Excerpts from private datalog

“General Marsand”… didn't expect to hear the likes of that after I'd left the service. I can't help but feel it's a bit quick, but we have been through a lot and in a rebellion you have to use what you have (way to pump yourself up, Damaria!). Guess I'll just have to make sure I live up to the title! Step one: don't flub up the first mission you get as a general. Spywork and infiltration, though? Not what I would have hoped for… I've had enough hiding who and what I am, thanks much.

At least we have a new ally in Al'dira. She's been fairly quiet but seems to have started to trust us a little more and open up a bit. I don't even know if she realizes it, but she's opened up new pathways to the Force for me already. I caught an odd feeling from her as she was meditating a few days ago, and realized it was a part of the Force I'd not felt before. I'm not entirely sure what it means, but I've spent some time meditating upon it myself and it's almost like I know I can help someone feel better if I try. I'll have to talk to her yet and see if she can provide more guidance. I don't want to push her too much though – I'm already surprised she consented to letting me salvage the crystal from her deceased partner's saber to use in my own – though not without a stern lecture on honoring his memory first. Good thing pressure doesn't bother me, as it seems to keep mounting.

…

That was an… interesting start. Our weapons are all locked up but Al'dira did manage to… charm… the ship's head of security into giving us a private tour, which proved informative. It was good to chat with someone of a similar mind for a bit too, subterfuge notwithstanding. And then there's the whole “stole his keycard” thing… Al'dira once again played up her “distractions” (at least she's not as bad as D'Gane) and helped swapped the officer's keycard for my hotel room one. I almost fumbled it though… I had just noticed a couple of our targets on the security room's monitors, and one looked more familiar than I expected… almost a sense of deja vu, odd… troubling, even.

Hmm… that swap could end up being an interesting signal, in hindsight. Hopefully we can use the card and get it back before he notices, not sure I want to bat my eyelashes at him if he shows up thinking it was an invite to my room.

What a room though! Clearly the Rebellion considers this mission highly important, as they don't seem to have spared any expense in our accommodations. Nor in the food - the steakhouse we went to for supper had an awe-inspiring array of desserts. Since I was “on duty” though, I resisted. Al'dira had no such compunctions though (how DOES she pack all that in?!)… I'm worried she may regret that later.

Even better (well, to me at least) than the desserts was the maitre'd though… he was one of Swift's friends I met at Telmarr's party (that seems like a lifetime ago…), and he recognized me. Turns out he's a good contact to have: we just finished meeting with him in our room and he's going to keep an eye out for our targets and do what he can to help us get our gear back.

Off to the casino now! I saw the veiled female at the Gilded Obelisk on the security monitors; hopefully either she's still there or I can at least dredge up some info on her. At first everyone else was going to turn in, but when I came back out from changing into my cocktail dress Dash had decided to follow along. This could be interesting…

…

I wasn't wrong about that. I'm 650 credits richer, had a chat with the veiled woman, saw Dash get himself into a love triangle, and somehow found myself with a date with a charming fellow as well.

Right, the woman first… that IS the mission, after all. Delmoor is her name - after some commiserating and stroking her ego (she seemed confident, but my senses told me otherwise), I learned she works at VengeTek making ultra-long-range targeting arrays (that's not ominous at all). I can probably meet her again fairly easily, we parted on good terms… not all fake either, I truly understand her struggle to thrive as a woman in what seems to be an Imperial-based business. There may be recruit potential there… it'll be a tricky wire to walk though.

And now the man… Pitr Ilya. Another business tycoon it seems, though not as well-established as Delmoor. Incredibly charming as well… so much so I somehow found myself agreeing to go out for drink with him tomorrow night. The Baron may regret not coming on this mission… ha!

And then there was Dash. Oh, Dash… his heart's in the right place, but sometimes he just can't catch a break. Out of the blue the girl he rescued during that OTHER casino mission (the less said the better) sidled up to him at the bar! She clearly had feelings for him, it didn't take long for her to put her arm around him. And when I came back out from the private sabbac room (650 credits heavier!), they were sitting at a table talking in animated but hushed tones. Out of a concern, a quick sense (that felt… off) showed she seemed okay, so I went and butted in. Apparently Koyi is working for Telmarr – she could prove useful! And… distracting… as well, as her kiss on Dash's cheek caused quite the ruckus with Kay this morning. I probably should have jumped in sooner to defend him, but a part of me was amused at seeing him squirm – until I got a better sense of just how much it bothered him.

Now we're off to the business center in hopes of tracking down another target - Starkon is his name apparently. Then a quick meal and off to the gravball courts, where hopefully I can figure out the mystery man from the monitor that's been in the back of my mind since yesterday.

…

Watch what you ask for… frak. How did I become the femme fatale of this mission?! And am I actually enjoying it?! Other concerns aside, I feel like it's pulled me down a potentially darker path than I'd wanted… but it's seemed the best way to go about the mission. Right Damaria… all about the mission. You keep telling yourself that.

Back it up… so the business center went fairly well. The others found some intel on Starkon's company, Protectrum, and even managed a chat with the man himself. Something about planet-scale shields… what IS the Empire up to here?

A quick lunch, with some info on our remaining 2 targets via Tor at the end: the gravball player works for Independent Kuat Engineering Associates, and the other for SoftTechEdge.

And then… gravball. It was quite the shock to my system when I went to sign up for a team (all the others decided to just watch… typical) and saw a name from the past: Abinar Lenoan, Onara's cousin. The boy – sorry, man now – who was often hanging around when Onara and I would hit the town. I remember him as polite but awkward… fitting, as this could get awkward indeed. Thank the stars I disguised myself! A quick signup onto his team (how else could I ply him for information?) and change of uniform and we hit the court. During the short warmups we chatted a bit – he didn't seem to recognize me thankfully, and he seemed eager to talk. Soon the game started, and I quickly realized running around after the Empire does not necessarily keep one's gravball skills honed. Still, I struggled and hung on, then realized – why not use the Force? Thankfully I've gotten good enough at team connection that I can initiate it while on the move, and can do a light enough touch that the rest of my gravball team didn't realize why they were suddenly so in sync with each other.

And then victory! I'm going to have to have a talk with some of the others though… I swear I heard at least Tor cheering AGAINST me!!

And then it hit the fan – at least in my mind. I was celebrating and talking with Abinar after the game when he asked me out to dinner tonight. My first thought was “and it's not even the dress this time, I'm still in my sweaty uniform”, and then I caught hold of his thoughts as I accepted… frell. Such an open book, I barely had to touch the pages of his mind and it all came pouring out, not like the other businesspeople. He has a crush on me… well, Damaria, not “Marisar Coljen” the security officer… and he's very excited about supper because apparently I remind him of, well… me. I need to go through with this date – the mission, I keep telling myself – but I don't want to hurt him either. Hopefully it's just a pleasant meal and chatting about work, some easy intel gathering, and no one's the wiser. I'm sure it'll be okay. Right?

…

Wrong. Well, sort of. I don't know. It's all a bit confusing right now, and I can't help but feel my drink in a bit with Pitr won't help that feeling any.

So apparently the restaurant Abinar invited me to was a bit more… downscale… than I'd expected. Yes, I wore my red “date dress” to a burger joint. He seemed pretty stoked about it though, and I decided to go with it. Use all your assets, right? The mission. That's all. Ugh. It was all going so well, I was flirting with him, leaning forward towards him and brushing his hand “accidentally”, he was spilling everything about his company (custom high power reactors). And then I had to flip my hair back a bit as I drank some of my shake - “You REALLY remind me of someone.” I panicked a bit and tried to leaf through his mind again… almost too easy, I was able to force myself deeper than ever before, but it didn't feel very good to do so. Was it because I was taking advantage of him? The mission. Right. Anyhow, turned out he was very confused, deep down he knew I was me – Damaria – whatever – but couldn't let himself believe it since the Damaria he knew would never lie to him (sadly true, at least it USED to be). He even blames the Empire for “taking me away”… if only he knew now! I'll admit… it is all a bit charming, if also a little creepy.

I had to. Mission or not, I couldn't keep up the lie to him – and it felt like the right thing to do, both for him AND the mission. I felt there was no way he'd betray me if I came clean now – so I did. He seemed… relieved? Excited? Definitely eager to answer all my questions, and glad that I was NOT with the Empire (though I kept enough of my head about me to not say exactly who I WAS with).

Apparently Varentari is heading some kind of special big ultra-secret project, requiring an NDA that no one outside the circle can know – especially the Empire. (Abinar didn't seem to hesitate to tell ME, though.) Abinar trusts them all (though he got flustered talking about Delmoor – I'll admit, she IS quite pretty)… and it doesn't SOUND like Varentari is spearheading an Imperial plot… odd. This makes the whole “eliminate Varentari” thing complicated.

Transmission interrupted, rebooting datapad… please wait…