<font color=yellow><font size=5>**STAR WARS**
INSIDIOUS LIES</font></font>

Coruscant, nearly 25,000 generations after the founding of the Galactic Republic, an institution of strength and galactic unity. The place teems with 4 trillion people of nearly every conceivable shape and size, and no limit of want or desire. The skyscrapers reach toward the skies, all kilometers tall and some kilometers wide, blotting out the sun on the lower levels. No on knows where the surface is, or was, or whatever. It has been buried since the seat of the Republic was chosen to be here, and soon forgotten.

It is a time of galactic peace, or so it would seem. However, there is never a time in a government of over a million systems when there isn't some strife. The Hutt-controlled spaces are tettering on the verge of war with the Bothans over an incident of galactic espionage, much to the dismay of the rest of the galaxy. The issue has even filtered its way to the Senate, and there are talks of it continuing on to the courts.

That is not why you have been summoned, however.

Coruscant itself, it seems, has its own share of problems. Someone, it seems, wishes to flaunt how much damage they can do on a world so densely populated, and they have proven terribly successful. The bombings started small, which was almost normal (Coruscant is a world of a million births and a million deaths a day). They were almost completely lost in the backwash of manufacturing accidents, space-craft crashes, and "common" crime.

Lost, that is, until the incident at Farraldy Tower.

Somehow, someone brought the building down, and killed over 900,000 people.

That was five months ago. Since then, the world has fallen under increasingly martial law, with many garrisons of troops being returned from duty elsewhere in the galaxy to act as peacekeepers. However, the same mysterious agency has continued its murderous work, hitting smaller targets, and continuing to ellude the efforts to eradicate them.

The world has grown desperate, and the matter has come to the attention of the Senate.

You have been summoned to the Galactic Senate, given a personal audience with the Supreme Chancellor---no clue was given to you what Chancellor Uri'tal, a sage Calibop, wanted, but the hints are undeniable. You have been summoned, probably much as many others have been, to put your specific talents to use in this time of need.

<font color=yellow>OOC: You have all been sent the invitation to come to the Galactic Senate, and your way there has been paid and provided, even for those who are not Coruscant-native. You arrive and see each other for the first time in the anti-chamber to the Chancellor's private conferance room, and have been told to wait. The room is quite spacious and airy, a luxury on this planet, and features a vast array of transparisteel windows on two sides of the room. There are many seats aimed for accomodating bipedal races, but a few other, more exotic-looking "chairs" for the non-bipedal guests the Supreme Chancellor has invited. Looking around the room, you are sure that the others in the room are here for the same purpose as you, and you are anxious to find out what that is.</font>

NOTE: DO NOT POST YOUR CHARACTERS (or update them) IN THIS THREAD. USE THE OTHER THREAD FOR THAT!

<font color=green>Joneth Brek surveys the room he is in, and people within for a moment, "wide-eyed and bushy-tailed." He then pulls out his datapad, and begins to work on his latest project, a minor gaming program.

OOC: I assume, especially with martial law in effect, that weapons are not allowed, and even moreso in the ante-chamber of the Chancellor. My hold-out blaster is at my apartment. ;)
Oh, and who is the Supreme Chancellor?
Oh, and one more thing: Good to see you, Poo! [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>

Edit: Decided to add some color. Is this acceptable, for everyone? If so, I will continue to use this.

[ 03-20-2005, 10:01 PM: Message edited by: Dron_Cah ]

<font color=yellow>OOC:The Supreme Chancellor is Lon Uri'tal, a female Calibop known for her skills in negotiation after several decades of service to the Senate. Also, I personally kind of like the green font, Drew...good to hear from you too, buddy!</font>

[ 03-20-2005, 10:17 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

Terassk shifts nervously... He felt out in the nude without his heavy blaster rifle, he looks around the room and at the gaudy chairs. He keeps standing. Then, rather curious, looks over Joneth's shoulder, reading lines of script, which baffle him.

OOC: Terassk is well mannered for a Trandoshan, and he isn't involved in the usual slave trade that most of his people participate in.

Bakilas leans back into his seat and looks around the room noting the curious looks on most of the other faces, seems he is not the only one who does not know why they are here. It must be important though, to call these people from all over the galaxy... and it certainly be important enough for him to be missing out on potential jobs.

<font color=yellow>
The guards, apparently hearing a command through their ear-piece comm units, snap to attention suddenly as the doors on the wall opposite your seat ease open. Standing there, Chancellor Uri'tal looks about, her thin avian frame unwavering as she sureys the room. She speaks through the gently curving beak that adorns her face, her words soft and almost singsong.</font>
<font color=white>
"Welcome, guests. I am pleased to see that you are all here. Please accompany me into the anteroom so that I may show you what it is that our Republic requires of you</font>
<font color=yellow>
You are led into the adjacent room, which is a simple briefing room. There is a large round table with a holoprojector resting at its center. Otherwise, the room is stark, devoid of details, save that it is also circular with pure white walls.

There you are asked to sit; the Chancellor begins to speak.</font>
<font color=white>
"Many of you are asking yourselves why you have been summoned or what it is that the Republic would have you do. To this I must respond with 'Absolutely nothing.' The Republic," she explains as the lights dim, "would not ask its citizens to investigate the recent events on Coruscant, prefering to leave the investigation of splinter-cell terrorist operations to the bloated, easily visible military might it has summoned to this planet."
<font color=yellow>
The holo-projector whirs as it comes online, projecting on all the walls the image of a gargantuan building. The Chancellor continues on, giving the details of what you see, but you already know and recognize Ferraldy Tower. This very holo-feed has played across the holonet repeatedly for the past five months, and you have all seen it before. The mass exodus of terrified people as the building begins its fall, slowly, almost gracefully, at first and then faster and faster.</font>
<font color=white>
"The Senate, though, is wrong. Our military forces cannot stop this band of rebels for they are neither a unified band, nor rebels. They are anarchists who wish to influence galactic politics through fear and threat. To fight this menace, we need groups of people, much like yourself, to act autonomously and secretly to destroy this group. I tell you now, by coming here, you have agreed to serve the Republic. However, you will not serve them directly. The only person who you will serve will be me. You all are now part of a 3-Zeta level top secret anti-terror unit with the appropriate clearance and full independence of all authority below me."</font>

[ 03-21-2005, 08:59 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

Bakilas steps forwards and addresses the Chancellor, "Do you know any of the individuals who may have been involved in the bombing? Also what sort of reward should we be expecting from this job?"

<font color=white>" 'Reward?' You will be doing your Republic a favor and as such will be compensated with the proper pay, but as I said, it is too late to back out now. You made your choice in coming here to join this projoect, Bakilas---do not worry of matters of pay right now.
"As to who it is that is responsible for this attack...the evidence is still hazy, I am told. The attack---and this is a detail we are keeping out of the ears of the public---was executed with miltary-level precision. So far, in reviewing the holo-records of the building, we have found nothing. Searching the rubble would be useless, as I hope you understand---there are over a million tons of ferrocrete in that pile of rubble. Nothing from the lowest 500 levels could possibly be recovered."</font>

[ 03-22-2005, 12:46 AM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

Terassk bows his head slightly, "Chanselor Ma'am, since the attack was done with such 'military precision' that prehaps there is a traitor among the soldiers of the republic? Or another faction, a seperatist movement, so to say, if so, I believe that a good course of action would be the asking of suspicious military personnel... You keep logs on meetings, do you not? If so, you should listen to every spoken word... Every mutter, for that may find a perpetrator,of course, it's not my place to question the loyalty of Republic soldiers,"

<font color=green>Joneth is busily typing away at his datapad, throughout the entire presentation. Just as the last words leave terassk's mouth, he jumps up in exultation:

"YEESS!!! Finally, it's finished!!"

He looks around sheepishly as he recalls where he is. He sits down abruptly, head downcast, hands fidgeting in his lap.</font>

OOC: I always have to add something, and often its comedy. You will all come to regard things like this as commonplace very soon, lol. ;) :D

[ 03-22-2005, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: Dron_Cah ]

Terassk looks at the human slack jawed... Then walks towards him and whispers to him "I really hope that is a hacking program you made, because I'd HATE to know that you haven't been listening the entire time," he snickers and continues "But, you make me laugh, human, I believe we will be good, good friends, Hmmm-m-m?"

OOC: If you read the Dune novels Terassk uses the same humming as Hasmir Fenring does, Hmmmm-m-m? [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color=yellow>The entire group looks awkwardly at Joneth's display---several of them scoff, or whatever their species; equivalent may be, others simply look embarrassed. The Chancellor herself looks to Joneth.</font>
<font color=white>
"Terrask, I suggest you follow that idea---you have the authority. You all do. It's your task to find out those responsible, by your own initiative, with whatever resources you require at your disposal, courtesy of the Republic."</font>
<font color=yellow>
With that, your group is ushered out and escorted back to your hotels separately. You are given an address, some bottom-level manufacturing center called 'Carracks Incorporated' and a meeting time of noon. The guards, as they leave your door, encourage each of you to get a good night's sleep---it may be the last one you have for a while.</font>

[ 03-23-2005, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

<font color=green> At the hotel, Joneth goes to his own room, and closes the door. He immediately plugs into the a wall jack with his datapad, and checks for bugging. (Yes, I know he prolly shouldn't be able to do that, but he is REALLY good, lol). After he is assured (assure me, Poo, lol) that there are no devices for him to be worried about, he'll work on searching for all the information he can on the recent terrorists attacks. He'll also be going through the profiles of many of the major politicians and higher ups in the military, looking for anything suspicious. And, yeah, he's prolly going to completely ignore that rest thing, trying to find a lead to redeem himself.</font>

Edit: getting rid of sig. ;)

[ 03-23-2005, 10:31 AM: Message edited by: Dron_Cah ]

OOC: What Dron just did is exactly how I would like to handle most non-automatic achievements. Note that an automatic achievement is a judgement call, but I trust you all not to claim that you're doing anything too outlandish.
<font color=yellow>
Joneth, slightly to his disappointment, finds that there are no monitoring devices in his room, though it appears that there are some in the next room over, a fact he gleans from the very small, narrow-beam transmission emanating from that place.

Halfway around the world, Bakilas is shown to his room, a place that smells, to his highly sensitive olfactory, of recent cleaning. He is left by the guards to his own devices, though he notes that they eye him suspiciously as they walk away, possibly afraid at the short, wiry Noghri man. The species certainly isn't common on Coruscant, or many places besides Honoghr, and it is likely that the guards, mostly human, have simply never seen one before.

Also in another region of Coruscant is Terrask's hotel, though he is given much the same treatment as Joneth---that is, nearly completely ignored by the guards as they walk off.</font>

Bakilas ignores the guards looks and searches the room for anything unusual, he then decides to get a good night sleep. Who knows what the next day could bring.

<font color=yellow>Nothing unusual besides an unlocked minifridge with a note "Courtesy of the Hotel."</font>

[ 03-23-2005, 07:19 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

Anti-terrorist squad? Covert operation? Thirty years of service to the Republic and they never even sent Eceil veterans pay. They didn’t pay for his surgeries, they never gave him a medal, and they wouldn’t even mail his parents a condolence. Tens years later they finally get in touch with him and it’s to send him on one last mission. If it wasn’t for the money they were offering him Eceil would of ditch all of this way back at the briefing.
Eceil didn’t head to the hotel after the briefing. Rather he spent evening wandering the lower streets going from bar to bar. The ale flowed over his senses and drowned out that little whisper of the force in the back of his mind. He lost himself in the swarm of people and for a while Eceil even forgot who he was. He found his hotel again, where he immediately past out on the floor of his room alone and surprisingly at some form of peace with himself.

OCC: Hey guys, I'm glad to be finally joining ya'll. I got my bio and such on that other page. Here's to a good time.

<font color=yellow>Unfortunately, he was also followed by members of the Chancellor's Guard until he actually made it back to his hotel. He tried repeatedly to give them the slip, but it never quite worked, and people tended to stay clear of him because of the armed prescence. They told him over and over again that it was for the best, in case he mistakenly said something that was classified, but that generally resulted in a sharp word being hurled their direction.</font>
--------------------
<font color=yellow>
After a relatively peaceful night of sleep in some cases, nervous fidgitting in others, and at least one case of a drunken stupor, all of the characters in their separate hotels are awakened by the ringing of their room-comm's. They answer it (some do not the first time, but the comm simply keeps ringing until they do---and hotels have them built into the walls, so they cannot be unplugged or easily destroyed) and all recieve the same wake up message, courtesy of the Republic.

Upon opening your doors, you discover the Guards are already there, looking even more dour today than yesterday. You are escorted to an air-taxi, and ferried ever lower into the bowels of the megalopolis, descending so far that the bright morning sun disappears, plunging you into an almost tangible darkness for a few moments as you pass the twilight zone. Then, you enter the realm of artificial lighting, with signs and advertisments lighting the way for the denizens as they shuffle along narrow walkways between buildings.

Still you descend, lower and lower, lower than you had thought possible on this city-world, until your taxi approaches a gargantuan blast door that opens ponderously for your vehicle. You pass within, only to see that this place bears a remarkable resemblence to a military hangar-bay. The taxi stops, and you are let out, only to see a group already assembled of Guards and the other members of the taskforce you are now a part of.</font>

[ 03-24-2005, 03:11 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

<font color=green>Joneth, bleary-eyed from his night of very little sleep, looks around.
"Why are we here, now? Shouldn't we be investigating and... stuff?" He looks to his teamates and the guards for an answer.</font>

[ 03-24-2005, 04:37 PM: Message edited by: Dron_Cah ]

A guard turns to you and says:
<font color=white>"Don't you know anything? This is your base of operations. You'll be living and planning most of your actions here while in the service of the Chancellor."</font>

[ 03-24-2005, 05:09 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

<font color= green>Oh, right, of course! I knew that, I was just testing you all! Yeah, that's it...(akward silence)... So, uh, do we use some kinda special room for planning, or something, or do we just start talking about stuff? Stuff, of course, is the technical term."</font>

[ 03-24-2005, 05:12 PM: Message edited by: Dron_Cah ]

<font color=white>"There are four conference rooms, one arms-storage room---guarded at all times by the way---a mess hall, this hanger which will soon have airspeeders delivered to it, and a modest sized living compartment for each of you.
Ever since the Republic took over Carracks Incorporated, they've been fixing up this place...you wouldn't believe how much of a dump it was before!"</font>

[ 03-24-2005, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

Bakilas strides forward and addresses the group, "Well I don't think we are being paid to stand around and scratch ourselves, any suggestions on how we should begin the investigation?"

Eceil shifts from foot to foot, his dull eyes taking note of all the Chancellors armed guards. A sinking suspicion runs through his mind that the chancellor might have a shadier purpose for the soldiers.
Coughing, he turns to the trooper that’s been humoring Joneth,
“He's right. Can we get on with our lives or are you going to escort us some place first?”

[ 03-29-2005, 12:20 AM: Message edited by: jolleyjester ]

<font color=yellow>The guards shrug, and offer you a tour of the place, politely informing you that it isn't their place to tell you what to do. They take orders from you, not the other way around. One suggests that you all discuss the way this group is to be run, and possible points of investigation.</font>

"Yeah, points of investigation. Anyone got any ideas?”

[ 03-25-2005, 02:25 PM: Message edited by: jolleyjester ]

OOC: Sorry guys, I was on a trip to Savannah,GA. Rather Boring... glad to be back

Terrask sits dourly, still sleepy, but aware of what the group is saying, as one says something of ideas he creaks his neck and states "We need to find some sort of initiative, if we could, we should check if any major buildings are bugged so that we can hear in on anyone, and, prehaps we could ask survivors of the collapse on what on Corusant happened." He looks more content than usual, with his blaster rifle firmly attached to his back.

A retired drunk and a group of misfits don’t make a very good anti-terrorism squad, why the Chancellor picked these people to spearhead the investigation was beyond Eceil.
Still, the money was good.
Eceil leans up against the wall, sighing deeply as his hands run through his ageing hair.
“Great. Were looking for a bomb laying psycho pin in a haystack and we don’t even have a good lead. If I can make a suggestion I say one of you heads to the wherever their keeping what’s left of the rubble for the building. Some times the carbon schoring on the sides of wreckage can give you a hint to what kind of bomb they used. Maybe we’ll find out where they placed the explosives, and how they got them in their in the first place. Getting enough fireworks inside the building like that couldn’t have been too easy. I’ll go see if I can find any survivors, maybe they’ll have something useful to say.”

"Perhaps a few people should check out some of the local cantinas and dives, more then a few times I have been able to find info I need by sitting back and listening. At most it could cost a few credits in drinks."

<font color= green>"Hmm, is anyone here experienced with diplomacy, and dealing with senators, or military personnel. That seems to be the best for us to start. And perhaps we should move this discussion into one of the rooms that are for that use."
Joneth, turns to one of the rooms that the guards indicated to him, and with a lazy wave, signals for the others to follow him.</font>

<font color=yellow>OOC: You all seem to have some ideas with merit...why not work on the ones you've already come up with? There is some shortage of manpower in this task force---at least compared to the military investigations---but a group as small as this can certainly be of use with the kind of tasks you're talking about.</white>

[ 03-26-2005, 02:38 PM: Message edited by: Ilander ]

“Well if theirs no objections I say we split up for the day and tackle what we can. I’ll start with the survivors.”

"I agree with Eceil, I will check around the local drinking holes and slums and see what I can pick up. But first I want to see whats in the arms-storage room, I dont feel comfortable leaving unarmed."

“Suite yourself. I’m out of here.”
With that Eceil leaves.
OCC: He’s headed for a police station, where he will get the list of the survivors and track them down.

[ 03-27-2005, 01:08 AM: Message edited by: jolleyjester ]

Terassk waits until the man leaves then mumbles "Well, not in the mood for conversation, are we?"
With that Terassk leaves...

...For the Armory.
OOC: TELL ME WHAT IS IN THERE! MY URGE TO SHOOT AND BLOW STUFF UP RISES!

<font color= green>Seeing that his idea of forming a short meeting is shot to hell, now, Joneth runs after Terrassk.
"Hey, wait up!"
When he catched up to the much larger Trandoshan, he whispers: (check your pm, in a few minutes).</font> ;)

[ 03-28-2005, 10:40 AM: Message edited by: Dron_Cah ]

Bakilas turns and follows Terrassk and Joneth, curious as to what is available in the armory.

OCC: This is my first Rp so I need a quick clarification. What now? Do I myself lead Eceil to the witnesses or does Ilander do that?

OOC: You would need to go to the the CDF to try and find out who these people are, and then your interactions with them would be between you and Ilander. I wouldnt be so sure that they would give you such a list, though.

[ 03-28-2005, 10:40 AM: Message edited by: Dron_Cah ]