Syrian
Captain Syrian Myth (a.k.a. Seer)
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Syrian grew up a spoiled daughter of well to do merchants. Her life was spent in luxury traveling from world to world as her parents did business. She interacted with the world and even her parents very little.
When she was 15 her parents died during a Pirate attack. Syrian herself was abducted by the same Pirates and forced into the crew. After years of working for the people who ruined her life she got her revenge by killing the captain and stealing his body to turn it in for a bounty. She used the money to rebuild her life as a Bounty Hunter known for assassination and very little scruples.
Gender Identity
Syrian is a woman and views herself as such
Sexuality
Syrian sees beauty in a wide variety of forms. Male, female and alien .
Education
Syrian had private tutors that gave her a well rounded education including politics, finance, business and diplomacy, until she was 15. After that her education was about survival, arms and theft.
Mental Trauma
She watched her parents dye from the window of the escape pod they put her in while the ship was coming apart.
During what should have been a routine salvage operation she gazed into a void of evil and nothingness as tentacles of shadow emerged.
While searching a Sith facility she viewed a room full of bones with no explanation or reasoning.
Morality & Philosophy
Syrian is a survivor and believes that anything done in the pursuit of survival is reasonable and acceptable. She has no issue with murder which is the basis of her primary employment. Sex for pleasure or for money are equally acceptable to her.
Taboos
Syrian does not believe in the Force. The Force and all practitioners of it are frauds and charlatans. She has never witnessed anything that could not be conveniently explained away by natural causes or slight of hand.
Species
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Eyes
Violet
Hair
Short, Straight, Glossy Black
Height
5' 5"
Weight
130
Aligned Organization
Sacrifice or Loss
Primeday, the 26th of Screeden
We finally got a win. A real and proper win. A hard fought, and barely accomplished win, but still a win. The Vault was a trap, of sorts. The Void are more pervasive than I could have ever guessed. I still don't understand how they could have lured me there with information they had no way to being certain I would even find, but they did. I just happened to catch the data thread without Weazel noticing, but it was all they needed. I was hooked. I brought my crew and my ship right into their clutches.
This is setting aside entirely that we now also have bounty hunters after us. We were ambushed as soon as we entered the system. We were wholly overwhelmed. In order to survive my only option was to give myself up. I was prepared to jump out into space, with no guarantees, when we were saved by an unexpected interceptor. It turned out to be the Void. They destroyed our assailants and then invited us to the complex. It was nothing like what I imagined. Rather than a modern research facility it was a bizarre and ancient complex, not unlike the nightmare places Soren keeps pointing us toward.
The Vault, it turns out, is some sort of game. It requires two teams to enter. The teams are broadcast to some unknown holonet for a cluster of unknown patrons. I have so many questions that have no answers, that I may not be able to answer ever, but I mean to try. The most important being, who are these people watching? No less important, though, is how often does this occur, and where is the armory supplied from? At the moment it doesn't matter. We won. The Void team was not just better prepared, they were prepared at all. They had every advantage. They knew it was timed and a race, giving them a head start. We flagged and were thoroughly thrashed in just the first stage. It was brutal but we made it through, just barely, whole. The second stage was more or less straightforward and we made up much of the time we'd lost. The only stage that actually mattered was the third, however. A literal deathtrap designed to test us and strip us bare. It stole Silhara's eyes and forced me to give us my own arm. What I did not expect, and what test me the most, was the obligation to sacrifice one of my crew. I chose Soren. It was the most practical choice. Kid was not an option, he is vital to the function of the ship, and almost any mission we might ever take. Soren is just a pretty face and nice body. I will admit that he occasionally has useful information, but nothing vital to our survival. Even with no eyes Silhara is still one of the most dangerous things in the room.
Silhara had other ideas. Whatever processes she uses in place of reason told her to sacrifice herself. It was noble, and while it would be a detriment to the crew it would be hypocritical of me to deny it of her after already having attempted it myself on two separate occasions. Honestly, for all I know there is nothing it could do to her that would actually kill her. I completed the process while Kid and Soren waxed poetic about how this was wrong. I was of mixed feelings. I was losing our muscle and our pilot, but I was also getting rid of an extremely annoying thorn. Our relationship has been volatile at best, swaying from bad extreme to different bad extreme with only occasional dips into a quazi-normal situation. It was the right choice. While we were decisive, turning our backs on our crew without complaint, the Void went on a murderous rampage. It seems they failed to prepare quite as well as they thought. As the last Void stood victorious, over the corpses of his team, the room took its final sacrifice, vaporizing everyone in the room and granting us entry to the final prize.
The final prize was Silhara granted the bounty, my bounty. Thankfully she is not bright, and also was blind and unable to see what she was surrounded by. Weapons and armor galore. Most importantly, my armor. She would never have given it up if she could see it. Everything was locked to her. But she released the locks and I claimed what was mine. This is the first step in finally ridding myself of the Burning Stars. The next step came shortly after when we tried to break into the Void ship, not that they would need it. We failed to gain access, but Kid managed to pull communications from the logs pointing to a meeting with my pirate nemesis on a remote planet in a month's time. Plenty of time to prepare.
Things are coming to a head
Taungsday, the 13th of Screeden
The misinformation campaign went well, I think. I changed two major conversations with vastly different groups of people. The politicals are rallying behind the idea that the Jesari are here to ruin their culture and that the Gungans should be left alone, if not cherished. Meanwhile the vapid masses have redirected their energy from disliking the aesthetics of Gungan culture, to decrying the values of Core fashion. That conversation was a bit jarring, I did not realize quite how stupid the common people really were. I feel I should be making more use of that fact in my life.
I received some news from a contact in the Core that Damask Holdings is coming to Naboo. Their name is all over The datapad. And yes, I mean The. Coming to Naboo, now, means they have interests in this temple. Nothing good can come of that, and it will invariably make our job of disrupting things more difficult. It is beginning to feel more and more likely that this job will have to end in assassination. Which death would be more advantageous, though? Would killing someone opposed to the temple scare others away from opposition, or would killing someone in favor galvanize the rest around the idea? Or simpler, should I just kill a Jesari?
After assaulting the wave I took it upon myself to investigate the attack on our ship. It was someone within the Ben Myrin's staff that organized the hit. While there I also looked into a license to carry on Naboo. Myrin's staff were quite helpful, the registrar not so much. It seems they have very misguided concepts of functionality on this planet, and expected someone to not bring the gun they wish to register to registration. In any event I finished the process and should be allowed to carry where I please from now on. Once done Soren and I met with Ben Myrin at an interesting and extravagant restaurant. The meeting did not go as well as hoped. He gave the impression that all the public outcry in the world would not influence their decision at all. I should have expected this level of corruption, but somehow it still took me by surprise. It means, though, that little to nothing we've done so far is likely to have any impact on anything. During the conversation I tried to gain some leverage by mentioning Damask. This backfired, and resulted in Soren and I spending an evening in a nice hotel under interrogation.
Rather than spend the rest of our stay here in a pretty cell I offered up a sacrificial lamb in the form of a senator's husband who doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut. They bought it and let us go. This is going to make some things more difficult, I suspect, as they watch us for involvement. Perhaps a Damask assassination would prove useful, but again, in what direction? Increasingly I believe this has all been a big waste of time.
Still Alive
Centaxday, the 12th of Screeden
I will never be leaving the ship without a gun. Period. If I need to get registration on every system so that they leave me alone about it I will. There is no telling what might have happened to me if I had opted not to bring my Dragoon to meet the Senator's Aid. We were too spread out, and I felt fishy about the situation. Still, that was a close call. Soren was out getting Silhara released. It cost her most of her winnings to do it, and I wish I could hope she would learn a lesson, but that is highly unlikely. While he was out the driver for the aid arrived and rather than turn him down I consented to take Soren's place. I wonder what would have happened if I had told them to come back later. Probably nothing different.
It was immediately apparent that something was wrong. We were heading in entirely the wrong direction. Without hesitation I called him on it. He postured, and threatened the ship and my crew. When he refused to comply I blew a hole in his head. Possibly not the best choice, considering, but I was able to bring the speeder to a stop without injuring myself. Not exactly graceful, or wholly safe, and the security system impaired me long enough to allow a tail to get a bead on me. I never thought I would want to be inconspicuous, and ironically I was wearing my least inconspicuous outfit available, but at that moment I needed to disappear. After launching myself into the shop I mostly crashed into, I was able to pass through into a rare ally and evade the sniper.
By the time I managed to make my way back to the ship everything that was going to go down had. The local authorities were swarming the ship with several body bags and my new swoop in shambles out front, and Kid was missing. I came in to threats and guns. I told them I was a Bounty Hunter in pursuit of a mark to make them leave me alone but it backfired. It seems that ploy was the cause of the body bags. Some Trandoshan thug who had invaded our ship made the same claim, then murdered the guards when their backs were turned. I was quite proud of Kid, after watching the vid of the event. It seems he crashed my swoop in an attempt to escape, I would have done the exact same thing. Unfortunately it didn't work. Once we got the guards out of our hangar we set off. With a combination of my remotes, the system out of the crashed luxury speeder, and whatever systems Soren uses to get his intelligence, we were able to identify the location where Kid was being held. We dropped Soren off at the university, he was useless in a fight anyway, and headed out. My remotes were able to get an excellent vantage of the area and picked out a sniper group.
While Silhara drove, I created the plan. The intention was to come in behind everyone. Catch the snipers by surprise and then take their perch for myself. While I took a vantage, Silhara would take a herd of local grazers around the lake and stampede them into the house. Hopefully by then I would have located Kid and could start eliminating targets. The plan worked remarkably well. Silhara moved from tree to tree, slaughtering snipers like a ghost without my having to fire a single shot. It was, from a purely professional point of view, artistic in nature. I set myself up and let Silhara do what she was going to, hoping for the best. I was able to locate Kid along with several grunts and the Trandoshan "Bounty Hunter." I was staring that green lizard down until I knew every inch of his scaley maw when the rumbling began. Silhara had played her part perfectly, riding the bull like a maniac as the whole estate shook. I failed to anticipate that when a look my shot and it came in low tearing the jaw right off the alien freak. Before I could adjust for the vibration he was out the door, though he left his mouth behind. Sadly the missing bit will ultimately grow back. I think it would have been amusing to see how he dealt with that shortcoming in the future.
The next thing I knew was pain. I thought I had been thorough, but clearly not thorough enough. I missed the sniper in the arboretum. All he needed was the one shot, but I spotted him back. I would know that rifle anyway, even from a mile away. I didn't have time to think and just sprayed a wave of shots back at him. He was perched in the tree breaking out of the roof and I clipped off the entire thing, sending him crashing out of sight as I dropped out of the tree myself slowing my decent only slightly with the available rope. By the time I was secure in a new location Silhara was in full steam throwing down with the girl Soren had mentioned from the initial assault. I took some shots at the thugs before they could harass her too badly, but that bastard reappeared. I have no idea what he was thinking, but he opened up against half the island trying to hit me. He succeeded, there was really nothing I could do, but I got the last laugh before I passed out from the shock and pain, I saw the explosion as the faulty plasma shunt finally fractured under stress. I knew he would never get that fixed. I can only hope that it blew his head off in the process.
I am still a little foggy on the details. I remember the pain and the blackness, then I remember struggling with something and I think I was walking. For some reason the speeder was there, and I knew that was how I would leave, so I got in and left. Things get a bit confusing from here. I stuck myself with two stimpacks, which helped clear my head and my stomach, then I started hearing Silhara, but I was fairly certain she was not in the speeder. It took some time before I realized she was in the ship, also the ship was flying next to my vehicle, which made no sense. Eventually I found myself in the medbay, though not entirely certain how I got there. Kid was patching me up, somehow. Things get a bit fuzzy for a while, but when I got my faculties back under control we headed out to do the shopping I had meant to do before the Burning Star made another strike at me. I upgraded some of my equipment and filled the cargo hold with converted plasma for Eriadu.
While we were out I noticed some fliers and a lot of talk about Gungans. I was certain this must be what Soren has been up to while I was unconscious in a ditch. Very little seemed to be coming of it, or at least the outcome was undirected. Some people were complaining about Gungans and others were saying they should be preserved. I recalled the gross frog faced sleemo that is the reason I still avoid Tatooine and decided the best way to help is to smear the entire race. I pushed the ridiculous idea that all the Gungans are "Dark Side" Users. As idiotic as the concept of the Force is, I knew that these people believed. The whole point of this mission is because these people believe and thing the Jedi are somehow special and valuable. I recalled Soren using the term, a lot, and it certainly sounded ominous, so it seemed like the perfect thing. While I was busy with that Kid took it to the next level, recording some of my conversations and uploading them to the local media. By the end of the day the conspiracies were rampant. The next step was to blame the whole concept of evil Gungans on the Je'Sari. Everyone know the Jedi look down on everyone else. They think Naboo is just another Mid Rim Backwater that they can push around and manipulate to get what they want. They can't be trusted, they only have their own interests in mind and will take what they want without giving anything back.
It was a good line of thought. Then Silhara blew up the museum. Now I can add that they attacked the museum, trying to remove important evidence of the Gungan's innocence and importance with their dangerous Jedi artifacts. The very idea that the government might be interacting with these vigilanties and terrorists is an affront to all the citizens and free peoples of Naboo. I think that should work out quite nicely.
I'm a Racer
Taungsday, the 8th of Screeden
We managed to reach Naboo without incident and in very good time. I picked up a very expensive crate of Plasma Converter parts before we left, and when I unloaded it on Naboo it almost completely paid for our upgrades to the ship. This is something we need to be doing more often, and I mean to. Legitimate trade is a far better cover than, well whatever Silhara might say before anyone can stop her. I should have Kid look into subverting the comms so that when she hits the button she end up just talking to herself. He might even be able to throw something together so that it will respond to her endlessly. Who knows, maybe it will end up being therapeutic.
I picked up some intel about the meeting. There was a parade about the meeting, and then the lot of them were going to be moving to the southern hemisphere for the actual delegation. We have a small window to disrupt things before we have to move this to a less reasonable location for random wanderers. I need to stop listened to Soren, but I did and was unable let my new swoop loose and ignore the traffic. I spent an hour doing nothing worthwhile, as the rest of them wandered the city. I did get a good tip on an event occuring after the parade. It seems there was going to be a big race. I misunderstood, and thought it was going to be an underground race, with an old track that I could get a good feel for before the event. This is not what happened. The people on this planet are absurdly extravagant. I flew out there and what did I find? Literally nothing. They flew the track in after the parade and put it all together in that moment. Who does that? And why? The space out here is completely unused, why are they wasting warehouse space with a perfectly good track they could be using all the time. Or did they actually just build it for this event, and then what? Destroy it? Waste beyond anything I can recall seeing, and I used to throw away jewelry because I was wearing a different color that day. So effectively I wasted the whole day doing nothing.
I met the Naboo Senator. I honestly have trouble determining if he seems younger than I expected, or older. He is an unusual man, but seems good enough. I could probably work for him again if it came up. Apparently not as a race, though. I would say I did pretty well considering it was literally my first ever race and I still pulled off second place, but whatever. I have no interest in being a contracted racer, I have better things to do right now, like exterminate three groups of pirates and a multiworld conglomerate. I finally got to see Silhara show her stuff, though. It was impressive to say the least. It was nice, for a moment, to watch her do something she excels at other than make trouble and punch people for no reason, and then she was arrested for making trouble and tearing a man's arm off. To be fair, he was barely a man, and his arm will grow back, but still. We will be leaving her in prison overnight. I will sleep like a baby.
The day was a complete waste, but the night has been quite productive. We have several angles to approach. I will be pulling in some more stock to ship to Eriadu when leave. This all seems quite promising, so when the other shoe drops it will invariably greatly disappointing. In the meantime, I was in a race! A proper swoop race, with my own swoop and I came in second place. Of course I could have won, but there has been no time for me to properly prepare the bike. I have to discuss my options with Kid. Most importantly is the wiring. I read the spec sheet and even I can tell this thing is a mess. It can go fast, but I want it moving immediately and it would probably just break down if I did that. It was a thrill I rarely experience and I look forward to many more. This is something I will be seeking out actively from now on.
Up is Down
Zhellsday, the 4th of Screeden
We had it out. It was far less bloody than I had expected it to be. I went through the whole argument without shooting her once and she failed to come at me, nor attempt to pull me apart one piece at a time. She has no shame, not even a concept of what shame should be. She also has no concept of reality. She lives in a universe entirely of her own making. Her only truths exist at the moment she conceives them of empty space. I suspect that she does not believe she is lying when she says these things are a verifiably false. Everything she says, in her own mind, is reality. Which is why I am unable to discount what happened. I have to take her sincerity at face value because she believes the things she says. She cracked my meter on what is and is not possible. She apologized to me for her actions. I do not believe that she believes she did anything wrong, but I do think she is attempting to make up for the actions despite that. I have to respect that, and find a way to move forward with it. She is still completely unstable and dangerous, but maybe she is more of a person than I was beginning to suspect.
We had some issues reaching Nanth'ri, but our little hunk of junk was still superior to the one we were following and we arrived first. We ran dark and caught them as they jumped into the system. I regret not jumping them the moment they appeared, but I also know I would do it the same way every time. Attacking them like pirates was too risky. The safer option was to track them after they landed. How were we to know... How would I have ever known that some pissant nobody family that was nowhere near my radar would be spread across the galaxy doing what I was being raised to do because they destroyed my family and took everything that is rightfully mine? I have nothing to prove that they hired the Burning Stars, or told them where they might get a big score, or have any idea who those rock eaters might be, but it certainly makes sense. No one as unimportant as them could take control of that kind of power unless they were directly responsible for it. So once I put out every one of the lights of the Burning Stars, then I will be in a position to turn my, not inconsiderable, attention to thoroughly dismantling the Asheks, humiliating them and taking back everything that was mine.
I am nowhere near there, though. I will not let myself be blinded by my loathing and rage for my loss, I will have to prepare for this, far beyond what I am currently capable of. I need better equipment, better skills, better and more capable allies. Once I have what I need, then I will destroy them. Until then, this whole endeavor is off. We have no access to them, and the trail is entirely lost. Maybe it will come back, but after what is about to happen on Naboo, I suspect the mission has turned into another massive waste of time. I wish I could be mad at Soren for getting us into another stupid mission for nonsense. I wish it matter that he only told me about my parents because he was afraid I was going to write the Ashek's off entirely as a no go. I feel like it should matter, but those feelings are wrong. It is better to know.
This whole thing is disjointed and out of order. But how am I supposed to hold something like that until the proper time while writing down that I went shopping for half a day. I bought less than half the things I priced out. I finally found my backpack, I swear I thought Silhara ate it, or something as stupid, but far more embarrassingly it was under the bag that I robes came in at the back of my wardrobe. I planned to stock up on grenades but I did not purchase any, the price wasn't right and I had some more important desires... yearnings, even... Yes, I bought a Flashfury, and it's gorgeous. It's the stupidest little garbage bike I have ever seen, and I don't think I've loved something more, every stroke and curve of it says speed. I will absolutely have Kid tinker with it. I have some ideas of what I want him to do to it. I also got my hands on an Engine backup and now our bucket of bolts is a very fast bucket indeed.
Not all of Soren's news was life changing and tragic. It seems he received a new "request" from Zero. We're expected to go to Naboo and interfere with a delegation of Jedi. I will admit he keeps using different words for their sects when he admits that the force is bunk and he's just a lazy good for nothing who can't fight worth a damn. Possibly if he showed me another kind of force, in either of our rooms. That could be fun. Just nevermind what I mean by that Kid, you don't need to know. Stop reading these.
I agreed for a few reasons. Getting Zero out of our business is very inviting. Getting a job where pointing Silhara and letting her go is a valid strategy might be entertaining, even if we end up having to actually do it right afterward. I really need to get away from Asheks right now. But mostly because Naboo is particularly close to my armory job, and I want to get in there more than ever before.
She should be dead
Primeday, the 31st of Myoden
The past month and a half has been a trial. After finishing the heist successfully and passing the holovid on to the client Soren turned in his Jedi Toy and so we got two good payouts back to back. We also found the fighter back at the Outhouse, but the Droid is gone. I do not mind so much, I did not trust it to begin with. Obviously the opening statement does not fit the current tone. Well, Soren got a call from our least favorite Hutt, and of course after the massive loss of the crystals, he decided he wanted the fighter. W we're pretty sure that we were free of his influence on the ship, but I can not risk it. I arranged passage for us and the ship through Solari's network and we met with Zero's agent. Soren told me what the ship was worth, and I am not putting it here because I am pretty sure Kid is reading my journal and he has no Sabacc face. But seriously, Kid, if I ever find you reading this I will shoot you. You know very well I do not bluff about that.
Remarkably, the Agent opened with my highest expected take away. i have negotiated with these people already, and so when Soren made to haggle I put an immediate stop to it. This offer was only going to go down, and so I took it. It was barely worth the trip. From there I left Soren to catch up with Weasel, the little shit. If he was not such a good source of information and my only link to the Oculus Network I would not put up with him. As it was I spent the next month doing jobs for him at my own expense to worm myself a bit more into his graces. It bore fruit, too, as I got a lead on a special weapons cache for some company that has since been wiped out. If I am reading the specs right, and I have no reason to believe I might not be, there is a particular piece of experimental armor that would give me a proper fighting chance when things come to a head with Silhara.
We all met up on Eriadu, and while it was against my better judgement, I agreed to take on a job for Soren. It was a mistake, as they all end up being. I should have insisted, but I could not guarantee a payday, just the possibility of one. Every day that we do not move forward on it, though, is another day that someone else might find out and move in, and also survive. Soren's job is in the wrong direction, and getting more wrong by the day. It started on Devaron, where we met with some more studious Jedi. They relayed the situation: for no apparent reason they allowed someone to steal important data, despite claiming they were aware when it left the building. Then they were also too lazy to make even the most cursory attempt at retrieving it. They supposedly have so much power at their disposal, but we were going to do the heavy lifting.
The trek through the jungle was not a big deal. Outside of flying the ship Silhara is good for something, but I am pretty sure that on all counts she can easily be replaced with a droid. Ultimately we found a launch site that makes it clear the "lockdown" of the planet was not quite so absolute, or effective at all. We were able to use the information we found at the site to track them to Quellor. After a minor Republic shakedown, we discovered that the targets were more than likely members of Void. It took surprisingly little effort to infiltrate the base, though it now seems likely this has all been a setup. Their facility was a floating platform well above the city. We pretended to be delegates, and thanks to some remarkable legwork on Kid's part, they bought it. We set up a diversion in the facilities they set for us and went investigating. I still can not even guess at what the place was intended to do. It was probably all for the best that I do not understand the mindset of cults.
This is where things go downhill. We breached what seems to be the inner sanctum. I was with Silhara, Kid was with Soren. For absolutely no reason that I can think of, throwing caution completely to the wind, Silhara just burst in on some decrepit old man in a ventilator. I do not care for these people, but for so many reasons that is just not how you operate if survival is the thing you want to do. Not just because it was rude, but because we were in an enemy encampment, and the very next thing that happened is that we were trapped in a gravity field, being held down as if we were bowing, it was humiliating. The next thing I knew Soren and Kid were bursting in on the other side, Soren panicked after seeing the state we were in and told Kid to shoot an innocent old man who could not have lifted a hand if he had wanted to. The shock of the blast broke down his equipment and that also resulted in us being freed. Then for no reason Silhara attacked Soren. I am not even willing to hear it was out of some kind of justice for the old man, Silhara does not understand the concept of justice. She only understands her own base needs, and no one else actually matters in her life. As such there was no rational explanation for her actions, which is what I have been fearing for the past several months as she has become more and more erratic. Luckily she was not the physical behemoth she seems to be, despite being a fairly petite girl, because between the gravity field and the sudden inexplicable rush to hurt Soren, she must have run out of circulation as she passed out.
We tied her up and I put my binders on her, though I know she has broken much better equipment. Something I had not thought of before, but will rectify as soon as possible. She is not the only physically imposing creature I may one day have to capture. Soren did the heavy lifting as we did a fairly cursory search of the place, not wanting to open any more doors until we had a better idea of the place. Then Silhara began struggling. Knowing full well what she was capable of, I told her to stop or I would have no choice but to put her down like an animal. We could not trust her and if she wanted to keep breathing she would stop. Either she thought I was bluffing, or she literally has no capacity for self preservation, because she said do it and started struggling harder. I was not about to let her get free after what she had done and let her go on a rampage in the midst of us, so I did. I honestly do not think she is human, because her bony forehead actually managed to deflect a slug. I was about to finish the job, while Soren stood there dumbly holding her in place for me, but Kid tackled me and prevented the shot. I still would have if not for the fact that at that moment I realized I could no longer hear the hum of the repulsors that held the whole place up.
We found a window and saw a full scale evacuation. There is still going to be a reckoning, there has to be, but for the time being we needed to run. I lost site of Silhara in the mad dash and she managed to get loose. I think I have to write off my binders also, which is frustrating. Thanks to my probes we were able to locate a handful of speeders and made our escape. Soren and Silhara got out just before Kid and I. This being my first ever time driving a speeder, I think I can be forgiven for the messy exit from the falling facility. I still did well enough. There was a minor amount of opposition, but I was able to make short work of them while the others fled and Kid made sure the speeder didn't come apart around us while I shook it to its core. I will admit that I was rather hoping that Silhara would just crash and burn. It would have been unfortunate to lose Soren's body, but between Kid and I we would be able to handle the ship well enough. It even seemed like that was likely when a fighter rocketed into the fight gunning for them. Unfortunately it was moving a bit too fast and passed both of us, coming in behind us as the crash happened. I will say I have never seen anything like the devastation of their floating estate coming to ground, and I would not be surprised if that city was buried in dust and debris for months, or even years after. I really thought we had made it, until I felt the second explosion. The fighter had fired missiles at us and the first shot knocked out our systems. This was my third near death experience in under an hour and I will admit that I was shaken. Kid, being the brilliant mechanic that he is managed to get us righted, and while I let us free fall a bit longer than necessary, I got us moving again. Until the third explosion as I watched our engine fly out the front of the speeder. This time I kept it together, and miraculously I was able to coast the little craft into landingest crash I could manage. We didn't sustain a scratch, and were only rattled.
While Silhara and Soren made a clean escape, and even secured a speeder for us. Kid and I were forced to slum it in the outskirts of the city. I did make friends with some members of a swoop gang. I am uncertain if I am thinking completely clearly, but I seem to have caught a bug of sorts. I am infatuated with the speed and the exhilaration of speeders. I think I should acquire a bike or a swoop. I will admit, I attempted to cogole the gang into making me their leader. It was a failure, but I do suspect that it might have had some possibility if I had identified their leader before making the attempt. I convinced them to assist and they smuggled us back to the owl. I ran into some issues after disguising myself as one of them. Good for getting through the streets, not so much for a secure facility. Amazingly, the ship was still there. Considering I very seriously attempted to terminate her, I would have left me behind in her place. I would have left her behind in my place if I had managed to get back first. Instead no one is even speaking of what happened, which I like even less. This needs to be addressed. She attacked one of us, for no reason at all. It was a clumsy shot, but she was also not in peak form. I am certain that if she has been seeing straight and not about to pass out that she would have done serious damage to Soren. And while that would have hardly been a major loss, it would still not be acceptable. For now we're headed to Nanth'ri to discover the actual location of the datacron, and while we chase smoke my prize gets more and more likely to have been looted before I get there.
Everything is coming up Syrian
Centaxday, the 17th of Saarden
It started out poorly. I don't know what Kid was doing, but we missed the entire Festival of Life jumping back and forth around the Galaxy. Honestly, we're probably lucky we didn't end up inside a star. I had to pull my gun on Silhara, again. The crazy girl was going to force us into a battle over some planet we don't even care about, just because it amused her. I can't deal with this, and I can't talk to her, she has a massive hole in her head where reason should be that she fills with her own nonsensical fantasies. She's going to get us killed, and I'm not going to allow that.
Once we got back to Eriadu there was no Droid and no ship. I don't look forward to having to track it down. But we've been gone for weeks, and that's not counting the stop over for the failed mission. If it was a person I could understand giving up and moving on, but it's a Droid, it doesn't get to make that decision. In the meantime, we had a promising mission from Kid to collect a kid from a high security area on Ixtlar. To kill two mynocks with one blaster bolt, I opted to sell our highly confidential winnings from my Bounty a couple months ago. I had some misgivings, since I would be the distraction, rather than the main operator, but I think it really couldn't have gone off better.
Silhara looked remarkably regal in the outfit we put her in. She infiltrated the mansion clumsily, but effectively. While I was meeting with the Senator they managed to slip away and down into the vaults. No alarms were triggered as they breached the vault and I never heard a peep from security. I wish I could have done a bit better in the negotiations, but I made out well enough. They don't need to know how well, since the funds are moving directly into my account. We were also able to sell off the gear from Zhar for a fair payout. Not nearly so good as it should have been, if we'd managed to keep the crystals. Hopefully we still have the ship to look forward to. Still, this will be a nice payout, I'm actually in a good mood for once.
Everything is a bust, complete waste of time resources and effort
Benduy, the 35th of Randen
Things almost immediately went south with Urope. I don't know why I'm even surprised anymore. I was able to send the Droid on ahead to the Outhouse with the fighter before Urope could investigate it, but he tried to rope us into moving the slaves, which was ridiculous because we already made it clear we couldn't. Thankfully Soren was able to pull some legalese out of his butt that turned the Jedi around enough to let us go. We headed to Vester, out in the ass crack of forever, to meet up with the most asinine group of crackpots I've ever met. Of course this job was Silhara's so that should be expected. The ship was loaded up with as many crystals as I could get, and I had brokered a less than favorable deal with Poporo when we were told the job was to crash the ship into a moon. Right off, this didn't fit the criteria of the job we came for and these idiots were expecting us to risk our livelihood for not nearly enough pay.
We changed the deal, and at this point I can't decide if it was worthwhile or not. The job was to distract and clear the defenses of a group of nutjobs called the Void. A group that turned out to be extensively more well organized and funded, though how anyone can manage to run an operation like theirs from outside of a hyperlane is beyond me. We effectively got ourselves intentionally captured, and it just went south from there. After escaping we fought a flood of personnel that made this stalemate between Elextrik and Void completely nonsensical. Void could have wiped out their "competition" at any time.
In the same way that Elextrik couldn't have held out, neither could we and we were recaptured. After a few days of starvation and dehydration Silhara was able to break out and released us. It just happened that she managed it the same time that Urope, who had bugged and tracked us, showed up to find out what was happening. We saved ourselves, though, he may have cause a distraction, but we still did the heavy lifting and would have been fine.
And then the story goes south. Urope locked down the Owl, discovered the crystals, and effectively threatened us with banishment and death across the republic if we didn't hand it all over. He took the ship we stole from the Void to escape as a transport for the crystals, then we found out he stole the payment for the job, too. The only thing we got for the entire deal was the Owl patched up. I think I'm going to have to vett Silhara's contacts before we move forward with any more of her jobs.
We're on route to Eriadu to meet up with the droid, and at least maybe get something out of that fighter. Something to make this week not a complete waste of time.
Another terrible Soren mission finished
Centaxday, the 27th of Randen
I honestly didn't expect it to be so easy. We landed with little fuss. We walked into the "temple" with no trouble. Soren broke the code and we won the prize. Just like that. No fights, no traps, nothing. Then we left. If only it hadn't taken so very much trouble to get here. Of course that was only the first step. Now that the mission is accomplished we have to deal with the slaves because Kid will never let it go.
We traveled, once more, to the eighth moon, a deformed asteroid that's just moon sized. Thanks to our efforts in the command center the doors were accessible and we were able to fly right in. The place was a disaster, but then after thousands of years without new resources it makes sense they would have had to salvage anything they could for maintenance. Shortly after entering we came to realize this place is a maze of warrens. I was able to guide us to the central slaves chamber, following the air currents in the facility.
After a pointless side trip Silhara managed to acquire a poorly maintained energy whip. It has potential, but not much. Shortly after, while trying to navigate this maze, we ran into our first group of slaves. There were dozens of them, and also a dozen and a half droid guards. After the things we had been set upon by up until this point I was expecting to be in serious trouble. The truth couldn't have been further from that situation. They were little better than walking piles of junk. Just before we finished off the last of them, the moon experiences one of the gravitational anomalies that plagues this system. Soren tried to take credit for it, of course, but he isn't fooling anyone with his stupid hand waving.
Regardless of how easy they were we had no intention of fighting wave after wave of them, and tried a different path. This brought us to the real meat of the facility. It seems that one of the Jedi from a thousand years ago had managed to upload his mind into a droid, or a console, or something, and then went a little insane. He built himself a giant conglomerate body, making use of the unusual merging properties of the crystals here. Unfortunately, before we put him down he was able to destroy the transports and all the crystals they contained. This is actually a good thing, and it will make it more likely we'll be able to hide the crystals from outsiders for when we try to sell this place.
The the confusion Silhara also managed to resurrect and apparently tame a giant crystal beast. It died when the construct died, but somehow left behind an egg that she's gone completely gah gah over. It's a disconcerting. I'm not looking forward to the moment she forgets there is a creature inside it and decides it would make a huge, and therefore great, breakfast. It also turns out that Silhara sent a message to her Xexto Jedi friend Urope, inviting him to come save the slaves. While this is good, I don't like her using her initiative if it means not telling us about it. Now it's a race. We need to get as many crystals as we can and block up the entrance so the Jedi don't find it. We use the crystals as proof of product and sell access and rights to the mine for a massive payday.
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