Yes of course it is. The aspidrol feeds directly into their bodies and...
Wait. You trace a hand slowly down a body...
And convulse in horror. Your hand literally spasms, and you recoil, staggering backwards away from the sarcophogus across the room.
The wave of nausea rises further within you.
She's dead. The woman inside there is dead. Metal... metal on the inside
Sweating, you return, your hand quivering to confirm what you think.
No heart. No lungs. A humanoid sack of meat... a rage possesses you, as you tear away at the skin on top. Flesh, bone, blood... but metal inside, metal that just provides the semblance of life, prevents decay, stimulates a long dead brain...
But this person. This person was REAL. This is no construct. Someone DID this! And thr aspidrol... a vicious yank at the tubes pulls it free, and the liquid within sprays over you.
Water. To do no more than keep a corpse moist.
Your head spinning, you move to another coffin. You don't even remember tapping in the code to open it. You are just aware, a few moments later, that you have opened it. Another electronic-filled corpse lies within.
And so in a third. And so in a fourth.
Collapsing on a railing, you drop to one knee and feel retching movements within. You sensed no minds here, not because of suspension, but because there were no minds to sense. Not real life, just stimulated flesh, enough to fool monitors, and your imprecise senses.
Everyone here is dead. Defenceless, their coffins were opened, their insides torn out, and replaced with metal to fool others. Thousands of people, without any chance of protection, entrusted in the deepest of care- all murdered, all to account for the use of aspidrol.
You are in the centre of a charnelhouse of evil.
The enormity of the most evil atrocity Andro has ever encountered sinks into him like an acid eating his skin. Every part of him aches at the madness that surrounds him. How any being in this Galaxy could commit such an act is beyond Andro's ability to reason. Murdering people he has seen before, but not like this. These people were not just defenseless, but comatose, completely unaware of what happened to them.
It takes some time, but Andro eventually realises that he is still raging inside, seething. He has been know to get 'grumpy' if a situation goes badly, but this was anger, red hot anger. His heart rate and breathing are as if he had been fighting. A Jedi knows no anger. Relying on his training, breathing techniques taught to him by Master Tinn, Andro comes out of his rage. That was close, he feels like he almost lost it.
Now to find out who has done this awful deed, and bring them to justice, one way or the other. Fighting back the urge to retch, Andro reseals the coffins he disturbed. It is not time for the perpetrators to know they've been found out. Andro has to find them first. Sadness washes over him as he ascends the stairs, and leaves the tomb below. Before he exits the through the door that let him into this Hell, he turned and spoke to the darkness below him.
"Forgive me for leaving you all here for now. I swear to you that I will bring your murders to justice, so that you may rest in peace. May the Force be with all of your souls." He leaves.
(Sorry, long post. Felt a little drama was called for, to go with yours. Andro will return to the shipping facility if there's time, otherwise he will return to Gallagher and Zaland and report what he has found so far.)
Oh, there's still time, Andro.
But you also hear footsteps somewhere in the hall.
-
Anaz frowns.
"Still haven't taken time to find out much, I see. I did about you. If you have any military matters to discuss, then please return to me. Other than that, I must set up my shift cycles."
(Kuylen himself was the worst person to ask that question to.)
(Andro will continue listening, and try to avoid another confromtation. Also, is a Jedi's trstimony good evidence? I'm not saying i want to jump out and arrest Varm and Mirani now, just wondering just what kind of evidence I need. You know, documents and such, or can what I witness and hear be proof?)
It took much of Andro's control to stay hidden and not go after Varm. He had to know who else was involved before he went after anyone. He didn't want to leave anyone out of their punishment. He listened carefully, taking in every word.
A Jedi's word is pretty good but it's not infallible. You would feel MUCH better with something a bit more tangible, even if you could record all that (which has admissability issues).
However, a vast amount of evidence lies all around you. The very fact you have seen Varm here gives you enough to move on him, and you are dead certain once this rancid hellhole gets opened up, you will tie him in.
But there are clearly others. You'll not nail Mirani without finding a way to tie him in better than hearing Varm talk to him.
Varm says something rather nasty into the comm and then says "I'll just check everything is ok down here" before breaking contact.
Meanwhile, as I earlier adided Roan, only fair that I provide some reminders to Gallagher also.
First of all, your character was wondering why the Synod has issues with the Jedi. Not wanting to give anything away, but that issue is one of your major problems in dealing with people like Varm.
But meanwhile, there is simply LOADS you can find out about the plotline by talking to the Abbot. You are getting fixated on people trying to kill him, which clearly you are not going to be able to sort. But WHY are they going to kill him, and why haven't they done it yet? Why is the Abbot talking to Senators? What is this big business that your message from the Order referred to, that the Abbot is involved in and needs protecting for?
If you want to work out how any of this fits into drug smuggling, you need to actually know the background of what is going on.
That's a ton of help you have there that I am unsure you deserve, so consider it a reward for fairly steady play.
And Roan- if Kuylen feels hostile, it;s about time you bit the bullet and found out why the Boyar don't like the Jedi either. That's actually not important at all, other than to give more interesting insights into the original Kuylen.