35:1:26 01:29
- Portions encrypted for personal use only -

I think perhaps our little band is gelling together after all… it's in the midst of the moment when someone's true flag flies, after all. – I'm sure the Baron would have something to say about that –

Supper earlier this evening went slightly better than expected, at least at first - the Baron & I had a good discussion about last mission's events, and the Force, among other things – Via was NOT one of those things, though it certainly looked like she was making him uncomfortable – or was it TOO comfortable? –… which led to he & I telling the rest of the team about our powers and a bit of background on why we were where we were now. The Baron had wanted me to gauge everyone's reactions, but I felt it best to not use the Force “against” the team at that point – they might be wary enough as it was, I didn't want to have to lie to them about reading them if asked.

Turns out Sprend had pretty much figured it out already - as soon as the Baron & I were finished, he just put down his gun and started slow-clapping, saying “It's about time!” Dash looked a bit confused and skeptical, and Brown Fox seemed warier than usual. He stood up and headed straight for the door – why exactly, we never quite found out, as he collapsed to the ground on the threshold, moaning agonizingly and frothing at the mouth. – Clearly speech-making is not my provenance, if this is the reaction is causes! –

Tor-Nenko immediately rushed to Fox's side to try and figure out what was wrong, but Fox was thrashing around to much to get close enough to tell. Via & I tried to hold Fox down, but his fur kept slipping out of our grasps. A quiet click of a switch and a calm “Damaria, you cool with this?” are the only warning I had as to Sprend's plans – thankfully I managed to roll back out of the way before the stun bolts knocked Fox out cold! – A bit extreme… but effective. I had a sense that Sprend slightly enjoyed that, after the near-confrontation between he & Fox the other night. –

The Baron, Vinny, and Dash had left to track down a doctor; while we waited for them, Sprend and I immobilized Fox and tried to make him comfortable. Then Tor-Nenko dropped the bomb - his readings showed it was poison of some kind! Tor-Nenko and Sprend rushed over to the bar and started inspecting all the drinks that might have crossed Fox's lips (to no avail, unfortunately); I spend several minutes combing through his fur to try and find any signs of foul play (needle marks, whatever)… again, no luck. – Sleuths we are not, apparently… wish the Force could help out with this kind of thing! –

Thankfully the others had more luck and brought back a doctor – how much did THAT cost? Or is there more of a story there? – , who determined Fox was poisoned with some kind of modified time-release toxin. – As she was saying this, I reached out to D'Gane's mind to see if there was any reaction – I still don't fully trust her – but no luck, just the usual slipperiness. – The gist of it was that this Doctor couldn't help any further, but had heard of someone who might know more about poisons and other… shadier… dealings – someone known only as “Merlyn”.

As Tor-Nenko and the Baron put their heads together to try and figure out where an underground doctor might be able to hide out and Sprend & D'Gane loaded Fox into the (now quite battered) van, I had a flash of intuition and popped behind the bar counter. There it was! I thought Marv had put my Imperial uniform there after it'd come back from cleaning - it could come in handy depending on who we had to deal with. I grabbed it and hopped into the back of the van as Dash hit the accelerator. – I'll admit I wasn't sad to see D'Gane decided to stay behind; she'd seemed to be clouding the Baron's mind earlier this evening and I had a feeling we'd all need to be as sharp as possible in our search. –

No luck at the canals… just a Trandoshan who pointed us to the wharfs. Better luck there - a Neimoidian ducking into a building at the end of the wharf - hopefully Merlyn! Not that he wanted anything to do with the Baron and I when we came knocking, just a chorus of “Go away, for your kind I do nothing!” Pity story, bribery… no luck. A quick comm to the others back at the van did the trick, though not how I'd expected. The mere sight of Sprend – NOT his gun! – changed the Neimoidian's attitude completely. “Oh, welcome here oh most noble Duro! Bring him in, bring him in!” – Why the blanket hatred towards the Baron & I? And this isn't the first time I've felt it… odd that I'd not noticed those undercurrents before joining up with this group. –

Another set of tests, another wild gort chase. Merlyn had equipment that could help… but it was in the catacombs under his lab, and needed power. And he needed blood platelets to make the cure once the equipment was running. Since the Baron apparently already had a relationship with the doctor from before – hmmmmm….. – , he volunteered to get the platelets while I, Sprend, Tor-Nenko and Dash went to get a portable fusion reactor to power things up. From the nearby under-construction Imperial Welcome Center. Perhaps some extra-curricular sabotage could be done in the process… it would be nice to take the initiative for once in at least some part. We'd have to be cautious though… Merlyn didn't sound thrilled at all at the idea of any heat coming back towards him; in fact, he outright threatened Fox's life it it did! – If he'd known what he's dealing with, well… –

After a quick trip back to the van to change outfits – Thank the Force for that intuition! – , we found ourselves in front of a razor-wire fence, a jumble of construction equipment and skeletal plassteel frames jutting out of the ground. Smoothing my uniform down, I walked up to the guard shack and started barking orders at the guard outside. Surprise inspection! Looking for defective equipment! We need in NOW! He's not buying it! Going into the shack to radio his superiors for confirmation! Frak! (Thankfully Dash had apparently picked up a comm jammer from Compatriot, so that verification wouldn't be coming anytime soon).

Sprend rolled his eyes slightly and nudged Tor-Nenko to just cut the fence while the guard was busy trying the comms in the shack. Tor-Nenko didn't look thrilled by the idea, but I was getting annoyed by how things were playing out and agreed with Sprend. A few nervous minutes later, the lock was cut and the guys were headed towards the power converters at the side of the site. Just as I was starting to knock on the shack's door, they caught our guard friend's eye (thankfully the other guard was still at the other side of the site and hadn't noticed anything suspicious yet… hired help), and he popped back out of the shed looking very flustered and hollering “What are you doing?!”

“Clearly you DO have faulty equipment here, as you can already tell! Now let us do our job and take these off your hands - you don't want to disrupt the Empire!” A few threats/bribes/telling-it-like-it-(apparently)-is later, he reluctantly seemed to believe me and let the others go about there work. As they passed by me with their reactor-laden hoverlift, I sensed Tor-Nenko had been up to some mischief with the other power converters. Good… so long as it didn't (literally) backfire on us. – I wouldn't mind the Empire getting a “warm welcome” of its own… –

We got back to Merlyn's not long before the Baron – just enough time for Tor-Nenko to start cobbling together part of an adapter for the reactor-to-catacombs connection. He made fairly short work of that part, but seemed stuck on the second part of the adapter. Other than looking around for loose plugs, I wasn't able to help much, nor was anyone else… then Sprend's eyes lit up. “Jumper!” Apparently the captured guard has been blossoming under Grexi & Chulo's wing and was starting to see the side of the Empire that I'd seen as well – and he'd been mucking about in the catacombs under the bar, gaining some experience with the ancient technology. A quick comm to Vinny & Marv got Jumper a ride to Merlyn's… but time was clearly running out, Fox was looking paler by the minute!

Even with the combined brainpower of Tor-Nenko, Dash, and Jumper, things still didn't work good. Though they seemed to be figuring out more with every attempt, they were also growing more frustrated and Fox was fading fast. The Baron brought up the idea of using the holocron to research catacomb technology, but it was back at my house. “Via could bring it…” he started to bring up, then saw the look in my eyes and turned back to poke around in the machinery. – Right…. give her all my security codes, let her rummage around in my apartment… still, if things didn't improve quickly, I might consider it. MIGHT. –

That poking around apparently wiggled a loose connection – oh COME ON! – , and the next try brought the dusty machinery to dim life. Merlyn quickly jumped to the job, making a serum and injecting Fox with it moments later. A scan after showed the reagent was working, the poison was being flushed out and Fox was slowly recovering with no signs of permanent damage. A huge wave of relief washed over us all. – Surprising, I even felt the same emotion from Merlyn! –

Crisis averted (for now), the Baron turned on the charm and tried to get Merlyn more permanently onto our side. This time it wasn't a hard sell – seems Merlyn would love to be involved in our kind of work and wanted to help further the cause! He pledged to join our band of merry rebels, and an aside about hearing the sound of music and heavy machinery wafting through the catacombs ultimately led to the discovery that his facility was connected to our base; we just needed to do a little work to clear the passage!

And with that, we left Fox in Merlyn's care and headed back to the bar, quick farewells dissolving into returns to our own places to sleep.

That is, assuming, I can… earlier on Sprend had let slip that our rescued Jedi was able and wanting to talk to us when we had a chance. Finally, someone who may know more about the Force! – Maybe he can even help with the life sensitivity; I fear having to deal with that too much longer! –

35:1:26 23:35

Our rescuee – Loden Xenrad, it appears – was quite interesting! Seems he's a much-older-than-he-appears Jedi with strong healing powers, which he's lately had to used simply to stay alive – thus his inability to heal his useless legs. A casual levitation of a cup to his lips created quite the stir - I wasn't entirely surprised – though “I want to do that!” did flick through my mind – but Dash seemed quite taken aback by it. The Baron and I both agreed we'd need to spend more time with Loden, to learn more of the Force. – The Baron seems adamant about not caring about the “Jedi” part, just more a general “learn to use it for good”; I, however, am up for anything that helps me control it and lessens its control over me. –

Not all can be good news, of course – when has it ever been? Fox (already starting to look much better), Tor-Nenko, and the Baron managed to break open the box we'd dragged away at the same time as Loden… only to see a signaling beacon inside. Tor-Nenko smashed it immediately, but was it in time? Sure, the other contents were interesting – Loden's effects, lightsaber parts, some potentially valuable crystals – but the thought of who that signal could have broadcast to worried me greatly. Dealing with the Imperials from this planet was bad enough… but an Inquisitor task force? Things could get very ugly yet…

– On the flip side, I did manage to get a little alone time to talk with Loden afterwards. Not much, but enough for him to make me realize that the Force could work WITH my existing skills, not just as a completely separate entity. I hadn't considered that before, but it made sense… I'll have to continue practicing and focusing on my talents, I can already feel the Force growing stronger! But… will that prove a good thing, or will those hunting Loden come after me next? –

OOC: Gained +1 Force Rating; gained Battle Meditation force skill