Strong Suggestions
Locations
Tia’s Apartment
Factions
Players
Tia O'Mandalorio (Laurie)
T-3PO (Scott)
Sabbath Rune (Jack)
Velayna Marus (Jack)
NPCs
Lt. Lee Meriweather
Dr. Connor Mathison
Jayanna Korrs (JK)
Agent Lee Rambaud
Dr. Savannah Moore
Short Public Excerpt/Summary
Game Date: 10.FORN.35 ABY
When T-3PO finds Tia back at the apartment after her nightmare trip to save Werner Marus with Sabbath and JK, he has some concerns. And reminds Tia that he is, in fact, her bodyguard - and takes his responsibilities as such rather seriously.
When T arrives home, he finds Tia slumped on the couch over a mostly empty glass of bourbon. As he steps through the door, she raises her head to look at him, not even trying to hide the exhaustion in her eyes. The moment the door closes, she rubs her temples and sighs. "I'm so sorry, T. What a debacle. We really need to get ahold of those comms already. They sure as hell would've come in handy today." "We will get them soon. " He grabs the bourbon bottle and pours a refill, sitting down on a nearby chair. "What happened?" Tia gives him a grateful look, then takes another swig of bourbon. "Longest fucking day ever, T." She sighs, then seems morose. "I don't know what I'm going to do with him." She shakes herself, and with an effort refocuses on T-3PO. "Sabbath stopped by. I'd asked him to talk to that therapist the Rangers have - see if she had any recommendations on helping someone dealing with grief. For Mathison, like we'd talked about. So he came by to tell me about what he'd found out." She bites her lip. "That part was fine. But... Things went downhill from there." Her expression grows uneasy. "I did warn him about the Agent, and he seemed to take that to heart. So I guess that part was good. But then..." She winces. "I don't know, T. Things got kinda weird. First, he started acting all...intense. And then he got drunk." She snorts. "I knew he was a lightweight, but I had no idea he'd be put over the top that way just from some wine. And so quickly..." She shivers. "So I took him home. Velayna was there. And Sabbath was acting all...squirrelly about not getting enough sleep, and nightmares. I got him into bed, and he passed out, but..." She trails off, and a hint of remembered fear enters her eyes. "Then Velayna said that things were moving in the night. That when he had his nightmares, he was moving shit around with his head. And getting up at all hours of the night and disappearing on the streets. And coming back with scratches on his face." Tia looks at T, and clenches her jaw. "I couldn't risk it, T. Not with all of the complications in Sabbath's life. I got Velayna to leave - she went to her dad's - and I called JK over." Tia stares into her cup of bourbon, her eyes vacant. "Of course, Sabbath woke up when she got there - you heard that monstrosity of a swoop she's got, it could wake the dead." She pauses and seems to wince as she registers her own words. "I was hoping to talk to her on my own, but she was at least able to confirm that he hasn't been using Dark Side bullshit, and that he wasn't being taken over by his damn Force demon. Long story short, turns out that the fucking thing was tormenting Velayna - she called in a panic. I guess it played mind tricks on her, and she ended up hurting her dad. But JK healed him, and gave V something that'll protect her going forward, so I guess all's well that ends well?" Despite Tia's words, she doesn't seem convinced. "Oh yeah. And the BX squad followed because they were worried Sabbath might lose his shit, too. So they took me home." She takes a long, shuddering breath, as her torrent of words finally comes to an end. "I'm sorry, T. I wish I could've kept you better in the loop." T-3P0 pauses, taking this in, and then says: "I will make two suggestions which I suspect you will ignore, but I feel obligated. First, under absolutely no circumstances should you ever spend any time with Sabbath Rune without an armed guard of some sort around you, for your own protection. Do not spend time alone with him, in other words. Second, under no circumstances should you sleep anywhere near his vicinity." T-3P0 continues, "You should also strongly suggest that Velayna move in here. You should also strongly suggest he relocate to the Vigil facilities where they can keep an eye on him, in security. He should, without a shadow of a doubt, be confined until this situation is resolved. His charge went out and assaulted her father. He should be well aware of the danger he presents to others and take steps to prevent it. If you had a contagious disease, you would quarantine yourself; he is in that same situation." Further, he says: "I will be following you whenever you are with him. If he takes an action, ANY action, that may cause you harm, I will not hesitate to use the most lethal form of stopping him possible, since he apparently cannot die anyway, while you and others around him most certainly CAN." Tia takes another gulp of bourbon then looks him dead in the eyes. "T, there's no way in hell I'm sleeping anywhere near Sabbath for the foreseeable future," she says flatly. "The solution JK found for Velayna should apply to me - she gave her an Abbatar, and I've got Lee's so I should be fine. There's no way JK would've left Velayna with Sabbath if she didn't think the girl would be safe. Apparently, this is also only something to worry about on Nigita, because of the weird Force bullshit here. So in space it shouldn't be an issue. And now that Velayna's safe, since there aren't any other Force users for it to leach off of, it shouldn't be able to move things around even here. But still." She shudders. "At least until his Force demon bitch is dealt with and gone, I'm not risking it. As for Velayna..." Her eyes grow anxious, and she bites her lip. "I...don't know. For one, I won't make decisions for her. I know what that's like," she raises her chin, "and I won't force the issue with her. I'll think about offering it to her, but she also could just stay with her dad, if she wanted to be elsewhere. Not to mention..." She winces. "I really don't think Sabbath would react well to that. He didn't even like it when the BX droids insisted on taking me home - he wanted me to go home with him. I'm...worried about doing something to set him off, T. If he loses it, even briefly, that damn Force demon could get him. Permanently. I could be wrong, but I think he'd be screwed at that point even if Vigil brought him back. Otherwise, they could've saved the last person this happened to...and they couldn't." Her voice softens. "He doesn't deserve that. I really don't think he'd ever do anything to hurt me intentionally. I don't want to do anything that might tip the balance in that direction. And having an obvious armed guard around me - to protect me from him - would almost certainly make him upset." She holds up a hand, as if preemptively staving off any objections. "That said, I have no intention of being stupid about it... I'm going to be careful. And don't forget that there's a squad of trained Guardian BX droids looking out for me whenever I'm here. I've got no problem with keeping you around and trying to avoid being left alone with him. Though I would ask that you please try not to use deadly force if it's not needed - I'd rather none of us escalate things if it can be avoided." She swallows. "If he comes after me, though, go right ahead - because at that point, he wouldn't be Sabbath, anyway." Her hand reaches up to clutch the Abbatar around her neck. "If it wasn't for this, I'd be more...concerned. But I think I'm fairly safe, for the time being." She sighs. "And I'm going to talk to JK. Privately. Because..." Her eyes close. "Even aside from all that... Sabbath seems..." She hesitates before seeming to deflate. "I don't know, T. Aside from the Force demon complication, I should be happy. He's nothing if not...dedicated. And...I really think he'd do just about anything I asked. But...." She swallows, then looks at T, somewhat bewildered. "He's so damn intense, T. I worry about what he might do if something happened to me, or if I left him." She shudders. "I really don't know what to do about that...but maybe JK can help. She should probably at least know, just...in case." She sighs, sounding deeply unhappy. "Plus...just between you and me, T... sometimes...oh, I don't know...I wonder if he actually even knows anything about who I am. I know I'm pretty fucking amazing, but...I never asked to be freaking worshipped. He's got me on such a high pedestal..." She squirms uncomfortably, before finally saying in a small voice, "I don't think he has any idea how easy it would be for me to take advantage of him, T." After a brief pause, she gives a quiet broken laugh. "That probably sounds ridiculous, given the scope and context of everything else." She takes another hefty swallow of bourbon. "Tia. The Abbatar idea is like giving a suit of armor to someone who is going to spend time around an insane person who may shoot them at any time instead of taking the gun away. It does not solve the problem and is inherently stupid. "I no longer give a damn about what Sabbath will think or what concerns you may have about his reaction. If you wish to maintain our relationship as it stands, my accompanying you when you are with him is non-negotiable. I will not abrogate my responsibility to you to a group of fucking Vigil droids. I DO NOT TRUST THEM, because they SHOULD take him in, they DID this to him and now it appears to me they are dangling you and him and Velayna out here as bait to see what is going to happen next." Tia's posture changes dramatically. Her head snaps up, and she straightens. "T, I literally just said that I was going to avoid being left alone with him." She scowls. "I told you I was fine with trying to keep you around when I'm around him. I'm doing my damnedest here to try to keep all this from being a bigger shit show than it's already been. I'm fucking exhausted." She raises her chin. "You know I respect your opinions and your advice. The last thing I want is for you to leave or for this to break our relationship." She holds his gaze, and her expression is severe. "But you know I'm DONE with any kind of emotional blackmail to get me to do ANYTHING. I won't stop you from being there. If you want to follow me, go right ahead - you know I trust you, although I'll ask you to have an excuse ready in case you're spotted. But if I decide that I need to go with Sabbath and you're not there, I'm going to do what I think needs to be done. And you'll just have to trust me, and respect my right to make my own decisions. And if that means that you leave, that's your right." Her voice is rough with emotion. "I don't want you to go, but you know I won't make you stay if that's what you decide." She clears her throat. "As for the Abbatar - T, believe me, it's a pretty powerful tool. You're right that it doesn't fix the underlying problem - but we're working on that. Including the folks at Vigil. This should be a temporary issue - and when I talk to JK, I'm hoping to figure out when we might be able to take the next step towards solving it. Please do not insult me by saying it's stupid - because I for one think it's a helpful precaution, and I'll sleep better at night for having it." She watches him carefully. "And I think you misunderstand my concern about Sabbath's reaction. I'm not trying to spare his feelings here. I'm worried that doing something that will make him particularly angry or upset is objectively a bad idea until this situation is sorted out. I will be happy to have you around as support - just please try to do it in a way that doesn't set him off. As long as he's not angry or upset, and he's not using Dark Side Force power - which he says he doesn't do, and JK confirmed he hasn't been - he should be fine and not actually any more of a risk than he has been this whole time. I'm still standing, and he's never so much as lifted a finger at me. I also have more in-depth information on all this than you do. Please, T. Trust me to make my own judgments here. I called you earlier when I thought there might be an issue. I've got a healthy respect for my own life - I'm not looking to be reckless with it." She gives him a small smile, though it's strained around the edges. "And the Vigil droids could never, EVER be a replacement for you. NEVER. And I was not in any way trying to imply that they could be. I know you don't trust them. That said, they've literally been trained to deal with Vanguard that go bad. And everything I know about them leads me to conclude that they would do anything to perform their duty. Which right now is keeping me safe and alive. I do NOT think they're using us as bait. They've got nothing to do with Velayna whatsoever, and they've stepped in every time they've thought I've been in danger. They are an advantage, and one I feel fortunate to have." Her smile softens. "Though I feel even more fortunate to have you as a friend." T says, "Very well. I call it stupid because I believe the way to stop an unstable potential explosive situation is to disarm the bomb, not give everyone explosive ordnance armor. But very well, it is better than nothing." He continues, "I hope you will avoid him entirely until he is "safe". If I were you, I would simply tell him: I cannot and will not be around you unless you get into a Vigil secure hospital and Mathison certifies that you will neither use the Force unconsciously in your sleep, nor will your ghost mentally disturb people until they randomly assault loved ones. That seems like the sort of ultimatum you should give that he would listen to." Tia pinches the bridge of her nose. "I'll do what I can, T. Like I said, I'm going to talk to JK about this. Soon. She's probably better positioned to give an opinion on the relative safety of all this than Mathison, anyway. There's no way in hell she would leave Sabbath running around if she thought he was an imminent threat. There's no doubt in my mind on that." Tia sighs. "I'll see what she has to say and go from there. If I have to talk to Sabbath, I will - but if I do that, I'd want JK on site, anyway. Just in case." T-3P0 replies: "I am no expert, Tia, but I do not know if JK is, either. You would know better. But it seems from what you have said that the problem is not solved, that Sabbath presents a danger beyond his control to those around him, and in my mind, any sentient being in such a circumstance who cared at all for those around him would self-quarantine." Tia sighs. "I don't know, T. From what I understand, as long as he doesn't use Dark Side energy, he should be ok. And again - now that Velayna's protected, there shouldn't be anything that that thing can use to do its mumbo jumbo, so everyone else should be ok, too. As long as he doesn't start channeling the Dark Side or lose his cool. Beyond that, I don't know. But I'll talk to JK about it. And keep you posted. If after talking to her, it seems like the best course of action is for him to quarantine himself somewhere....I will ask him to. But with JK there."
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