Jelena is parading herself as an out-of-work pilot and wants to create the front that Andro and her have a mutual contract for each other's benefit; she ferries him around, he protects her. However, they no longer have a ship, and anyone who asks how they lost it can mind their own business.
So the real problem here is that Jelena does not have a great deal of battle experience, nor do Andro or her have a reference. Would it be possible to maybe get one from Shareth herself? Or maybe pursue things with another Hutt.
(Huh, I thought I posted... weird.)
"What you are wondering is why the Force does not balance out problems and why it can be put to such horrible use, am I right?" Gallagher asks. "I believe that is where we come in as Jedi, D'an. It is down to us to act out the will of the Force and bring everything back into proper alignment. It's just that... we are beset by so many problems these days that it is hard to do that. Sienar represents the opposite end of the spectrum, a niche the Sith also occupy: using the Force to do wrong and throw things out of balance."
Can Gallagher answer Sunda too? I know he's Roan's Padawan but it still needs to be addressed.
Perhaps this is something that Zaland could help with, since we now know that the bodyguards of the Klinge-Faust family previously had a more sinister use.
"Patience, Sunda," Gallagher says, during one of the times that Sunda and Argo have stopped in at the Estalia headquarters- a small, unused office that the Estalian government has loaned the Jedi. "I understand you are more accustomed to more action-packed and direct missions, but we are not omnipotent. The Force can help us reach our goal, but this is how investigations are. They take time."
Zaland coughs somewhat over the comm link.
"We're not very welcome in Hutt Space these days, Gallagher," he says. "We are seen as betraying our role in the drugs trade. Which is all meant to be rather quiet, yes? Part of the deal is that no-one actually knows about that... the Gods know your father is working hard to finish that past forever. If you need someone to watch your back there, I'll come..."
He seems hesistant.
"Gallagher... my mission is over. I was there to watch you until we knew which way you were going to go. Well.. now we know. And it is good! But you don't really need me any more, you are a Jedi- teaching your own Padawan, no less! The Council never really liked this arrangement anyway. Also... ahh... there's... a woman..."
"But does the Force really have a will to be Balanced?" says D'an. "It seems to me that the Force doesn't much care how it is used. It seems to be us as sentient beings that wat it balanced; does it itself really care? Does it understand?"
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"But people are dying out there!" says Sunda. He also wants to push his central question. If being nomadic mwakes pirates virtually immune to Jedi investigation, why aren't they all like that?
"A woman? Pray do tell, Zaland! It has been eons since you were allowed to relax, something I am entirely to blame for..."
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"The Force is meant to possess great wisdom and insight into everything that goes on in the Galaxy, in such a way that the Jedi are able to learn from it and borrow its greatness. Sure Dark Siders can corrupt the Force to their will... but it is not often that such corruption endures. Sienar's evils will be long lasting, but if you were to listen to the stance of the Synod... all will come right. It is such a stance that saved me, honestly. You could be talking to a creature of the Dark Side right now, if it were not for that!"
Gallagher gives D'an a wink.
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"Even more will die if we do not conduct this investigation correctly and make its effects lasting!" Gallagher says. "And such a lifestyle is more expensive than it sounds. Ships need fuel, people need food and payment. The Red Lance got a head start because of the immense wealth they had in their possession. Additionally, I feel maybe they are forced to entertain this lifestyle after past experiences with bases..."
Sorry about the disappearing act guys... Feel free to MSn me or PM me or something to get my ass back in gear...
Anyway, couldn't I have CorSec put some sort of fake alert out about Andro and Jelena? Something to the tune of "Highly dangerous Scum-like people"
Something where they could go, "look how much CorSec hates us, we are awesome pirates"
I love that idea! Though obviously Andro and Jelena should get fake piratey names...
Unfortunately Jelena and Andro do not have any Merits that would be immensely helpful here.
We might need to look into getting funds to purchase a junky trader-sized starship for getting around in disguise.
Also, Jelena wants Essallin to follow up on the lead she discovered, to see if she can find where any of those people went.
CorSec will also point out that you had better fake some identities rather than uisng your own names- but yes, they can fake a security file for you. Certainly helpful- but really it is somthing that works best if someone background checks you. It doesn't establish a reference in the first place, because it is too new.
The Hutt Space angle might be very difficult for you guys, though in CorSec you do at least have something. That's not the only possible angle to get 'in' on the pirates though.
Just checked to see if you guys have any Ties, Allies or Contacts that would be able to get you use of an innocuous ship- afraid not. DOn't dump these ideas, though, because maybe you'll get some more friends to help out on this later...
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Essalin doesn't know how to make this work. But if the pirates keep putting out feelers to recruit local knowledge, then she says wouldn't it be possible to intercept them on that end? If you find them at the point they start asking questiond and so on.
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"Do you believe what the Synod told you?" asks D'an. "After all, if the Jedi went with the Synod's view, we'd never try and do anything."
Giving Sunda his answer (he mooches off a bit, not seeming happy), you do consider what you just said, Gallagher. It is indeed a very expensive lifestyle to stay nomadic, which is why most pirate clans try to have some grounding. Space is barren; it produces nothing. Other than the constant use of fuel for your ships, you also need food, water, other similar supplies... it is not as if there are no other nomadic clans, but the most successful ones always find some stability- heck, look at Hutt space. That started as simple piracy.
And it is also not something that the Red Lance is culturally used to- they don't have the history or network for it. They must be getting in a LOT oif supplies to kepe themselves going.
Zaland tells you that the girl was always there, before he even met you, but his duties always got in the way; he kept thinking he would get to it later.
"There on that hopsital bed, I found myself thinking," he says, "If I keep putting it off, it might end up being too late. It's a dangerous life I lead. All the senior Thespian families are under threat from their old criminal acquaintences."
Ideas stored for later, then!
"You mean we could pin down who the scouts are based on their new arrival and when they start getting nosey about their surroundings?" Jelena asks of Essallin. "Not a bad idea."
Hutt Space just happens to be our first idea on the matter, I think. Unfortunately Jelena is not extremely privy with Savoir-Faire or maybe it would be easier.
"I can imagine they are," Gallagher sighs, regretting that he can not do much more to help his homeworld rid itself of its past, no more than he can rid himself of his own. "I am sorry that my strange position has cost you so much time, Zaland. I really am. Now, at least, you will have more of it. Who is she? Have I met her?"
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"I believe it to a certain degree," Gallagher says. "I like to think that the Jedi simply help the Force find that healthy balance in which things prosper and thrive. There is no doubt that we are its agents, D'an, and you are right; if the Synod's views were taken as truth by our Order, then the Order really would have no reason to exist at all."
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Following that line of thought, there must be somewhere that the Red Lance is gathering all of those supplies from, purchasing in mass quantity. They don't steal them in their hits, unless they are spending time and energy hitting Outer Rim targets for such things.
Then they must be obtaining large quantities of food.
Which might be easier to track than stolen goods. I don't think the Hutts deal in foodstuffs, so they might be resorting to legal means. Or stealing it somehow...
My perverse sense of irony makes me thing that they are stealing it from the Famine relief ships of last game.
Also E is completely right, we can try to find how the pirates got in contact with the insiders. What we can do on that end is some good old fashioned detective work. Start with the suspected pirate insiders, the ones who worked at the bank. Trace their lives backwards, and see if we can find out WHEN the pirates made contact. From there we can look at How, and why.
Lets keep closing the net.
Anyway, if we keep looking into all of these ends we should eventually be able to pin them down to a modus operandi.