STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Broken

Agreed. Wookiees are strong but sociopaths with lightsabers are stronger still!

Vera-Kin will ask Barker to keep watch of the Astrune place and alert us if the Dark Jedi show up at all, but also to get away from there the moment he sees them and wait for us to get there.

Then, want to return to the General or did you have anything else in mind?

Nothing else in mind, really, and if anything else has occurred then Hirget would be able to let us know. So a visit to him is probably a good idea.

Barker agrees to stay put in the Astrune Quarter. He cannot guarantee that he won't be conspicuous, though; he is a fairly large walking carpet in a part of town littered with the wealthy and turgid.

Who is driving back to Hirget's Fort? Rianna is not badly injured but she does need patching up. Astrune did not go easy on her just because it was not a fight to the death.

Not Rianna 😛

The comically small Vera-Kin will be driving then! She's going to contact Hirget on the way.

There is actually a message waiting for you in the speeder; they have comm units.

"Return to the Fort as soon as you can," Hirget says, firmly yet still polite. "I have need of your assistance. The matter I am faced with may concern your fugitives. Hirget out."

Working the speeder is difficult for Vera-Kin due to her diminutive size (and her lack of a Pilot skill) but she manages to get it moving back to Fort Ine.

Lt. Col. Nehmen buzzes you through the security gate and you are inside the Fort.

"I wonder what has happened..." Rianna says as they enter the Fort and head to see Hirget.

As you walk up to the base of the tower where the lift is located, you see two groups of men.

One group is composed of a bunch of very dirty men, unarmed and covered in dust. Most are well-built and bearded, wearing thick protective clothing.

The other is a mass of Republic soldiers, keeping eye on the first group. There does not seem to be any hostility between the two groups, just caution.

Rianna's going to go ahead and use Sense, anyway.

Nothing amiss! Though things seem tense.

Lt. Col. Nehmen comes out from the tower to meet you.

"Hello," he says. "The General has a visitor. Nothing to worry about."

"Do you know what happened that he needs our assistance with?" Rianna asks Nehmen.

"The visitor, actually," Nehmen says. "I should correct myself. Nothing to immediately worry about. The miners are having issues with payment that need to be addressed."

"Who is the visitor?"

"The overseer of the miner unions," Nehmen tells you. "A man named Arko. He has a lot of sway with the miners because he pushes society to pay attention to their low wages and dangerous work conditions and so on. He's a good man, by most counts."

"I can see why he would be popular amongst the miners," Rianna replies. "Though I'll admit to being confused as to what that would have to do with us, considering the message we were sent."

"Perhaps not all is well with the miners," Vera-Kin says. "What does he want with the General?"

"Those wages I mentioned?" Nehmen says, guiding you into the lift. "Ord Coridari has been mining the Great Rift for thousands of years, now, and the riches pouring from it are not as plentiful as they once were. The mining corporations are in the process of withholding payment for a series of increasingly ludicrous reasons. I believe Akro is looking for General Hirget's support."

Rianna simply nods, remember what Hirget said before about the mining corporations and how he dealt with the 'nobles' on Ord Coridari.

Back up the lift to the command center, you are presented again with the bridge-like layout of the tower's topmost room. Instead of patrolling the main walkway down the center, however, General Hirget is seated at a table to the right of the lift, in a small conference area that is not completely closed off from the rest of the room but separated via wall. With him is Akro, an older man that is still physically quite capable. Akro coughs as Hirget looks up to you.

"You are here," General Hirget says. "Please, be seated. Nehmen, leave us."

Nehmen salutes and returns to the rest of the command center.

"So you are the Jedi," Akro says, wiping his mouth with a smudged hankerchief. "Enjoying Ord Coridari, I trust?"

"It is certainly different than anywhere else I've been," Rianna replies, taking a seat.