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

[Publicola]

I lied. Again. Not sure why I keep doing that.

[] Wookieetarian Action: The Wookiees have constantly been facing raids from the Trandoshans for ages and would certainly appreciate help in protecting their homeworlds from their raids. Sending a few teams to patrol the area could go a long way... Chance of Success: 75% Cost: 50 Reward: Anti-Trandoshan patrols set up around Kashyyyk system, ???

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@Dr. Snark, how time-sensitive is this action? That "???" makes me wonder if this could let us "meet Chewbacca" (by freeing him from a slave raid), but would we lose the chance to meet Chewbacca is we don't pick it this turn? My preference would be to take care of Onderon and Durge this turn, but if Chewbacca-related shenanigans are time-sensitive, then Kashyyyk might be more important.

[] Between the Light and Dark:
-[] Ysanna: a technologically primitive Force-sensitive community on the planet of Ossus, the Ysanna defend the ruins of Great Jedi Library from intruders. They developed the original 'Blazing Chain' projectile techniques, and never lost the ancient technique of becoming Force ghosts.

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Given that the Ysanna "defend the ruins of the Great Jedi Library" and that our archaeological team would probably be seen as intruders, do we need to make contact before we can explore Ossus? Also, do we need to make contact with them before we can learn their techniques (via "Research Alternate Force Schools"?)

As for the Tatooine archaeological site:

-[] Tatooine: Surprisingly the planet is home to some old libraries that relate to philosophical readings in general. Not exactly your scene but it could get you quite a bit of money.

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My original thought was that it'd more likely give us a Lore and/or Learning bonus than income. Here's the page for Shiin's Library:

Hidden within the databanks of Shiin's Library were the B'omarr Registry and the Quilan Pyradex, just to name a few of the obscure and unusual documents Shiin had collected. Other information was regularly culled from corporate and governmental networks

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The Quilan Pryadex is basically not-a-holocron that boosts the user's ability to perform complex math (so Learning?). The B'omarr Registry contains the official records of the B'omarr Order of monks, which are basically a more radical version of Jedi:

The B'omarr believed that cutting themselves off from all physical sensation would further their studies, and allow them to ponder the galaxy and achieve enlightenment.
...
The B'omarr centered their religion on isolating themselves from all feeling and emotion, so they could focus and enhance the power of their minds
...
Other B'omarr were able to telepathically communicate, speaking directly into the subject's mind. ... The monks were also adept healers

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All of which sounds like it'd give us (indirect) insight into the strengths & weaknesses of the Jedi Order, and further develop our vision of a Gray Order.

 

[Stroth]

HOLY CRAP I take it back. Yeah, if reactivating HK-47 opens the doors to Old Republic tech, then count me IN!

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Revan designed him to infiltrate targets disguised as a protocol droid. Which means being able to build equipment out of scavenged parts since a protocol droid showing up with a heavy sonic rifle and a mil-spec personal shield tends to raise red flags.

That's about the limit of his engineering skills though. He's somewhere near encyclopedic when it comes to personal armament, but outside of that he couldn't care less. Still very valuable knowledge to us. Even ignoring the fact that he's an intrigue hero specced for assassinating force users and has more experience in that field than probably anyone in the galaxy.

 

[Dr. Snark]

Would this occur anyways, albeit at a decreased chance of success? Because "probably successful" makes it seem like it would.

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Thought I said so at the AN, but yes.

8. Buying all the Taris upgrades, the Vectivus archaeological thing, Kashykk business and recruitment, and I feel obligated to set up the Skirata Safehouses. Alternatively, @Dr. Snark would a write in for a Skirata safehouse on the Oracle be acceptable?

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Hmm...not sure how that would work. Can you clarify?

I lied. Again. Not sure why I keep doing that.

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I do it too sometimes because I remember things that I was supposed to talk about.

@Dr. Snark, how time-sensitive is this action? That "???" makes me wonder if this could let us "meet Chewbacca" (by freeing him from a slave raid), but would we lose the chance to meet Chewbacca is we don't pick it this turn? My preference would be to take care of Onderon and Durge this turn, but if Chewbacca-related shenanigans are time-sensitive, then Kashyyyk might be more important.

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Not really that time-sensitive.

Given that the Ysanna "defend the ruins of the Great Jedi Library" and that our archaeological team would probably be seen as intruders, do we need to make contact before we can explore Ossus? Also, do we need to make contact with them before we can learn their techniques (via "Research Alternate Force Schools"?)

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...Er...actually yes. Going to need to edit the turn now that I think about it...

 

[Panory]

Also the Taris thing will be a end-of-turn roll with an increased difficulty if you don't choose that option yourself. FYI.

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I don't know what I thought this referred to. My apologies. Will omake bonuses be applied even if we don't select the action?

Hmm...not sure how that would work. Can you clarify?

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The way I was thinking of the safe houses was a place for Clone deserters to lay low and not get shot. In which case putting them on our big old ship (or one of our hidden bases, but those have secret stuff we might not want clones seeing) would be a lot safer than Coruscant and less redundant than Mandalore.

 

[Publicola]

@Dr. Snark, could you also add the 'investigate Damask Holdings' write-in to the Intrigue category?

Fair enough. Could you add a write-in for that to the relevant category?

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Not sure we'll get a chance to do it this turn, but I definitely don't want to forget about it.

Don't forget the suggested Muunilist base upgrades as well.

Two corrections for the 'materials research':

[] Materials Research:
-[] Phirk: A malleable metal that isn't that interesting on its own, but apparently it can add different properties to metals depending on different circumstances.

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Phrik is actually very interesting, because it is both extremely light and virtually indestructible (it's durable to the point of being lightsaber resistant, all on its own accord). The malleability (and potential for alloys) is a secondary quality, what distinguishes it from the other two. The drawback is that it's also most expensive of the three options.

-[] Cortosis: The favorite metal of anyone fighting against lightsaber users since it can resist said weapons. Definitely worth looking into.

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Also not quite accurate. Cortosis doesn't "resist" lightsabers, so much as it makes their plasma emitters go crazy and causes them to short out. It's also dirt cheap. The problem is that cortosis is extremely vulnerable to physical damage -- the Yinchorri were using their cortosis shields to wipe the floor with the Jedi when they invaded the Temple, up until Yoda showed up and used a Force push to throw them in a nearby wall. Every single one of them (full armor and all) were almost instantly knocked out. That's the disadvantage.

 

[Stroth]

The problem is that cortosis is extremely vulnerable to physical damage

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The pure stuff is usually described as "extremely brittle" at best.

Oh! Weapons-grade cortosis alloys. There's another thing HK-47 can hook us up with.

 

[ConfusedPotato]

I want to save money to use for base upgrades where we can make money.
Our treasury seems to be getting a little slim.

 

[UbeOne]

Also not quite accurate. Cortosis doesn't "resist" lightsabers, so much as it makes their plasma emitters go crazy and causes them to short out. It's also dirt cheap. The problem is that cortosis is extremely vulnerable to physical damage -- the Yinchorri were using their cortosis shields to wipe the floor with the Jedi when they invaded the Temple, up until Yoda showed up and used a Force push to throw them in a nearby wall. Every single one of them (full armor and all) were almost instantly knocked out. That's the disadvantage.

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Pure cortosis temporarily shorts out lightsabers. Alloying it with some other metal would allow it to resist lightsabers instead.

 

[random_npc]

That makes no sense.

 

[Stroth]

That makes no sense.

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Most things in Star Wars don't when you think about them too hard. That's still how cortosis alloy works.

 

[Publicola]

Thanks for updating with the write-ins!

[] Legacy Of Damask: Settling in on Muunilist has given you the opportunity to take a closer look at Hego Damask's old properties. While Palpatine has moved to ensure that they are not for sale, it shouldn't be too hard to get teams in and see if there's anything left there. Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Hego Damask holdings investigated/looted

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<drools> We may not have the action to spare this turn, but I want this so much.

Most of the Muunilist upgrades are definitely worth investing in, except for:

[] Muun Banker Programs: The Muun are known to be incredibly effective bankers and accountants. Getting some of them into the Abyss Watchers could go a long way. Cost: 100 Upkeep: 100 Reward: Investment income increases by 5%

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Err... given our current Investment income, +5% would only give us +67 income. Which means, with the 100 Upkeep we would be losing 33 credits per turn. Definitely not worth it now, probably not worth it ever. @Dr. Snark, would you be willing to fiddle with the numbers to make this more feasible? Or is there a way this upgrade would become cheaper later on?


Also, I have a bunch of possible write-ins for the 'Research Alternative Force Schools' action category, mostly drawn from my megalist in the last thread:

Alternative Force Schools Mega-List

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These are all Force schools that we learned about from Damask's datachips, so it should be possible to learn their techniques.

[] Research Alternative Force Schools: While the Jedi and Sith are the most well-known Force users in the galaxy there are certainly others that have mastered more esoteric techniques that could be useful to you. You already have information on them from the datachips so it shouldn't be too difficult. (Choose 1 below) Chance of Success: 70% Reward: Learn techniques from other Force users

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First one up:

Tyia Adepts: faith-centric organization, based on Revwien homework of Revyia.

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They're a light-sided group that specializes in healing techniques (especially self-healing) and energy absorption.

Baran Do Sages: government-centric organization, based on Kel Dor homework of Dorin.

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Also light-sided group, that specializes in Force Sight (especially future visions) and nature control (they're basically meteorologists). They also possess a unique version of light-sided Force lightning...

Witches of Dathomir: combat-centric world of matriarchal clans, based on the planet of Dathomir.

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The dark-sided Nightsister clan is the most famous, but there are plenty of light-sided clans on the planet as well. The Witches treat the Force like 'magic', which means they use it with 'spells' (voice-activated Force usage?) and 'potions' (light-sided Sith alchemy?).

Nightsisters: combat-centric clan of dark-sided exiles based on the planet of Dathomir.

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Besides their use of 'magic', the Nightsisters are known to possess two particular techniques that would be incredibly useful for us to learn: 1) Force Weapon -- how to imbue a physical weapon with the Force, able to withstand even a lightsaber blow; and 2) Conjuration -- exactly what it says on the tin. In canon, Mother Talzin managed to conjure a fully-functioning lightsaber (!!!) while in combat with Mace Windu. Tell me that's not a broken ability.

Zeison Sha: survival-centric organization based on planet of Yanibar.

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They specialize in telekinesis. Like, really really specialize in it. To the point where they can use it more easily than the Jedi, without needing to wave their hand. To the point where they can subconsciously maintain a telekinetic shield around their bodies to protect against projectiles. To the point where they can use their signature weapon (a discblade) like Yondu used that arrow in Guardians of the Galaxy, sending it all over the battlefield in a whirling dervish of death before calling it back to be reholstered.

...holy crap I want to learn about these guys.


As for write-in suggestionss for Castell and Nar Shaddaa:

Castell Facility:

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[] Local OR large-scale wiretaps -- more information income, better intel for when we try to 'dethrone' Shu Mai from the Commerce Guild
[] Entertainment District -- Shu Mai came to power promising to decrease the tribute owed to the Commerce Guild. She increased it instead. There are a lot of Gossam unhappy with her. It'd probably require Ciaran's personal involvement to stir up unrest or generate an anti-Shu Mai mob, but at least funding an entertainment district would increase Ciaran's own popularity with the natives.
[] Expanded Tradeport -- Shu Mai has used her position to dominate Castell's interactions with the outside world. Abyss Watchers already have a minor tradeport for their own businesses; expand it and offer your shipping services to others, as an alternative to Shu Mai's racketeering.

Nar Shaddaa Property:

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[] Large-scale wiretaps -- more information income, better intel about what the Hutts are up to (and any business opportunities we might want in on)
[] Lower-level salvage teams -- Nar Shaddaa is a filthy, crime-infested smuggler's world. You never know what you're going to find in a junkyard.
[] Smugglers' Den -- Nar Shadda is known around the galaxy as the Smugglers' Moon. We'll fit right in.
[] Undercity Investment -- acquire property in the Undercity levels below your nightclub & cantina. There's plenty of industrial work -- factories, shipyards, and the like -- going on under your feet. It doesn't hurt that pretty much everyone in the Undercity is desperately poor, so you won't have to pay them much.


Let us know if or how many of these are acceptable write-ins. Hope that helps!

 

[UbeOne]

They specialize in telekinesis. Like, really really specialize in it. To the point where they can use it more easily than the Jedi, without needing to wave their hand. To the point where they can subconsciously maintain a telekinetic shield around their bodies to protect against projectiles. To the point where they can use their signature weapon (a discblade) like Yondu used that arrow in Guardians of the Galaxy, sending it all over the battlefield in a whirling dervish of death before calling it back to be reholstered.

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We could surpass Kreia's telekinetic prowess with their teachings.

 

[Publicola]

We could surpass Kreia's telekinetic prowess with their teachings.

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That sounds glorious. Definitely living up to Darth Traya's legacy with that one.

As for @Panory:

1. Blazing Chains and Shatterpoint are a must. And this time it's not (just) my overwhelming bias towards Blazing Chains! In addition to both being really useful on their own, Blazing Chains might lead to something more. Nothing else in personal is really worth it anyways.

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Absolutely agree. Telepathic guns, plus the ability that let Mace Windu one-punch-kill a flippin battle tank. Sounds good to me.

2. Silas' Hero action has some nice perks. Cash money, a diplomacy buff for Silas, and Pantora. Pantora's not very useful granted, but it's there. PR-1 also needs some upgrades if we want him to remain relevant pretty much at all.

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I agree about the Silas action, and I totally agree that PR-1 deserves the upgrade, but there's some amazing potential synergy between our 'Force-Friendly Cybernetics' action that finishes this turn, and Cheriss's upgrade if we pick it. I'm kinda inclined to go with Cheriss is only to see what it gives us. But that means I'd be tempted to pick PR-1 just out of sympathy lest we force him to wait another turn. But that'd leave Panora -- and Ciaran's cousin -- unsaved.... Yikes. All three sound good to me.

3. Onderon is a must. Sev'rance Tann's orders are to wrap up Onderon and then come for us. We do not want Tann coming for us. I also feel like we should od Durge, since we've invested a lot into Jango and Mandalore. We should protect that investment.

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Agreed. I'm pretty sure everyone agrees those two are locked in, especially since the Wookies aren't as time-sensitive.

4. Qiilura gets us some very nice things, like shapshifters who can become completely invisible, even to the Force, and a new Jedi, since we lost our old one. We should also bring Jango into the fold since, as stated above, we've invested a lot into him for this exact reason. Also worth noting that tucked away in "Between Light and Dark" is the action that gets us Larus, the Lore Cousin. But Silas' Lore stat is unimportant anyways so I'm fine with ignoring it for now.

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I agree about Qiilura, but given that the oversight on Jango will end automatically, I'm inclined to pick something else for our other Diplomacy action. Specifically, I'd like to make contact with the anti-Palpatine Senators (Shadow Meeting). OTOH, we could reach out to Ferrus Olin and start recruiting former Jedi. Or we could also make contact with the Iron Knights (I imagine they'd appreciate the Force-friendly cybernetics we're developing), and Shard engineers would help our research efforts considerably.

Finally, there's plenty of Force sects that we want to reach out to -- the Corellian Jedi are numerous and powerful, and less likely to try and start a coup if we tell them about Palpatine. We'll need to make contact with the Ysanna if we want to gain access to the Ossus Library -- and we do -- plus the Ysanna have really powerful techniques we might learn. 'Guardians of the Whills' gives us another cousin, plus kyber crystals, plus a bunch of Jedi history. And that's not to mention the other potential sites and sects we might find by write-in.

...In a turn full of difficult choices, we may decide to spend our free action on Diplomacy again.

5. HK-47 for obvious reasons. Virus Library to get the most out of what we stole from Wesker.

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The Old Republic tech is what sold me on HK-47. I'm not nearly as confident about the Virus Library -- wouldn't 'analyze recovered data' be more directly applicable to the Snake Eater reward? Plus 'analyze' wouldn't lock us in for another turn.

OTOH, there is so much else we could be doing for Learning this turn, but I think we'll want to keep most of the rest for another turn. Even if it means delaying our use of ysalamiri.

6. Kelp farms, bank of Ciaran, and Cord of Three Strands are all really tempting. I'd be fine with any combination of them really.

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No love for the SoroSuub option? You don't want to oust Shu Mai from the Commerce Guild and 'Naboo' a second major corporate supporter of the CIS?

7. Intrigue has a lot of stuff I'd be okay with, but Talesan Fry is a must. There's too much good stuff there to ignore. The code breaker, Talesan Fry himself, and a chance to prevent Siri's death.

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Agreed on Talesan Fry -- I actually hadn't realized the connection to Siri's death before you mentioned it. Yikes that seems even more important now. As for the other Intrigue, I'd really like to help find Ko Sai (the Kaminoan geneticist) but I think foiling Palpatine's plans for Scipio is a bigger priority. And helping Skirata set up the clone commando underground railroad is a must, either this turn or next (the action sets up the complete network without requiring individual base upgrades and without the extra cost).

8. Buying all the Taris upgrades, the Vectivus archaeological thing, Kashykk business and recruitment, and I feel obligated to set up the Skirata Safehouses.

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Agreed on Taris and Kashyyyk upgrades (and, if Dr. Snark accepts the write-ins, Castell and Muunilist as well).

I'm not sold on the Vectivus archaeology one (our omakes are mostly taking care of that, and I'm still worried about our balance sheet) or the Skirata safehouses (better to spend one action to take care of all the safehouses for free, then spend a bunch of money building safehouses system-by-system).


In general, I think we should spend at least one Lore action each turn learning a new Force technique, to give Ciaran something to do with her Personal Actions during the following turn. My choice of Force school/technique depends on what @Dr. Snark does with the write-ins from my last post, but of the current options, the Matukai do body augmentation ('Jedi things' like jumping 5 stories up effortlessly) while the Fallanasi focus on illusions (synergizing with our own emphasis on Force vision). Both would be very useful.


Finally, we definitely want to spend our Archaeology action on Dathomir, but I wanted to remind everyone that the Baobab Archives are awesome, and the Baobab family are even more so. I hope we get a chance to pick that in the near future -- I'd love to make contact & work with them in the near future.

 

[Stealthy]

>Onderon

Man am I feeling the pressure to perform when I'm feeling less alcoholic.

 

[Panory]

They're a light-sided group that specializes in healing techniques (especially self-healing) and energy absorption.

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What kind of energy absorption are we talking about here? Because Palpatine loves his Force Lightning. Being able to turn that on him in a fight would be a huge advantage.

They specialize in telekinesis. Like, really really specialize in it. To the point where they can use it more easily than the Jedi, without needing to wave their hand. To the point where they can subconsciously maintain a telekinetic shield around their bodies to protect against projectiles. To the point where they can use their signature weapon (a discblade) like Yondu used that arrow in Guardians of the Galaxy, sending it all over the battlefield in a whirling dervish of death before calling it back to be reholstered.

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The shield is definitely useful, and Blazing Chains seems like it would be a good foundation for the offensive telekinesis since it's basically what you described but with blasters. Speaking of Blazing Chains...

 

[Panory]

The Second Link​

Tyro Torwin spent most of his time in his quarters on The Oracle, since he was in charge of training the Abyss Watcher's Force sensitive members aboard the ship. It was honestly rather comforting, reminding him of his lifestyle as a member of the Arcblade Fleet of Blazing Chains pirates, always aboard one of the fleet's ships. Usually the largest given his skill and importance in the fleet, but occasionally he'd be given command of a smaller vessel for combat scenarios.

He still had an apartment on Coruscant though. As nostalgic as living solely on a ship could be at times, he didn't mind a bit of shore leave on the rare occasion that The Oracle stayed on Coruscant for more than a day or two. It was one thing to have an apartment on Coruscant, it was something else entirely to receive visitors to an apartment he could have sworn no one even knew about.

Opening the door, Tyro saw none other than Lady Ciaran. Blinking a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, he stepped aside and opened the door. "Lady Ciaran, what a surprise. Please come in."

"Glad to see chivalry isn't dead." she said as she walked inside and looked around.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" he asked. It was hard to believe that Lady Ciaran would take time away from her obscenely busy schedule to simply drop by for tea.

"Well I realized during one of our classes that I don't actually know much about you. I was looking for someone knowledgeable in the Force, and you were hiring yourself out as exactly that. I never bothered to look deeper, and I'm looking to change that." said Ciaran. "All you told me when I hired you is that you're a member of the Blazing Chain pirates, a survivor of a fleet that was destroyed in a civil-war a few years ago, and your fee."

Tyro laughed at the memory of his 'interview' with Ciaran all those years ago. "I honestly hadn't expected you to accept the price. My original plan was to sell my skills to the Jedi. Then I realized that the Jedi weren't very likely to let a pirate teach their younglings. And less likely to pay him for it. So I decided to try my luck in the private sector first, and lo and behold there you were."

"Yes, I got extremely lucky on that particular venture." chuckled Ciaran. "Though looking around, I have to wonder what you spend all your pay on. You don't pay rent on the Oracle, and this apartment is downright Spartan for what I'm paying you. You're a Blazing Chain's pirate, not a Jedi."

Tyro laughed at her joke. "Remember how I told you the Fleet I was from was destroyed when we first met? That wasn't exactly true. I was one of two survivors, and the other was the Adacap of the Arcblade Fleet. So long as the Adacap lives, so does the Fleet. But a Fleet with only two crew and no real ships was never going to get far."

"I can see how that would pose a problem." said Ciaran with a little smirk. "So you left your Fleet while the getting was good?"

"Not quite. I was too old, and too tired of fighting at the time to go about raiding ships and conscripting men, so I choose to sell the one advantage the old have, experience. I've sent the majority of my paycheck back to the Fleet to help rebuild it." said Tyro wistfully. "Last I heard it was almost back to full strength. Zekk kept telling me to stop sending money since they don't need it anymore, but… it gives me something to spend it on I suppose."

Ciaran had stopped really listening halfway through as her mind did what it did best. Optimizing every opportunity and investment had gotten Ciaran where she was today, and she wasn't about to stop now. When Tyro had told her all those years ago that his fleet of pirates had been wiped out, she had made the mistake of taking him at face value, and now she had funded the resurgence of an entire fleet of Force trained pirates.

"Tyro… what do Blazing Chains pirate fleets do exactly?" asked Ciaran cautiously. If she wanted this plan forming in her head to work, she couldn't chase it too hard.

"Well the main focus was the raids. The fleet would hunt down a merchant convoy if we needed resources or a military vessel to appropriate if we needed firepower to take the merchant ships." said Tyro, reminiscing about the days of old. "Most time was spent training so you didn't die on the raids. Whether that meant getting better at the Blazing Chains style itself or piloting ships or some other skill, it was all about doing well in the next raid. Pretty simple existence really, though I'm sure Thrawn could look at a child's drawing for five minutes and write you an essay."

Tyro laughed at his own joke, and Ciaran absentmindedly joined in, a useful habit in politics. "Yes, well some of the best things in this galaxy are the simplest. But complicated things have their appeals as well. I can think of a few relationships complicated enough to qualify." The two laughed again. "Speaking of, do you still keep up with this… Adacap?"

"Who, Zekk? We haven't talked much recently, what with everything going on it's just been too busy, but we're still on good terms. Why?" asked Tyro, confused by the sudden interest in his past.

"The Blazing Chains style is useful, and the Abyss Watchers will have need of useful people in the near future." said Ciaran, somewhat ashamed of her selfish motives.

To his credit, Tyro caught on immediately. "I had to witness the Arcblade Fleet be destroyed once in my life, and that was one time too many. This fight we're picking isn't one that everyone is going to walk away from, even if we win."

"It's a fight no one will walk away from if we lose." fired back Ciaran as her experience with tough negotiations took over. She calmed herself with a deep breath before continuing. "I'm not going to force you to do anything. I'm just asking you to ask them."

Tyro winced as he glanced around the room. Eventually he found Lady Ciaran's face, and heaved a heavy sigh that made him sound his age. "I'll see what I can do."


AN: So Blazing Chains is awesome, and Ciaran should totally learn it. But she's still just one person. Wouldn't it be so much more effective to have a fleet of Blazing Chain users?

 

[Whumbly]

Asajj has been content to focus on internalizing what she learned at Malachor (and might be growing her hair out for some reason? (She has hair!?))

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I like Ciaran's reaction to Ventress having hair.

 

[Tabron89]

You know, getting that sect that uses the Force to enhance their physical abilities would be useful for our Agents, considering that they'll be fighting Sidious.

 

[Akasha]

I like Ciaran's reaction to Ventress having hair.

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*puts shipping glasses on*

Clearly it's a sign that she has a crush on Ciaran, and thinks she'll like her better if she has long hair.

 

[Publicola]

What kind of energy absorption are we talking about here? Because Palpatine loves his Force Lightning. Being able to turn that on him in a fight would be a huge advantage.

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Tyia Adepts specialize in 'Control' techniques, specifically this one called 'tutaminis'. The most advanced versions of this include 'catching' Force lightning (like Yoda in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith), catching/dispelling a lightsaber blade with your bare hand (as seen here), and even lets you convert the absorbed energy into something useful. So, with enough experience, you could theoretically 'catch' Sith lighning that Palpatine is tossing at you, absorb it, convert it, and use it to help you heal!

...Yeah. This seems like a pretty awesome specialization to have.


Another list of write-ins for @Dr. Snark:

I did want to post a bunch of new sites for 'Archaeological Expeditions' that we should consider.

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Specifically, Tython in the Deep Core, and a bunch of Sith Worlds.

Deep Core
Tython sector
- Tython: original center of the Je'daii Order, site of the Jedi Academy and nine specialized Temples based around Tho Yor landing sites

(Comment: yeah. Apparently Tython was lost for a couple millennia due to changing hyperlanes in the Deep Core, but it's been 'rediscovered' for a while, and there's a lot of really interesting backstory behind the nine temples, plus the Academy, plus the Tho Yor pyramid-ships...).


Outer Rim:
Esstran sector
- Odacer-Faustin: icy planet, site of Darth Scabrous's Sith Academy, origin world of 'The Sickness' (zombie virus epidemic created by Sith alchemy)
- Ord Radama: homeworld of Devlikk race, urbanized wetland world, major battlefield during ancient Sith-Republic War, site of Narek Manor
- Thule: savanna world, site of Sith Temple and separate Sith Arts Academy, location of 'Dark Reaper' (Sith superweapon)


Sith Worlds subsector (Esstran)
- Begeren: desert world, site of massive Sith monuments (some ruins) built into outcrops and cliffs, now known for gemstone quarries
- Dromund Kass: wetlands (ysalamiri), former capital of Sith Empire, site of 'Dark Force Temple' (Force nexus) and 'Imperial Citadel' (Mandalorian enclave)
- Korriban: homeworld (and sacred planet) of Sith race, site of the 'Valley of the Dark Lords', including the original 'Sith Academy' and 'Great Temple'
- Jaguada I: moon of Jaguada, site of multiple Sith temples converted into Separatist communications & droid storage facilities by Count Dooku
- Khar Shian: moon of Khar Delba (sacred Sith planet), site of palace & citadel of Naga Sadow dating from the Great Hyperspace War
- Krayiss II: sacred Sith planet along Nache Bhelfia hyperlane, site of Krayiss Obselisk and massive underground Library-Temple complex
- Rhelg: sacred Sith planet along Nache Bhelfia hyperlane, site of palace & citadel of Ludo Kressh (Naga Sadow's rival)
- Ziost: adopted homeworld of Sith race, sacred planet & adopted capital of Sith Empire, planetary Force nexus, site of 'Great Citadel' and 'People's Tower'

(Comment: basically the entire Sith Worlds sector is full of artifacts and history and information and ludicrously dangerous places. Odacer-Faustin has a zombie virus that might actually be worse than rakghouls, Korriban's Valley has surviving holocrons from pretty much every Sith ever, Krayiss II has a underground library-temple that's basically a heavily trapped unescapable labyrinth, and all of them are swirling vortices of dark-sided Force energy. So yeah, I'm pretty sure the "chance of success' for most of these should be pretty abysmally low. OTOH, both Ord Radama and Dromund Kass should interest us -- the former has an uninhabited and really awesome-looking manor that could serve as a bolt-hole, while the latter has a long history with Mandalore, including an official embassy in their capital's citadel. Not to mention that its swamps are quite possibly the one place outside Myrkr where you can find ysalamiri -- which tells us that someone found a way to transport them off-planet without killing them...)


Gordian Reach sector
- Presbalin: commercial hub of the 'Loop Worlds' region, known for long-abandoned 'alien' cities with 'strange' architecture
- Tenara: isolated agriworld famous as a former pirate bolt-hole and 'treasure planet' due to hidden vaults throughout the planet
- Yavin IV: jungle moon of Yavin Prime, center of Sith nexus, site of the Great Massassi Temple, Temple of Exar Kun, and the Palace of the Woolamander

(Comment: Yavin is self-explanatory, Tenara's vaults have been mostly cleared out (but there's almost certainly more to discover), but frankly the most interesting here is Presbalin. Seriously -- explain this. We're talking about a fictional sci-fi universe which includes 100 quadrillion beings, 1 billion star systems, and between 5-20 million different species with markedly different customs, cultures, and aesthetic traditions. And yet Presbalin is known across the galaxy for having "alien" cities with "strange" architecture. What?)

Click to shrink...

 

[torac]

I'm tempted to vote for using the free actions to get all three Force training options. That should hopefully enough for Ciaran to avoid dying immediately to Palpatine. If we then manage to get lightsaber resistant armour as well, I'd even be up to intentionally including Ciaran in the team that will take Palpatine down.

 

[Akasha]

I strongly believe we should, as of this moment, dedicate at least one action to training either Lore or Martial skills EVERY TURN. Preferably more than one. Why? Because I REALLY doubt the QM is going to let us just throw people at Palpatine until he drops, without actually fighting him ourselves. That wouldn't make for a good Final Battle. The protagonist has to be there. Therefore, it is vital that we get our Martial high enough to, at the very least, keep Palpatine from blitzing us the way he did to those Jedi who came with Mace Windu to arrest him.

Even if we want our allies to shoot him, we will need to keep him in place long enough for a projectile to get through, and even then, we'll need to keep him distracted well enough for him to not just rush past us and kill everyone else, first. That point also ties in with the need to constantly improve our Lore. Palpatine is very skilled with a Lightsaber, but he actually specializes in using the Force. It doesn't matter if our Martial is high enough to stall him and give our companions an opening, if he can blast us through a bunch of walls and Force Lightning Fry all of them before we get back.

Since I bet the QM will push us into participating(it WOULD be pretty damn anti-climatic if everyone except the protagonist got to fight Palpatine), we WILL NEED VERY HIGH LORE AND MARITAL STATS. Especially since we're the leader, so he'll likely target us first, to break the morale.

Training our stats is not something that can be done with a single action, so we should start working as soon as possible. As in, NOW. Otherwise, we might end up blindsided by something, and forced into a confrontation with barely any skill to back us up. We will try to stall for time, but we don't know how long that'll work. A bunch of horribly unlucky rolls can cut our preparation time short.

 

[néocorvinus]

Am I the only one who remember what live on Myrkr? Does no one remember the third element crucial to Thrawn's conquest?

Myrkr is the homeworld of the Neti a specy of végétal humanoids whose members were some of the first Jedi, the Vornskr a specy of force hunting wolves and ...

The FREAKING YSALAMIRI!!!!
With Ysalamiri, a hundred kaleesh and mandalorians should be enough to ensure Sidious is dead. He would be a good duelist but the main danger would be his bodyguards, and the political dangers

Also, we could use them to train without the force to become better duelists

 

[Whumbly]

*puts shipping glasses on*

Clearly it's a sign that she has a crush on Ciaran, and thinks she'll like her better if she has long hair.

Click to shrink...

Nah, Ventress is growing out her hair to let go of her past. She kept it bald so she could see the tattoos on her head that represented the people would killed her Jedi mentor. Now she wants to not let her past define her.

Though I'm sure Ciaran wants to pet the silky hair.

 

[zup]

Am I the only one who remember what live on Myrkr? Does no one remember the third element crucial to Thrawn's conquest?

Myrkr is the homeworld of the Neti a specy of végétal humanoids whose members were some of the first Jedi, the Vornskr a specy of force hunting wolves and ...

The FREAKING YSALAMIRI!!!!
With Ysalamiri, a hundred kaleesh and mandalorians should be enough to ensure Sidious is dead. He would be a good duelist but the main danger would be his bodyguards, and the political dangers

Also, we could use them to train without the force to become better duelists

Click to shrink...

How will we sneak a hundred troops past Palpatine's security? I would give us better odds of success if we just went with Asajj, even with our current stats.

The Ysalamiri are... boring. They simply manage to further emphasize how irrelevant a person is in Star Wars, if they do not use the Force.