Just deeper in debt…

We left around 10am. Sprend and I found some trooper armour we fit into and suited up Damaria and Tor went without. (And just where the hell did Dash go off to? That can’t be any good.) Three of Telmar’s men would follow behind. We were posing an advance party of the supply convoy, bringing what goods we could (trio of slaves included).

On the way to the mine, I was doing some mining of mine own. (Ok. That was pushing it. Sorry.)

I had loaded the data I stole from Sabik onto my data pad and was searching through it for names, addresses, anything we could gleam that would help us pin our actions on him. After all, if we’re going to be stealing the mining equipment for him, the evidence might as well point to him, right? I found a couple names that seemed loosely associated with him and distributed them to the rest.

When we pulled up to the mine, Sprend identified himself with a stormtrooper ID he picked up somewhere, and the 4 guards bought it. They then started to help us unload the random boxes we had brought along.

The inside of the mine was a piss hole of debris. What a mess. We started to mill around as a desperate “What do we do now” feeling rose up in me. I was keeping my eyes o Damaria, ready to follow her lead, but she wasn't giving any clear signals. She seemed to be as lost as the rest of us. I decided to make a move of my own and slip into the shadows.

I asked one of the guards where the ‘fresher was. He pointed to a door off the entrance area. As I made my there, Sprend and I locked eyes. I could see a plan forming inside that white helmet. “The ‘fresher’” was of course just a gross cave where people did their business in dark. Real gross like. Luckily for me, my night vision really helped the details of the cave pop out.

I listened near the door to discern what was going on. It didn't take long for Sprend to join me. All he told me was to “start moaning”. I slipped around the corner and did a I was told. Sprend hesitated just a moment before stepping back through the door. Maybe I wasn't moaning right, or something. Either way, the ruse worked. One of the guards blindly walked into our trap. I lunged at him with my fusion cutter, slicing his comm link, Sprend knocked him with his riffle butt, I plunged the cutter into his neck, and Sprend gave his head a final twist. It was sloppy, but good. Like we were brutalizing all the tension that had previously stood between us. I’m sure Damaria would have liked us to do it faster (I’m not sure why I know that) but it was good to work as a unit.

We co-ordinated with Damaria via comm, and at the given signal, I opened the door as Sprend lay down fire. He caught the one remaining guard by surprise. It didn’t kill him, but the blaster bolts managed to fry the control panel to the doors leading out. He cried out for backup, and soon we heard banging from the outside of the mine. Damaria took her shot, but the guy just would not lie down. It was my turn now.

Not wanting to risk another miss with the fusion cutter, I grabbed at whatever weapon I had on me. It wasn’t until I was almost on him that I saw what was in my hand. It was the vibroknife he gave me. His final present to me before I left.

Fraking distraction! I would have been better off using the fusion cutter. I took my eyes off the target for just a moment while I regarded the blade, and the soldier dodged just enough for my swing to go wide. He then jumped behind some cover just before Damaria iced him.

By now the entrance doors were ready to give. Sprend jumped out and set up behind the cover of some machinery while Damaria re-positioned herself behind her cover. I knew I was in a bad spot in a number of ways. I dove for the fallen guy’s riot blaster just as the doors gave way. I heard the first volley of fire and tried to dodge out of the way, only to get hit in the chest. Luckily my teammates could finish them off before they dished out any further damage.

Meanwhile, Tor had been doing some snooping. He found the processing portion of the mine, full of the ore we had been looking for (complete with a couple slaves hard at work). Between the team and Telmarr’s men, the ore was easily being taken care of. I busied myself looking for some mining equipment that could get Sabik off of our backs. To no avail. Looks like we’d have to go after the original gear if we wanted to make him happy.

By the time my recon was done, everyone else had located some nasty explosives and were ready to set them up in the processing room. While Tor crafted a remote detonator with bits of scrap lying around (how does he do that??) I took up the task of setting the charges.

If I did it wrong, people (possibly us) would die.

No pressure.

Luckily I know all about the structural integrity of mines and pinpointed the exact spot to set the explosives. And then I promptly set them across the room from that spot. Brilliant! (Thank the moon I saw that in time. Wouldn’t I have been embarrassed; I’m sure all the slaves we opted to leave behind would have been buried alive if I overlooked that fissure.)

On our way out, Sprend started shooting wildly down the passageway where we heard the dozen or so slaves hard at their toil. Just blindly shooting and yelling. We stopped him and asked him what the frak he was doing. He said he hoped to flush the slaves out of the mine. He figured they would probably want to run *towards* the gun fire.

Poor guy. These past couple days really have been hard on him.

We spoke soothingly to him and explained that the slaves will be ok. They didn’t need him shooting at them any more. Then gently guided him towards the door.

He does make a good point, though. We’ve got a number of refugees under our charge now. What’s going to become of them? Who will look out for them and make sure this doesn’t happen again? How will they get by in the real world when they’re starting from nothing??

We all crossed our fingers as Tor remote detonated the explosion. A large WOOSH of dust erupted from the mouth of the mine. A quick recon confirmed a success! The processing plant was destroyed and buried, while a passage to the slaves was still open. “Good job, Fox!” I exclaimed. “Oh it was nothing,” I said rather bashfully. “No, really, you should be proud of yourself,” I said. “Go on,” I said, trying to hide my face. I’m pretty sure I was blushing with all the attention I was getting.

[sigh]

From there, it wasn’t hard to convince the team to visit the Human League raider camp. We had seen a good number of injustices done after the past day or two and I think some comeuppance was in order. (Admittedly, the raiders were hardly responsible for most of what we had witnessed.)

When we found the camp, it was very still. We saw a large piece of mining equipment outside, so we knew we had the right place. Damaria sent her drone to check out the interior. By this time I had taken off my Stormtrooper disguise, and was just contemplating if I needed to put it back on. And that’s when things got murky.

Damaria clearly reported on several alien slaves inside. I KNOW that I heard her say that.

She CLAIMS that she also mentioned some human women with attitude as well. Whether or not she said this, and how loudly she said it, is arguable. At best.

I decided to be a hero and go without a mask. That way I could calm to shaken slaves inside, tell them we’re the good guys, we’re different than those other humans. Tell them that everything was going to be ok.

We get into the room, and there is one angry human woman in there (albeit, a really old one). And suddenly she’s pulling out a pistol and aiming it at me, and then Damaria is throwing me aside and takes the hit for me, then Sprend is shooting down the woman and then trying to jump on top of a pregnant one, and then she explodes and her blood is everywhere and I can’t help but wonder what he did to her.

Just one big blur.

Tor rushes in and explains that Sprend is bleeding out and needs to get him stabilized asap. I quickly fumble for my emergency medpack and hand it over. Apparently Sprend was the only one who realized the bomb that was present in the room, and he threw himself on it to save the rest of us.

I came into this mission feeling a bit of a debt to the others for my foul up at the convoy site. Now they’ve taken two blows meant to kill me.

What am I supposed to do with that??

Obviously not think about it. We loaded up the mining equipment while Tor mended our wounded, then sent Talmarr’s men out with instructions to deliver the goods to Sabik. (I must admit that I’m very curious to know what kind of mining that man has in mind. Now that we have started to develop our little underground playground, I would hate to have any unexpected visitors.) (Good thing I planted a tracking beacon on one of the larger pieces of machinery.)

And then Tor started mucking around with a computer terminal and happened upon some kind of email that pretty much said Swift had been kidnapped for his alien loving crimes and was being held in a secure warehouse.

Great. (Why is it so hard for us to keep track of our people??)

So, back into the pink vibro van. I helped Sprend drive nicely while Tor continued to patch up Damaria. (We were in NO shape for this mission. What were we thinking??)

By the time we reached the warehouse, my body was in passable condition, but my mind was dead. I swear one more shock to the system would put me over.

The warehouse was guarded by two men. We approached on foot while Sprend got set up. One shot rang out and then they were dead. This was getting to be too easy. (The killing, that is.) We got to the door, and Tor was eager to try and hack in. I searched the bodies for a pass card or anything. Nothing but a few credits, but no worries. Tor got us in. (I put my trooper armour back on. Did I mention that I put my armour back on?)

The warehouse was as vast as it was dark. There were glowing canister of greenness everywhere, but no signs of life. Damaria was using the Force to locate life, while Tor and I covered her flanks. Sprend caught up, but stayed a few steps behind, ready to put down cover fire.

With my night vision I could see better than everyone else, but it didn’t help at all. There was no movement anywhere in here. Until the probe droid found Sprend. (Later on I found out that the Force doesn’t recognize machines. Great.) Sprend got a clear shot on it, but not enough to take it down. I looked at him and saw how weak and winded he was. He SHOULD NOT be up and about, waging war. He should be in a medbay somewhere, healing. But I knew that if I ran to him, I would be in no better shape. Rather, I decided to try to distract the droid. I took aim at a nearby canister of green vile and fired. It erupted, spewing its contents everywhere, green vapour obscuring the area.

I don’t know if it helped or not, but 20 seconds later the droid was down and Sprend was still alive. And the plumbing from the canister I erupted continued to pump out green vile.

By this time Tor and Damaria had located Swift. With a quick butt from her pistol, the containment unit ruptured and Swift washed out.

…

And I was wrong. My mind could handle one more shock.

It was difficult to see him in that state. Nearly dead. Wounded limbs at unnatural angles. It wasn't until that moment that I realized how much Swift had come to mean to me. You don't know how previous something is until you're about to lose it.

Tor and Damaria hoisted him up between the two of them, and carried him back the way we had come. Sprend was beating a hasty retreat as well. Then we heard it. We had no idea what it was, but it was large and mechanical and it sounded angry. (Can machines be angry??)

As we made our way through the darkness, Sprend fired towards the noise and another explosion shook the ground. Satisfied he had done what he could he turned and hobbled towards the light outside. Damaria and Tor were moving as fast as they could, but they were being out-paced. There was a significant risk of falling within the monster’s range before they could reach the door.

I steeled myself. Perhaps this was my moment. Everyone had given so much on this mission. (Except for Tor. He didn’t even get his clothes dirty. Somehow.) If I needed to lay down my life to prevent Swift from dying, then maybe that’s what I would need to do.

My thoughts tried to reach back home, to the Brothers and Sisters, to hold to them, to cling on to them like they were life itself, but I refused. I kept my gaze glued to Swift. If for a moment I doubted his safety I would turn and throw myself at whatever was behind us.

One hurried step and then another and then another and then another, and then we were there. We were at the door, and even Dash was there. He had the van warmed up and ready to go. (I wondered if I was hallucinating at this point.) Things were getting hazy, but I felt so relieved.

And this part I’m not sure about, but as I reached the door, I thought I heard someone call my name. Was it the fatigue, or the strain, or even the after affects of the ichor, I don’t know. But I was sure a familiar voice had called out to me. I turned to look, and that was my biggest mistake. My night vision clicked in and then I don’t remember anything else. Except the sensation of falling.

“Protect the Brothers and Sisters.” Is that what this is?



I came to on the van ride home. We were all there, and we were alive. Barely. We didn't even go near the Core. Drove straight to the Medbay entrance hidden near the canals. Merlyn's face blanched (if that's possible) at the sight of Swift. He quickly performed triage on the various wounds that had been inflicted on our leader and tended to the most serious ones first. Once he was stabilized it was into one of the bacta tanks.

Only once Swift was out of the woods did Merlyn seem to even notice anyone else's injuries. No, that's not right either. Once Swift was healing he notice Sprend's injuries. After an embarrassing display of bromance, did the Nemoidian seem to notice any other injuries.

I hung around for a while, helping where I could and get a bit of rest myself. But while we recovered, my mind kept drifting back to the slaves. The ones we left in the mine. The convoy slaves we saved from the raiders. What kind of rest were they getting? Would they ever know rest?

I remembered what it was like when I first arrived in Bin Prime. How alone I felt. How I had to seep into the shadows to find my place. Who knows what would have happened to me if Maeka hadn't taken me in and given me a place.

I guess that's when the inkling of the idea began. That maybe I could help resettle any of these slaves who were feeling displaced in Bin Prime, like I had just over a month ago. (It feels like it's been much, much longer than that.)

The next day I slipped out of the Medbay and got in touch with Vao. He said all the freed slaves they had rescued from the convoy had been escorted to a “Displacement Camp” sponsored by Baron Telmarr. He said they would have been swallowed up by Imperial Bureaucracy, but the allegations of abuse stalled that process just enough for Telmarr to step in and take charge of them. I told him about my idea, and his eyes first went large, then thoughtful. He mulled my words over carefully, then gave me the address where they were being detained. “That idea sounds thoroughly un-Imperial. If any of them want to take you up on your offer, then you have clearance to discharge them.” I thanked him and left.

The taxi dropped me off near a chain link fence. It sped away, and I simply stood there, my feet plastered to the ground. My heart was spinning round and round as my brain absorbed information and attempted to figure out what it thought.

This was all too… familiar. It wasn't a concrete wall. It wasn't 15 feet high in some places. There was no vibrowire on top. But I knew what was inside. There were living creatures who had hopes and dreams. There were beings who wanted something more from life. I put my paw up to the chainlink and visions of myself and my family swam before my eyes. Locked up and separate from the greater world. This was all the confirmation I needed. I was doing the right thing.

I went into the admittance centre and showed my credentials. Vao had commed ahead and I had no problems getting inside. I spent the next two and a half hours speaking to the displaced people inside the camp. I spoke with them privately and in small groups. Some of them recognized me and were happy to know I was alive. Others recognized me and were mistrustful as a result. I circulated around and around, explaining my offer to any who would listen and seemed interested.

By Lights Out, I convinced 7 people to sign up under my care. They were a diverse group. Ranging in age and species. The youngest was a Bothan hardly any older than me when I first enrolled in Battle School. If nothing else, I wanted to give him the life I was never given.

It was late, but I didn't want to waste any time. The eight of us started back to the wharves. We used all the backway and secret paths I could think of to get there. It was probably near 2am when we finally reached Merlyn's warehouse. I showed my little class how easy it was to enter through an unsecured back window. (I told him about that weeks ago. When is he going to get that fixed??) Then when we were inside, we settled for the night on the floor. (I also commed Merlyn to stop by in the morning. He started a barrage of questions I didn't feel like answering. I just told him to come by before his morning rounds.

Merlyn was non-plussed to see eight uninvited guests crashing on the floor of his warehouse, but when I explained what we were doing, he perked up visibly. I told him that I needed his help situating our new friends around Bin Prime. Places where they can be relatively safe, and well positioned to pick-up any bits of interesting news that might pop up. Bits of information that we could pay them for, which we would then sell to others.

Merlyn's buy-in was critical. He had been operating in the city for years already and had way more connections than I could dream of making. I needed his input to ground my fledgling intelligence network in the most lucrative places. And I think I had used the right tactic to get just that. If I had appealed to his altruist side, he would have shrugged me off. But by making it a business transaction…

10 minutes later a pot of caff was brewing and we were huddled around a map of Bin Prime, Merlyn pointing out different areas that would garner different results and different risks. Different favours that could be called upon. He laid out all the details and every person was able to decide for themselves what their comfort level was.

When everything was decided, Merlyn returned to his patients, and I started taking my informants out to their new homes, two by two. It was the same each time. We took underground, shadowy routes, reached a safe place they could call home. (An abandoned hotel, and old metro station, and a halfway house.) I would make the connection Merlyn suggested and call on a favour or trade some intel. Then they were on their own, with instructions to check in with their counterparts around town daily.

Which left Ras, the young bothan. He didn't have anyone to pair with, which was ok. He was young and I wanted to keep an eye out for him myself. I brought him back to the Den and started showing him the inner workings of the place that I considered home. With all these missions flying around, I thought it was important to have a firm anchor, and I knew that even if I had to disappear that Maeka and Rordrrl would keep a lookout for him.

Maybe it's not much, but it's something. Maybe I'll never see my Brothers and Sisters again. But hopefully I'll make a difference in these lives.

Unlocked new career specialization: Colonist, Entrepreneur
Acquired Sound Investments (2 ranks) and Rapid Recovery


2/10
Swift recovered today and told us his story of peril. How he was supposed to meet Via at a restaurant to talk about the banquet. How he was drugged when he arrived at the location and whisked away.

Via's involvement was news to me, and concerned welled up inside of me. As soon as he was done telling his story I made tracks to Via's apartment to try and check on her. The place was impenetrable, however. An older, tipsy fellow approached and I thought I might be able to buy access to the lobby of the building, but it was a no go. He did mention that Via hadn't been around for days, possibly because of “him”. (One sin for playing the pronoun game.) I tried to press more, but then he started acting very weird, and made an unsettling reference to back home. I decided to make tracks.

Need more eyes on this situation.

2/11

Went around to the Watchers (that's what I'm calling them now) to circulate a picture of Via and a description on the guy from yesterday. If any of them catch a whiff of them, they need to report to me right away. (And otherwise stay unengaged.)

Next stop was my friendly neighbourhood firepaste salesman. I don't like locks that won't yield to me, and I thought maybe he might have a tool to help me with that. He did not, but he knew a guy who knew a guy. Said he could talk to a “security expert” named Larkins who specialized in those kinds of things. The price he quoted was out of the question. I'll have to see Larkins myself.

2/12

Stopped by the Shuftsbury Facility today to ask around about Via. Talked to Greggo about my combat training and dropped Via's name. He said she had been working with 63 and something about a Baron. (Geez, I hope Swift isn't on ISB radar. I better talk to him about that.)



Just lured the Baron away from his… work with Damaria to have an interesting conversation about Via's disappearance. Not sure how to summarize it all:

• He doesn't think she would betray us, and certainly not to the Human League
• She would sooner kill someone rather than be coerced by them
• The only family member she cares about is her father, who's status as a Bounty Hunter is unknown
• Swift's anti-imperial stance is gaining him more and more enemies in powerful places
• Via was acting weird at the banquet. She and the other alien both work for a guy named Larness, and he might want to see Swift in the Human League's crosshairs
• Me investigating Larness's on my own = suicide. or worse.
• Ysanne, the Falleen who was with Via at the banquet is my best course for investigation

Swift and I had also had a good conversation about his relational entanglements. I gave him the best advice I could. I think it helped for him to hear from a third, non-partial voice.

2/13

Stopped by Larkin's today. He's a nice Bothan. Compliment him on his fine desk, and he'll give you a discount on anything. I traded my intel on Sabik, plus the tracking frequency on the mining equipment for a discount on a lock pick device. Should come in handy.
He also gave me a demo stiletto he's trying out. What a swell guy.
On the way out, I had a feeling of looming despair, but I shook it off. What could possibly go wrong??

I told the Watchers that I need them to take shifts at the Imperial Centre to watch for Ysanne. I don't want to go in (yet) so I need to know when she comes and goes instead.

2/14

Quite day at the Imperial Centre. Watchers had little to report.

2/15

Ysanne was sighted today. She was leaving around 20:00. They couldn't find out where she got off, but at least now we have an idea of where she came from.

2/16

Ysanne was spotted twice more today; entering and exiting. We've set a plan for tomorrow. We'll all stake out the tram line between the government apartments and the Complex. This should tell us where I can find her when I'm ready.

2/17

Was that a success? I don't know.

We saw Ysanne get on the tram outside of a run down apartment. That much was a success. With that intel pocketed away, I stopped by Merlyn's to see if he knew much about Falleen's that might help me out. He said the usual stuff about pheremones, but kept returning to the subject of Duros. Geez, that guy struggles to focus.

I returned to the tram stop about an hour before she arrived. When she got off, she began to walk directly towards me. I started walking past her, then stopped myself and complimented her on her perfume. That it was a comforting smell that reminded me of home. Then I slipped her a piece of paper that I said was my number and told her I'd love to buy her a drink some time. The setting wasn't exactly ideal. Lots of traffic and she looked harried. She smiled at me (fake) and continued on.

The paper of course was a warning that “L” was trying to harm her and that she should contact me on a secure frequency so I could help her.

I headed into a near by caff bar, ordered some cheap stuff, and waited.

My first attempt at setting up a date with someone was a very unpleasant experience. I sat and waited, but she didn't call. Finally at 10pm the bar was shutting down due to curfew. (Frak, I forgot about curfew.)

I headed back to the Den. Hopefully I'll hear from her yet.