawan was feeling tumultuous, more so than even before she'd addressed his concerns.

Somehow, that fact made her feel proud.

Eventually, he stopped brooding and looked up at Surik. Ciaran watched as his light stabilized, giving evidence that he'd answered some of his own questions. Ciaran doubted that he'd finalized anything, but felt sure that her words and revelations had centered his world more than it had been. As she watched, restarting the music display after it finished playing, Anakin's head jerked and he spun around to look at the empty hall he'd been left in. "Finally realized you'd let your target walk off? Shame, shame." Ciaran smirked to herself then adopted a pleasant smile and folded her hands over each other at her waist, turning her torso partially to meet the padawan's gaze as he strode into the atrium already revving back up to his default start of annoyance.

"Shall we continue our tour, Jedi?" Ciaran's internal smirk grew as the young man glowered, focusing his renewed ire into her visored eyes before nodding curtly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

The walk afterwards was a return to normalcy as far as Ciaran and Anakin were concerned. The information broker exuded a sense of smug mischief, patently not looking at the padawan keeping stride as they moved along the side galleries yet still observing what thoughts and emotions he displayed. The padawan for his part maintained a sullen and stern visage, keeping inside the sharp retorts he yearned to throw at the infuriating woman he was supposed to spy on, no matter how her comments irked him. He did NOT pout! Five minutes turned as they paced along, stopping occasionally before whichever display caught their attention, until Anakin finally broke the truce.

"You never answered my question." Anakin kept pace, firmly walking in sequence with her while looking ahead.

"Hm? No, I didn't, did I? Anakin, you and the Order ARE aware that I started a registered mercenary group when I was about your age?" She waited for his answering nod, but was slightly disappointed when he simply looked shocked and confused. "Yes, I run my own mercenary group. Have been since before I broke into high society. In fact, it's why I COULD." She paused, looking up and off into the distance reveling in just how far she'd come in such a short time. Had all that really happened?

"Well, to continue, the Abyss Walkers mercenaries have acted as the military arm of my... 'organization' since my halcyon days of running a small cantina in the lower levels of Coruscant. It is well known, but not readily acknowledged, that the depths of the Republic's Capital are as dangerous and seedy as any place you'd care to name despite having the Galactic Senate and Jedi Conclave on the same planet. The lower levels are a catacombs of scum and villainy, if you will. So having a safe place to meet, relax, and just slum around away from high society scrutiny was a sound investment prospect for many parties. And the Abyss Walkers fulfilled that security niche."

Ciaran turned and slowly approached the nearest window as she reminisced. Once in front of the story high glazed panes which let the rising light of the planet's day into the gallery, the Miralurka gazed out over the city while the Jedi knight stayed behind and observed how the morning's light framed the woman. He stood and watched as she faced the coming day, covering her face in a golden haze while leaving her rear almost black in the shadows she cast. Something, almost the Force sense he'd spent so long training, tickled his mind. This image was important, and he focused back on Ciaran's words as she continued.

"That's how it all began really. I ran a small, safe cantina in the underlevels. A cantina where the affluent and influent could rub limbs and minds with the scum and dangerous, without really being IN scum or danger. A cantina where the affluent and influent could speak of things they wouldn't dare be caught knowing when any stranger nearby could be a part of the political machine of business and ruling. A small cantina, who's bartender could be asked a favor for a relatedly small price. Favors for disposable people, for disposable funds. Favors which upon completion gained better influence and better training for the mercenaries who fulfilled them. And as I gained better prestige and friends, so too did I gain larger 'favors' asked of my men. As time went on, they became high quality and reliable enforcers who could be relied upon for security, protection, negotiation, and even quiet infiltration. We were hired for jobs which most free market agents simply weren't qualified, not unlike Jedi, but could be approached easily enough if you knew the right people, entirely unlike the Jedi. And that's what brought the Abyss Walker's to Jabba's attention."

Ciaran punctuated her speech with small hand gestures, framing what she said with slow, sweeping motions using one hand while keeping the other at her waist. As she did so, Anakin gained the sense that Lady Ciaran was reaching out, not just to the air, but also to him, a sense which only firmed when she held her hand out towards him with the mention of the Hutt.

"What?! What do you mean, Jabba wanted you to fight his enemies?" Anakin couldn't stop himself, he could not believe that Jabba the Hutt would demand that Lady Ciaran, beloved protector of the downtrodden, have men fight for him, much less that she'd actually do so.

"Oh my, yes. Jabba came to me. Or rather, one of his men contacted mine with a 'request' for aid."

 

[Dr. Snark]

BBY 21, First Quarter

Current Treasury: 1463
Currently Income: 1361
Current Upkeep: 945

The Death Watch is on the decline, the Jedi arrival isn't causing too much trouble, and Thrawn has proven himself to everyone as a worthy addition to the ranks. Which is good and all but there's been an uptick in pirate activity on the CNS borders, some worrying rumors out of the Outer Rim, and you still have a feeling in the back of your mind that there's more going on you don't know about yet...

Martial: Well, your military advisors are freaking out. There is a war happening and they do know that you will do THINGS to profit from it. Also, OOM-9 nearly fried himself trying to figure out how the new droid army works.

Pick 1:

[] Pirate Hunting: Pirates have been hitting into CNS space with an increased ferocity as of late, disrupting trade routes and generally scaring many of the outlying systems. Something needs to be done about this soon or people will begin to wonder if the CNS is willing to protect its signatories. Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 50 Reward: Pirate Threat Decreased

[] More droids!: You need to buy more. Now more than ever before! Chance of Success: 80% Cost: 60 Reward: 4-6 new groups of Battle droids

[] Black Ops: The CIS is doing far too well and considering its leadership's penchant for committing atrocities that is a bad thing as matters are right now. Send your men to covertly interfere with various battles across the galaxy to both damage their progress and cause confusion as they try to figure just who and how they were just wrecked. Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 50 Reward: CIS war effort damaged

[] Mercenary Work: Jabba's offered to hire on some of your mercenaries for work within Hutt Space. After recent events, you made sure that said work would be under the radar so you don't have a repeat of the incident with Darra. Chance of Success: 60% Reward: 100 Credits, Increased Hutt Relations

[] Write in

Diplomacy: The war is here, the diplomatic landscape looks particularly ragged and everything is going downhill fast.

Pick 1:

[] A Grievous Introduction: General Grievous has owed you damn near everything from the time of the first Huk War to bringing him under the protective envelope of the CNS. Maybe now it's time to cash in those favors and bring him in as a full-time associate. Given how he perceives you at this point the only way things could possibly go wrong is if you royally screw up somehow. Chance of Success: 90% Reward: Gain Hero Unit General Grievous

[] Peacemaker: Use your position to convince reasonable people on either side that the war is a terrible idea and economically as well as for the galactic society a complete disaster. Considering the details behind the war you are quite sure that its not going to do anything useful, BUT its likely to bog down minor conflicts here and there and improve your reputation once again. Chance of Success: 60% Reward: ?

[] A Mandalorian's Touch: Satine has been actively fearful of your growing influence and militarization in the CNS and is now unsubtly moving against you. Perhaps you could assuage her fears by having her become the head of diplomacy in the CNS? She's certainly capable and if she's too busy with negotiations she can't move against you. Plus it'd make the CNS look friendlier after you recruited the Kalee. Chance of Success: 60% Reward: Satine becomes head CNS diplomat, general PR boost for CNS

[] Don't You Have Bigger Problems?: As entertaining as it is to have Obi-Wan and Anakin around their presence is symptomatic of an increase in Jedi paranoia when they clearly have bigger problems to worry about. Perhaps you should find a way to get them off of your back so they can focus on more important matters. Again. Chance of Success: 40% Reward: The Jedi will leave you alone for the time being...again

[] Write in

Stewardship: Borvo is as always busy keeping an eye on your finances, although the sudden drop in profits is making him VERY nervous. And hungry... his food bills have skyrocketed.

Pick 1:

[] Benevolent takeover: You were in contact with and owned small parts of a Cybernetics manufacturer for a long, long time now. Now that you own the Karada Corporation and it is decently successful... you might consider merging both. At the very least it would get you a lot of Cybernetics experts. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 100 Reward: Cybernetics research, ?

[] Alternate routes?: The trade is going terribly due to most hyperspace routes crawling with military fleets, companies standing on different sides of the war and various other issues. You have to find alternative routes to at least get some of the trade you are involved in moving again. Chance of Success: 60% Reward: Trade/Investment Income penalty reduced by 5% from its current amount (Takes 3 turns)

[] You expect me to smuggle what?: Exactly what it says on the tin. Hire smugglers to bypass the blockades and get the trade flowing again. Not exactly cheap and quite unusual since most of the cargo is legal, but still. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 100 Upkeep: 20 Reward: Trade/Investment Income penalty reduced by 5% from its current amount (Takes 2 turns)

[] Hey, Trade Federation! Do what you do best!: With that you don't mean trying to ruin themselves or being someones pawn but to let some of your partner companies trade with them or at least let their traders join their trade convoys. After all, trading is what the Federation does... official. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 100 Reward: Trade/Investment Income penalty reduced by 10% from its current amount (Takes 2 turns)

[ ] War-Ravaged Recovery: The survivors of war-torn worlds don't usually thrive in the midst of the devastation wrecked on them. Fortunately, you have a very well funded humanitarian organization with a near-unlimited remit, and very close ties to a Council of Systems that just want to stay out of the war. Use your humanitarian funding to buy Neutral-produced goods and services for the refugee camps, negotiate regular shipments and trade deals to ensure a smooth recovery and reconstruction. Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 100 Upkeep: 20 Reward: Income penalty reduced by 5%

[] Write in

Intrigue: Gulan is nervous, what with the whole war going on right now. It's far above his pay grade... or at least it would be if you weren't paying all of your employees so damn much.

Pick 2:

[] Unsettling Rumors: You've been hearing rumors about unusual activity in the Outer Rim; some planets have lost contact with outlying settlements, remote space stations have been going quiet and other similar rumors. The catch is that from what little details you've heard it sounds like similar to the synth virus you dealt with recently. It definitely sounds like something worth investigating. Chance of Success: 50% Cost: 50 Reward: Information on potential virus sightings

[] Lots of plans, lots of wrenches: The CIS is doing far too well and considering its leaderships penchant for committing atrocities that is a bad thing as matters are right now. Send your agents to do what they do best. Espionage, sabotage, causing information leaks, bribery, rabble rousing and all those fun things. Anything to ensure the Republic gets the chance to push back. Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 50 Reward: CIS war effort damaged

[] Hunt for a Nightsister: The CIS is more than likely being controlled by the Sith and you have a distressing lack of information about the key details. However you do know of a possible lead in Asajj Ventress, and finding out where she is and what she's doing might come in handy. Who knows, she might be willing to talk to you even...Maybe. Chance of Success: 40% Cost: 50 Reward: Asajj Ventress located and tracked

[] Sev'rance Package: Sev'rance Tann has actually reappeared again as one of the key leaders of the CIS military. Since she is Dooku's apprentice, it might be worth keeping an eye on her to see if she leads you to any useful information. Chance of Success: 40% Cost: 50 Reward: Sev'rance Tann tracked

[] The Count of Sereno: You know Dooku is a Dark Sider. You know that he's working for Sidious, the man behind this war. So the best way to find Sidious is to get as much information from his actions as possible. Given how thorough he was with your blackmail though...it probably won't be easy. Chance of Success: 20% Cost: 100 Reward: Count Dooku's actions tracked

[] I Have A Bad Feeling About This: Given that your burn scars from the assassination attempt a few years ago no longer exist, the fact that they're aching again is probably some kind of sign from the Force that something bad is about to happen. Well there's nothing stopping you from being more proactive in protecting yourself, right? Chance of Success: 60% Cost 100 Reward: Counterintelligence operations increased

[] Write in

Lore: Tyro Torvin is speeding up the training of your apprentices to make as many available to you as possible now that the war has begun.

Pick None (Tyro is busy):

[] Tomb Raider: The starmap you got from your archeological expedition with Jerec has several planets or in other cases only systems marked on it with possible locations of other ruins, tombs or similar which MIGHT hold additional treasure or knowledge to be looted. Chance of Success: 60% Reward: ?
(Takes 2 turns)

[X] Refine the 'Buried Presence' trick: The trick is intriguing, but being only capable of using it for a few minutes is underwhelming and quite... useless most of the time. It might be a good idea to keep practicing with it and find a way to extend the timespan. Chance of Success: 50% Reward: Agents become even better (Completes This Turn)

[] Force research: The Force is interesting and despite claims to the contrary (especially those of the Jedi) it has not been fully understood, most likely not even sufficiently, and there are still tricks to be discovered here and there. Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Progress in researching new Tricks and Techniques (Takes 2 turns)

[] Write in

Learning: Var Zheen is busy, busy, buuuussssyyyyyy! Too much havoc happening in the galaxy, too much to do as result! At least Cheriss is asking for replacement parts now...

Pick 1 (Research Only):

[] Investigate Anomalies: The maps gained from the Expedition into the Unknown Regions you funded noted several unusuall anomalies nobody could make any sense off. Perhaps your researchers can figure something out. Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 60 Reward?

[] Develop improved Medical Gear: The Karada Corporation needs equipment distinct from that of the competition, as few as there might be. Both for personal use and modified to personal preferences and to sell. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 60 Reward: Bonus on any action to increase Karada profits, officialy produce high-quality gear [Takes 4 turns, locks actions for 2 turns]

[] Develop improved Medicine: The Karada Corporation needs to develop new types of medicine instead of just producing legal knock-offs of what allready exists. Either by providing variants speficialy designed for specific species, improving on allready existing types of Medicine or similiar. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 80 Reward: Bonus on any action to increase Karada profits, officialy produce high-quality medicine and medpacs [Takes 4 turns, locks actions for 2 turns]

[] Analyze recovered research data and samples: The space station you and your teams raided actually had been properly cleared of anything useful and most data wiped beyond saving, but fortunately your researchers are quite capable of using the dead mutants as samples for research and its also not impossible to restore some of the damaged data. Time to bring everything to the Oracle. Chance of Success: 65% Reward: More information on the mutants, slight chance to get additional information on the conducted research

[] Develop Virus Library: With the galaxy being as big as it is and its population being as varied as it is there are bound to exist countless diseases, viruses and other even more unpleasant things. Develop a library holding various samples for further research. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 100 Reward: Virus research for vaccines or bioweapons [Takes 2 turns, locks actions for 1 turn]

[X] Research Genemods: Some of your researchers are Arkanians. A species infamous for their love of genemodding, having created countless variations of their own species or often also genetically altering their own bodies. It might be of interest to conduct research into this since outside of specific species the knowledge is more theoretical than anything else or only usable on organism that haven't actually been born yet. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 120 Reward: Genemod research (2 Turns Remaining, One Turn Lock Remaining)

[] Research Inhibitor Chips: Highly encrypted, extremely advanced, and definitely dangerous, the inhibitor chips you recovered from Kamino are one of the biggest mysteries in the entire war. It's an important project, but it will take a considerable amount of time and effort to break through engineering like this. Chance of Success: 50% Cost: 150 Reward: Learn details about inhibitor chips [Takes 6 Turns, Locks Actions for 4 Turns]

[] Write in

New Bases:

Naboo: Surprisingly the one spot that was offered to you to build a mansion is still unoccupied with your men bluntly confirming that it was made sure that the area is kept free for at least a few more years just in case you decide to buy the place. Its not far from Theed and in a particularly beautiful area. Cost: 200 Reward: Mansion on Naboo

Nemodia: While you might be playing the role of a neutral faction in the war the Trade Federation is still grateful enough to you for your past aid to mark a nice mansion on Nemodia for you to buy to "foster better relations." Fact of the matter is that said mansion would be on a planet where the TF has many droid factories... Cost: 200 Reward: Base on Nemodia

Asteroid Base: Well, you did find that abandoned base during Operation RESI and it's not like anyone else has come to take it back. So why not move in yourself? It'd only take a little bit of investment to get it operational again. Cost: 50 Reward: Hidden Asteroid Base (name pending)

[] Write-in (Flat 200 Cost, Idea Subject to GM Veto)

Base upgrades: With how many credits you own it might be an idea to upgrade your bases a bit.

Coruscant Base:

[] Large-Scale Wiretaps: Coruscant is at the very heart of the galaxy with all kinds of transmissions coming through it day in and day out. There would be definite and immediate gains to getting more...up-to-date information from the planetary comm networks. Cost: 100 Reward: +5 Intrigue, +50 Income (Information)

[] Write in: Stay reasonable

Kaleesh Outpost:

[] Blacksite: You have the absolute trust of the Kalee people and a large patch of land. Maybe you could build an out of the way location to build a small outpost for your troops on the planet... Cost: 100 Upkeep: 50 Reward: Increase in recruitment rate for all units

[] Smuggler's Den: Kalee is on the very edge of civilized space and is generally a place people don't tend to go to. It might be worth your while to encourage...less reputable groups to come through the area...for a price. Cost: 100 Reward: +50 Income (Smuggling)

[] Write in: Stay reasonable

Oracle (Lucrehulk):

[] Support Fleet: While having control over the CNS is nice at this point, it might be worthwhile to have the firepower for more direct interventions for yourself so you can keep your missions separate from the CNS. Cost: 150 Upkeep: 75 Reward: Support fleet for Oracle, Additional Martial Actions

[] Ship Customization: The Oracle is a fine ship, but it could be better; having customized systems, weapons, fighters, and so on would make it a far more fearsome ship than would be expected. Cost: 100 Upkeep: 25 Reward: Increased combat performance of Oracle

[] Write in: Stay reasonable

Mandalorian Mansion:

[] Hidden Defenses: The usual protections, better safe than sorry and all. Cost: 50 Reward: Mansion defended against possible attacks

[] Mandalorian History Initiative: The Mandalorians were once some of the greatest warriors the galaxy had ever seen, but in this day and age there really aren't any traditional warriors left. It might be worth looking for something to inspire a new generation of warriors...if only so you can recruit them. Cost: 100 Reward: Mandalorians become more receptive to the idea of a new generation of warriors

[] Beskar Iron Mine Lease: While the Death Watch are still being purged from Concordia there have been a number of iron mines already freed from them and the Mandalorian government is looking for investors. Having access to those metals might come in handy. Cost: 100 Upkeep: 50 Reward: Access to Beskar iron, increase in elite troop armor quailty

[] Write in: Stay Reasonable

(Planet, S-840):

[] Build personal Retreat: Build a personal Retreat/Fortified Mansion on the planet to have a place to escape to in case of trouble in the known parts of the Galaxy. Cost: 200 (Takes 2 turns)

[] Droid Factory: With the required resources available now you can begin to build your very own Droid Factory on the planet to bolster your troops with new battle droids.
-[] Basic Droid Factory: Cost: 50 (Takes 1 turn) Upkeep: 20 Reward: +2 groups of basic battle droids per turn
-[] OOM Droid Factory: Cost: 60 (Takes 1 turn) Upkeep: 25 Reward: +2 groups of OOM battle droids per turn
-[] Super Droid Factory: Cost: 75 (Takes 1 turn) Upkeep: 35 Reward: +1 group of Super Battle Droids per turn
-[] Commando Droid Factory: Cost: 75 (Takes 1 turn) Upkeep: 35 Reward: +1 group of BX Commando droids per turn
-[] Spider Droid Factory: Cost: 100 (Takes 1 turn) Upkeep: 50 Reward: +1 Spiderdroid group per turn

[] System Defenses: Whether it might be some random scout or an entire battlefleet, but it would be reassuring to know that the system has some way to protect itself from intruders. Cost: 150 Upkeep: 50 (Takes 2 turns) Reward: S-840 protected against intrusion

[] Rename Planet: You seriously need an actual name for this place now that it's starting to become so important. (Free)
-[] Write in Name (To be handled after end of turn.)

[] Write in: Stay reasonable

Personal: Well, what to do with your free time?

Pick 2:

[] Field Training: Some of your subordinates have politely pointed out that while you may be a decent fighter you don't really have any advanced survival training in case things go really wrong. As unpleasant as the idea sounds, they might have a point... Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Martial Increase, Survivalist training

[] Specialized Force Training: At this point from what you can tell your own personal training isn't going to be enough if you really want to get better at Force manipulation. You're either going to need outside help or in-depth recordings to really get anywhere new.
-[] Blazing Chains (Basic): Tyro's been around for what seems like ages now but you've never actually learned the Blazing Chains techniques from him. It might be about time to fix that. Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Lore Increase, Blazing Chains Style Learned

[] Personal attention/Increased Focus: Sometimes you just have to either keep an eye on your minions to ensure that they don't screw up or prepare more intensively for something that you need to handle personally. Chance of Success: 100%. Reward: Your stats + Force Sight bonus added to a action of your choice

[] Accelerate research: The research at Karada is going way too slowly. Dedicate your free time and some additional resources to speed it all up. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 50 Reward: Research time halved, action lock time halved

[] Cheriss Sair: A New Body: Now that Cheriss' actual identity has been revealed and no one seems to be too concerned about the robotic Torguta running around Cheriss has floated the idea of constructing a more efficient, reliable, and less "squishy" body (in her own words). As an added benefit, she's also planning on experimenting with some other technologies that might have applications elsewhere. Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 50 Reward: Cheriss gains a new body, other potential benefits

[] Write in

Free Action:

[] Select any action from list above

Hero Support (applies half the stats to a chosen action):

PR-1: [] Write in

The Silencer: [] Write in

Silas Cata: [] Write in

Cheriss Sair: [] Write in

Thrawn: [] Write in

Watcher Support (1 Point per assigned team):

[] Write in

AN: Hoookay, hitting the ground running on this one. First, the format's mostly the same as before, only now you have a free action from Thrawn and I've removed the cap on base upgrades; buy as many as you want! If you end up bankrupting yourself it'll be your own fault anyway

Second, with Ciaran's personal actions those are still mostly the same as before just with added flavor and potential benefits in case she gets involved in actions where those traits might come in handy.

Third, that thing with Cheriss is the first of what I'm tentatively calling "Hero Actions," where they can gain extra traits or benefits. For now it's just going to be the one action but in the future I have plans for each hero unit.

Fourth, while this isn't a hard-and-fast rule I'm going to recommend that there be a 12-24 hour moratorium on plan creation and voting, mainly to have time for possible write-in actions to come in and be statted out.

Finally, write-in options in general are still encouraged. I'll try to update this page as they come in, but if it doesn't make it this turn it should show up in the next one.

Oh, also we're continuing turn numbering from the last quest for convenience's sake.

 

[Dr. Snark]

Martial:
[X] Pirate Hunting: Pirates have been hitting into CNS space with an increased ferocity as of late, disrupting trade routes and generally scaring many of the outlying systems. Something needs to be done about this soon or people will begin to wonder if the CNS is willing to protect its signatories. Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 50 Reward: Pirate Threat Decreased

Rolled 19 + 26 = 45 (Success)

This was...far more difficult then it should have been according to a very annoyed Thrawn.

Apparently when you had sent him to advise the local CNS fleets on how to deal with the issue, he was mostly sidelined due to mistrust and in some cases outright xenophobia. The initial attempts to hunt down the fleets had gone poorly until Thrawn managed to force his plans through to the fleet commanders, and according to him they only grudgingly accepted his aid after a number of failures and losses.

In particular Thrawn's first accepted plan was to use a volunteered freighter as bait to lure in pirates, then respond with enough firepower to just slightly overpower the enemy forces that took the bait. When more pirate ships would come in as reinforcements to try and overwhelm the forces already present, the rest of the fleet would jump in to surround and annihilate the enemy. Once it was used, the plan was wildly successful resulting in the destruction of many pirate ships and generally putting them on the defensive.

Once that happened and they saw that his strategies were working they were more than happy to work with him...at least overtly. At least after all of that the pirate attacks have been curtailed for the time being.

Reward: Pirate threat decreased

Diplomacy:
[X] A Grievous Introduction: General Grievous has owed you damn near everything from the time of the first Huk War to bringing him under the protective envelope of the CNS. Maybe now it's time to cash in those favors and bring him in as a full-time associate. Given how he perceives you at this point the only way things could possibly go wrong is if you royally screw up somehow. Chance of Success: 90% Reward: Gain Hero Unit General Grievous

Rolled 15 + 5 = 20 (Success)

You and Greivous stare each other down as you stand before him on the surface of Kalee. You knew he was a valuable asset, and it was about time to bring him in more fully.

"General," you say with authority. "I am aware that you are a skilled warrior and and a talented leader. I would ask that you join me in the hopes that your abilities can be put to greater use. In turn you would have the chance to gain glory and spread the name of Greivous across the galaxy. What do you say?"

There is silence for a brief moment, and then Greivous bows in a show of deference.

"You gave us the chance to strike back against the Huk. You forced the galaxy to recognize that we were victims when they believed we were aggressors. When the Huk threatened to continue their war you protected us. After all you have done, my people owe you everything. It would be a dishonor to them, to myself, and to the gods themselves to refuse you now. I accept your offer, Lady Ciaran."

Reward: Gain Hero Unit General Greivous

[X] A Mandalorian's Touch: Satine has been actively fearful of your growing influence and militarization in the CNS and is now unsubtly moving against you. Perhaps you could assuage her fears by having her become the head of diplomacy in the CNS? She's certainly capable and if she's too busy with negotiations she can't move against you. Plus it'd make the CNS look friendlier after you recruited the Kalee. Chance of Success: 60% Reward: Satine becomes head CNS diplomat, general PR boost for CNS

Rolled 54 + 24 = 78 (Success)

"Is this some kind of cruel joke? Or are you just trying to sideline me even more, Lady Ciaran?"

As it turns out Satine was not particularly receptive to the idea of becoming head of the CNS diplomatic corps. While you were trying to get her out of the way a bit, you did also believe that her talents would be best used in diplomacy. So-

"Not in the slightest. The fact of the matter is that you are a skilled, determined, and respected, politician. If you were formally representing the Council in diplomacy I have no doubt you'd be wildly successful at your goals," you calmly explain.

"And I am supposed to believe that you will not turn around and throw the CNS into the war when I am gone?" she coldly responds. "Look at what has happened recently. Because of your manipulations the Council brought in the Kaleesh-a people whose sole purpose in life is war. Did you think I would stand idly by while you undermine the purpose of the Council for the sake of your own profit?"

Harsh. At least a little accurate, but still harsh. But that's not the point.

"You're assuming I want war to begin with, which I don't," you calmly say to Satine who does not seem to believe that statement. "Not only would forcing the Council to go to war spread it even further, but it would also massively undermine my own humanitarian efforts." You look at her dead on, not giving an inch. "We need a military otherwise the Republic and Confederacy would treat us as an inferior and spread the war here anyway. But because we have the power to affect the war we are given respect and dignified treatment." Satine continues to glare at you though you think she at least understands your reasoning. "If you dislike my methods, fine. But understand that one of the best ways for us to stay at peace is for you to tell others that we simply want to protect ourselves and do not desire conflict."

She continues to glare at you for a few tense seconds, then coldly says, "Fine."

With that, you smirk. "Excellent! Now, I've heard that Obi-Wan is heading back to Coruscant soon so if you want to go on a 'diplomatic trip' at the same time it might not be a bad idea~"

She sputters and blushes furiously at that. It's nice to be in your comfort zone at times like this.

Rewards: Satine becomes head CNS diplomat, general PR boost for CNS, +5 to CNS diplomacy rolls

Stewardship:
[X] Benevolent takeover: You were in contact with and owned small parts of a Cybernetics manufacturer for a long, long time now. Now that you own the Karada Corporation and it is decently successful... you might consider merging both. At the very least it would get you a lot of Cybernetics experts. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 100 Reward: Cybernetics research, ?

Rolled 11 + 10 = 21 Reroll: 46 + 10 = 51 (Success)

This almost went so wrong. You ended up stumbling into a mess of bureaucracy and red tape that nearly prevented you from the merge, but thanks to the usual methods of bribery and blackmail you were able to "convince" enough people to help expedite the process. At least now you can integrate the cybernetics into your research more effectively...

Rewards: Cybernetics integrated into Karada, +5 to rolls involving cybernetic research, normal troop recovery rate now at 65%

Intrigue:
[X] Hunt for a Nightsister: The CIS is more than likely being controlled by the Sith and you have a distressing lack of information about the key details. However you do know of a possible lead in Asajj Ventress, and finding out where she is and what she's doing might come in handy. Who knows, she might be willing to talk to you even...Maybe. Chance of Success: 40% Cost: 50 Reward: Asajj Ventress located and tracked

Rolled 63 + 48 = 111 (Over 110 Success)

This was supposed to be a simple intelligence gathering operation on Asajj Ventress.

Suffice to say...things escalated quickly. (To be continued)

[X] I Have A Bad Feeling About This: Given that your burn scars from the assassination attempt a few years ago no longer exist, the fact that they're aching again is probably some kind of sign from the Force that something bad is about to happen. Well there's nothing stopping you from being more proactive in protecting yourself, right? Chance of Success: 60% Cost 100 Reward: Counterintelligence operations increased

Rolled 54 + 41 = 95 (Critical Success)

You had assumed that something was going on in the background when your scars had started to ache again. Once you had decided to have Silas and the Silencer increase your counterintelligence activities just to be sure, your paranoia was proven to be very justified.

There were no overt activities against you-many in the underground were familiar enough with you at this point to know better-but there was definitely something unusual going on. Anonymous employers asking for assassins to deal with a "high-grade target with considerable risk." Funds being transferred to hidden accounts. Just enough information being given out to confirm that you were being targeted. The usual signs that someone wanted you dead and didn't want you to find out.

But obviously Silas and the Silencer did. And you were fairly certain that your new enemy didn't realize it; their methods were quite subtle in this matter. So instead of sending Watcher teams on counter-assassination missions, you simply had the two of them keep tabs on the people contracted, set up plans so that any attempts on your life would appear to have failed due to bad luck instead of hostile interference and follow the money where they could. And they were able to determine that a considerable amount of that money was coming from accounts connected to the Separatists...and more specifically Count Dooku. Evidently Dooku, and possibly Sidious by proxy, had decided that you were more of a liability, though not a big enough problem to deal with directly yet. If anything, now you knew that you were on very thin ice...

Rewards: Potential assassin problems almost completely nullified, information pointing to Dooku and possibly Sidious moving against you located

Lore:
[X] Refine the 'Buried Presence' trick: The trick is intriguing, but being only capable of using it for a few minutes is underwhelming and quite... useless most of the time. It might be a good idea to keep practicing with it and find a way to extend the timespan. Chance of Success: 50% Reward: Agents become even better (Completes This Turn)

You glance around the room with your eyes covered up so that you can only see through your Force vision. While you are aware that there are other Agents in the room with you there is no sign of them through the Force.

Excellent. This should come in very handy for spying on Force-users in general.

Reward: Improved Buried Presence Technique, increased success rates for Intrigue actions involving Force-Users, Ciaran learns Buried Presence Technique

Learning:
[X] Research Genemods: Some of your researchers are Arkanians. A species infamous for their love of genemodding, having created countless variations of their own species or often also genetically altering their own bodies. It might be of interest to conduct research into this since outside of specific species the knowledge is more theoretical than anything else or only usable on organism that haven't actually been born yet. Chance of Success: 70% Cost: 120 Reward: Genemod research (2 Turns Remaining, One Turn Lock Remaining)

The Arkanians are just about done with their research, and as such many of the labs they've been using have started to be turned over to other projects. (Learning Action Unlocked, One turn of research remaining)

[X] Research Inhibitor Chips: Highly encrypted, extremely advanced, and definitely dangerous, the inhibitor chips you recovered from Kamino are one of the biggest mysteries in the entire war. It's an important project, but it will take a considerable amount of time and effort to break through engineering like this. Chance of Success: 50% Cost: 150 Reward: Learn details about inhibitor chips [Takes 6 Turns, Locks Actions for 4 Turns]
-[X] Assist Research

Inhibitor Chips: Rolled 26 + 19 = 45 (Close Fail)
Assist Research: 33 + 10 = 43 (Success)

This could have gone better.

Your researchers concluded that accessing the data in the biochips was going to take much more time and funding then they had initially anticipated; apparently they were proving to be very difficult to crack.

Your response was not only to throw more money at it, but to throw some of the Arkanians who weren't working on the genemod project at the problem as well. And amazingly, it actually somehow worked; the latest reports indicated that it would take less time with the resources you invested into the project. It's still going to take a while, but it's down to a more manageable timeframe.

Results: Research begins. Research cost increases to 200. Initial time increases to 8 turns, 6 turn lock, after Assist Research applied becomes 4 turns on research, 3 turns on action lock. Currently on 3 turns remaining, 2 turns action lock.

Bases:
Asteroid Base:

You had to send in hazmat teams to be sure the viruses are gone and make sure no one was transmitting anything to or from here, but the move-in was fairly painless. Now, what to do with this place...

Reward: Asteroid Base

Coruscant Base:
Large-Scale Wiretaps: Coruscant is at the very heart of the galaxy with all kinds of transmissions coming through it day in and day out. There would be definite and immediate gains to getting more...up-to-date information from the planetary comm networks. Cost: 100 Reward: +5 Intrigue roll bonus, +50 Income (Information)

You have ears damned near everywhere on the planet; not only do you know about Senate-level transmissions but the sheer flood of information in general is incredible.

And lucrative.

Reward: +5 Intrigue roll bonus, +50 Income (Information)

Kaleesh Outpost:
Smuggler's Den: Kalee is on the very edge of civilized space and is generally a place people don't tend to go to. It might be worth your while to encourage...less reputable groups to come through the area...for a price. Cost: 100 Reward: +50 Income (Smuggling)

With a few unmarked shipments and some pull from Silas, a quiet smuggler's den has been built on Kalee and business is already beginning to come in. Excellent.

Reward: +50 Income (Smuggling)

Oracle:
Support Fleet: While having control over the CNS is nice at this point, it might be worthwhile to have the firepower for more direct interventions for yourself so you can keep your missions separate from the CNS. Cost: 150 Upkeep: 75 Reward: Support fleet for Oracle, Additional Martial Actions

There's little rhyme or reason to the fleet you managed to get together for the Oracle; some were mostly-functional ships salvaged from battlegrounds, others were bought from the market and upgraded to combat capacity...

The point is though now the newly-designated Oracle Fleet is capable of acting on its own initiative, and can go places where you don't want the CNS to show up at, not to mention give you more maneuverability in general. That, and Thrawn was very happy after the fiasco with the pirates to have a fleet entirely under his command.

Reward: Additional Martial Action, other options now available

Mandalorian Mansion:
Mandalorian History Initiative: The Mandalorians were once some of the greatest warriors the galaxy had ever seen, but in this day and age there really aren't any traditional warriors left. It might be worth looking for something to inspire a new generation of warriors...if only so you can recruit them. Cost: 100 Reward: Mandalorians become more receptive to the idea of a new generation of warriors

This was an interesting project to be sure; while the history of the Mandalorians was already well known on the planet the people seemed to be apathetic to the creation of a new warrior group. However, with some carefully-constructed events and the unexpected but welcome support of Prime Minister Almec, the word on the streets seems to be that the people are becoming more supportive of the idea of a new generation of warriors, though as protectors instead of aggressors. All they need now is a reason to gather.

Reward: Mandalorians become more receptive to the idea of a new generation of warriors

AN: Well this turn has been...interesting. For the record in case you weren't aware before all bonuses will now be smooshed together in turn reports for viewer convenience and the sake of my sanity.

With Satine I couldn't really find a justification to have her be a full-on hero unit since there is currently no way in hell she would join up to an extent like the others have. So her influence will be a permanent bonus instead.

With the inhibitor chips between the close roll and the success on the faster research action I figured I could throw you guys a bone on that one. On a related note, multi-turn actions will only be rolled for once from now on.

But of course the real big news here is the Ventress roll. And like I said before with the sneak preview...with the plan I have in mind things are about to get crazy.

Expect a more...revealing teaser soon-ish, followed by the arc itself of course.

Edit: On-the-fly rule update: From here on Force techniques created by Ciaran (like Buried Presence) will be automatically learned by her, but recovered techniques (like the Blazing Chains style) have to be learned by Ciaran herself.

 

[Dr. Snark]

Wild Space, Early 21 BBY
Abyss Watchers Spy Vessel, Unknown Location

"The Republic needs men and women like you to join the Grand Army and fight for the freedom of-"

"Would you turn that shit off? I hate listening to propaganda."

On board a small vessel in the middle of an empty region in Wild Space, two men were sitting at a console listening to the various transmissions being broadcasted throughout the area. While there were certainly important things to learn about, the majority of the time it was meaningless propaganda broadcasts or local chatter that amounted to nothing. And it was why these two men were bored to hell.

"Turn it off yourself, you lazy asshole."

With a groan of annoyance, the first man reached over to a switch.

"Though the Separatist threat may seem great-"

And with a flick the ship went silent again.

"Fucking dammit, can you believe the bullshit they've been saying? 'We've totally got this guys, we're not losing at all.'"
"Well that's why it's propaganda dumbass, lying to you is part of their job!"
"Hah. At least our bosses were nice enough to tell me 'hey, you're going to be spending a lot of time in the ass end of nowhere with some other assholes you may or may not like' when I signed on."
"Yeah, I hear-"

Suddenly the second man saw an unusual signal on his screen. "Wait, what the..."
"What is it?" his companion asked as he crossed over to look at the screen. "Huh...is that message on a Sep military frequency?"
"Yeah, but it's encoded with one of the ciphers that got decrypted a while ago. Weird..."

The two of them went to work, quickly running the checks needed to observe the message.

"Okay, should be coming up...now!" the first man triumphantly declared as he finished. And with the push of a button the holoprojector at the center of the room lit up with images of Asajj Ventress and Sev'rance Tann.

"You are aware of how dangerous a target Kamino is, I hope," said Ventress.
"Of course, but with this momentum we have a chance of eliminating the primary production center of the clone army," replied Tann. As the message continued, the men's faces were grim.

"This is big, isn't it?" the first man muttered in awe as his companion looked contemplative.

"...Yeah, but its...too big," he seemed to think out loud. "Why the hell would they use such an old cipher for a message like this...?"

"Maybe they wanted this to get out as part of some strategy?" the first man suggested.

"A ballsy idea if that's the case," the second man concluded. "Anyway, prep the transmission package at top priority."

"Got it," the first responded as he moved back to his seat and began preparing the transmission. As time passed, the second kept scanning the local frequencies and didn't find anything until...

"...Hey, come look at this," he said to his coworker, who again crossed over and looked at the readings. "Am I seeing this right? It doesn't look like any frequency I've seen before."

"Well, might as well take a look at it then," the first man muttered and downloaded the transmission...

Only to find that it was heavily encrypted with a cipher neither of them had ever seen.

"I dunno what this is, but it sure does look important," the second man said. "We're sending this one to the boss too."

Oracle, Meeting Room

"This is clearly a part of a greater strategy," said Thrawn, who was in the room with the freshly-recruited Grievous having observed the message about the upcoming attack on Kamino. "No commander would be foolish enough to let important intelligence such as this slip by so easily."

"Yes...it is prime bait placed in front of the Republic for them to chase after as they run into a trap," Grievous commented. "But they have little other choice otherwise since Kamino is so important to their war effort."

"Indeed. Though I am curious about that other transmission..." Thrawn commented.

"I am surprised Lady Ciaran wished to handle the task of deciphering that message herself, I would have expected her to have a subordinate such as Gulan deal with it himself," Grievous commented with some curiosity.

"I am sure you understand that in situations such as this, it can be beneficial to personally involve yourself in this matter," Thrawn noted. "Now then, what are you planning, Sev'rance...?"

Oracle, Ciaran's Office

While the running joke among the Abyss Watchers' upper echelons was that Ciaran tended to push her work onto other people so that she could spend more time annoying people like Padme and Obi-Wan, the fact of the matter was that she still was willing to do significant amounts of work if she deemed the matter to be important enough. While normally one encrypted transmission wouldn't qualify for this, her instincts were telling her that it was important somehow...and they usually tended to be right given her Force sensitivity. It was why she had spent the past hours since she received the message trying to decipher it with the aid of Gulan. Progress had been slow, but the two of them were close to making a breakthrough.

"Boss, what do you actually expect to find here anyway?" Gulan asked. He had been around Ciaran long enough to trust her "hunches" but was still willing to question her at times if only to provide a contrary opinion.

"...I don't know," an intense Ciaran muttered as she stared at the screen, typing furiously. "But this has to be important, why else would it be encrypted this heavily?"

"Well, maybe it's a transmission from some nobleman who wants to keep an affair quiet-"

A "beep" of confirmation came from the computer at Ciaran's desk indicating a successful decryption.

"Well, why don't we find out, then?" said Ciaran as she pushed the "play message" button and holograms of Count Dooku and Tann appeared on a nearby terminal.

"Huh. I was right about the nobleman part at least," Gulan muttered to himself.

"Sev'rance, the time has come to dispose of Ventress. I trust she will not leave the planet alive," said Dooku.

The room went cold as Gulan and Ciaran intensely focused on the message.

"Of course my lord. It will be done."

"Your loyalty is admirable Sev'rance." And with those words the brief message ended.

"Holy shit..." Gulan muttered.

"Get everyone together for an emergency meeting. Now," Ciaran commanded.

Oracle, Meeting Room

"Is this for real!?" Silas asked, shocked after seeing the message.

"We have no reason to believe otherwise given how difficult the message was to decode," Ciaran responded.

The room had now filled up with the rest of the Abyss Watchers' military and intel leadership; Ciaran herself, the Silencer, Silas, Thrawn, and Grievous were all standing around the table having seen the revealing transmission.

"And there's more happening now," Gulan said as he entered the room. "The Republic found the message about the Kamino invasion."

"Were there reports from them?" Thrawn asked.

"Not just that," Gulan responded, then looked at Ciaran. "There's been some emergency transmissions coming out of Coruscant, boss. Those Jedi hanging around here are being reassigned right now. I'm sure you can guess where."

The room went silent again as the weight of the message's contents and the upcoming battle pressed down on everyone present...save for Grievous who snorted in disgust. "Hmph. It sickens me to see that the Separatist leaders are so willing to sacrifice their own generals over internal struggles that they are willing to jeopardize their chances at victory."

"Yeah, well that's the Sith for you, pal," Silas dryly commented. "They don't really teach those guys common sense."

"I must admit I have to agree with Grievous," Thrawn noted. "This level of uncertainty created by such an action in an operation of this scale not only greatly decreases the chance of victory but also could potentially create strife within the army itself. Even if most of the soldiers are droids, their commanders and leaders are made of flesh and blood, and would no doubt view this...poorly."

The conversation continued among the group for a bit until Silas looked over at a curiously silent Ciaran, who he could tell was deep in thought. "Ciara? You want to chime in on this?"

She didn't react for a moment, then looked up and authoritatively stated: "We're going to extract Ventress from Kamino."

The room went dead silent at her declaration for a few tense moments.

"...You...you can't be serious boss," Gulan said, shock clearly visible on his face. "You're telling me that you plan on going into an active warzone, recovering a Sith Assassin who probably wants to kill you, and get out all while staying undetected by the Republic and the Separatists!?"

"Yes. She's one of the only leads we have, you know that," Ciaran stated resolutely. "We have a chance to turn a high-level enemy asset over to our side and gain crucial intel about the Sith conspiracy. Whatever risks are involved, this is worth it."

"Ciara, listen to yourself! You're talking about going into the biggest battle of the entire war," Silas pleaded, fear evident in his voice. "It can't be-"

"She is right."

Silas whirled on Thrawn, fury evident on his features. "Listen here you-"

Thrawn was nonplussed and simply held up a hand, and while Silas bit back the rest of his comment he still glared daggers at the Chiss. "Forgive my interruption but she does raise a valid point. From what I have heard she was able to infiltrate Kamino once before such as it is, and while the circumstances have dramatically changed her idea is still a viable and rewarding option."

"Hiding at a time such as this when a prize this valuable is within reach would be foolish," agreed Grievous, who also received a glare from Silas. Unlike Thrawn however, Grievous looked at Silas directly in the eyes and responded to him directly. "Your desire to protect Lady Ciaran is certainly understandable, but now is a time for action, not hiding away."

Silas would not be beaten back, and snapped back with "But we've got nothing there! No agents, no contacts, nothing!"

"Actually," Thrawn commented again as everyone looked at him, "I believe we do have a potentially relevant contact..."

Slave I, En Route to Kamino

The Slave I was rocketing through hyperspace on the path to Kamino as its pilot, Jango Fett, pondered the sudden turn of events. Out of nowhere, the Republic had suddenly offered him a massive amount of money to return to Kamino and help them defend the planet if need be, as well as provide new genetic material "just in case." The only catch was that he basically had to be at Kamino almost immediately.

While his past contract with the Death Watch wasn't entirely finished by his standards, he had been able to negotiate an early completion of the contract with a slightly reduced payment. His employer had determined that while he had not fully eliminated the targets he had done enough damage to earn the majority of the payment, allowing him to leave Mandalore in time. Though he did have just enough time left over on his trip for one other stop to pick up a passenger who had specifically requested a ride to Kamino with him, the stubborn bastard...

At any rate, the Slave I exited hyperspace over a system Jango had not bothered to remember the name of as he began to prepare for the next jump when the command console lit up with an 'incoming transmission' signal. Curious, Jango activated the comms and simply said, "If this is about a contract, I'm not available at the moment."

"Would you at least have time to speak with an old friend?" came a familiar voice over the comms as the image of Thrawn came up on the holoprojector. Jango looked at the image with curiosity as he cooly responded with, "I'd at least like to know why, Thrawn."

"Of course. I regret that I could not speak with you again at a more favorable time, but I require a favor from you."

Jango frowned. "That depends. What kind of 'favor' are you asking for?"

"It is only relevant if you are headed to Kamino."

Jango swore under his breath, then responded with, "And how would you know if I was?"

"Your hesitation was all the evidence I required, Master Fett." Jango grimaced as Thrawn continued unabated. "My associates and I are looking for those willing to aid us with an operation on Kamino. Your help would be-"

"Would you mind telling me who the chakaar you're talking to is, Jango?" came a gruff voice as Fett's passenger came into the cockpit. Jango shook his head briefly before gesturing to the holoprojection and explaining, "I was talking to Thrawn, Skirata. The blue one I told you about?"

"I do take umbrage to being referred to as-"

"Stow it, besom," was all Kal Skirata said to Thrawn, who for his part seemed earnestly confused for a moment as Kal turned to Jango. "Though I think I do remember now, actually. The one who helped you wipe out those fake Mandos? While I do appreciate what you have done for the Mandalorians," Kal said as he whirled back on the console, "I'd like to know what someone like you wants on Kamino."

"I can certainly understand that, Master Skirata, though I myself am interested as to why an enlisted officer such as yourself is traveling with a bounty hunter such as Fett. Surely-"

"Don't change the subject," Skirata growled out. "What. Do. You. Want?"

"...While I cannot reveal the fine details, there is an asset that on Kamino that my associates wish to recover. It will involve considerable risk, which is why we would appreciate having contacts with more...familiarity with the area."

"And you expect me to trust a chakaar like you!? For all I know, your 'asset' could be Jango's genetic code or Kaminoan secrets that you could use against my boys."

Oracle, Communications Room

Ah. So that was it then, Thrawn mused. Evidently Skirata was going to Kamino to help support the defense, and the odds were that he was with Jango so that he could get there in a shorter period of time than official transportation could. He may not even have official orders to go there, for all Thrawn knew.

Still, looking at the bio that he had quickly skimmed over and from what he had heard from Skirata in their conversation, his 'opponent' was definitely a confrontational, hard-headed soldier who would not back down easily. And that was extremely problematic as he had ended up taking control of the negotiations between himself and Jango. But he did have a weakness-the clones themselves. Again, from what Thrawn had heard just now and briefly read about Skirata, the Mandalorian viewed himself as a protector of sorts for the clones within the Grand Army.

And though Skirata didn't know it yet the Abyss Watchers had considerable leverage with the knowledge of the inhibitor chips. As far as Thrawn was aware, no one else but the Kaminoans themselves were fully aware of them and their capabilities so Skirata would likely not be happy to hear about them...though naturally bringing them up with Fett ran the risk of an information leak. That being said, Ciaran did say that he had full authority to negotiate on behalf of the Abyss Watchers and he could certainly pay Jango off. But would it be worth it?

[] Tell Skirata about the chips and use that as leverage to convince him and Jango to assist you.
-[] Ensure Jango stays quiet by saying the Abyss Watchers will owe him favors to be collected at any time.
-[] Ensure Jango stays quiet by paying him off with a one-time payment. (Costs 100)
-[] Ensure Jango stays quiet by paying him off over time. (Costs 25 per turn over 4 turns)

[] Find some other way to persuade Skirata to assist you...or at least let you talk to Jango yourself again.
-[] Write-in

[] Abandon negotiations for now, Skirata's interference is too much of a disruptive factor.

AN: Why yes, I am insane. Yes, I am merging one of the biggest and most climactic battles in the Clone Wars with one of the most important events in the Sith Conspiracy. Why? Because Ciaran, and because I can, and mainly because there will be soooo many explosions...

Anyway, tried out a different tone for the very beginning as a bit of an experiment. I figured it'd be a neat way to start things off on the lowest deck possible.

And as for Kal Skirata...well. Let's just say that you do not want to fuck with a Mandalorian when his boys are in danger. And given his personality he's really not going to back down at this point unless you give him a damned good reason...

Also holy shit close to 3k words this is the most I've ever written for anything ever at once