Fellowship of the Dice

The geologist's face scrunches as she considers the Padawan's comment. "That's strange." She says. "I don't know much about the Jedi or the "Force", but about a year or two ago, I was sent alongside the 224th to liberate Mimban from the Separatists. If it wasn't for Jedi Masters Plo Koon and Kit Fisto, I would have died on that retched planet. We got the mining industry back working again and Plo Koon brought some crystals to my team for analysis. He called them Thaissen crystals, I think. They glowed blue when they were near him, but returned to normal when he left the room. It was a very faint blue and you could only see it in darkness. After our analysis of the crystals, he asked us to wipe it from the data banks."

After a few moments, she remembers the current state of affairs and lowers her head. "I'm sorry. Did you know Plo Koon or Kit Fisto? I can re-run the analysis on these rocks looking for something similar to those on Mimban, but our instruments there found nothing significant and our resources here are limited."

Turning away from the Padawan, she grabs her datapad and scrolls through various invoices and records. "This location is still an 'off-the-books' mining operation, so we send our resources through a middle company. It appears that most of the deliveries have been going to a Mining Guild outpost on Mustafar. And... That outpost has been increasing their deliveries over the last few months."

Uri doesn't respond to her question about the Jedi Masters, but a shadow falls over his expression when she tells him about increased deliveries.

"The Kallida behave just like the Thaissen crystals you mentioned. If you carried a rock with you wherever you went, you'd know if you bumped into a Jedi if you looked at it. If they're researching the Kallida on Mustafar... These deliveries need to stop. Who's in charge of them?"

She looks over her datapad for a few moments and says, "We sell through a third party on Alderaan. These rocks take up about 5% of our resources to collect and make more than 20% of our income. We'll need to go through the boss about stopping deliveries. I'll submit a request relating to this matter and see how that goes. I'll keep you updated if anything happens."

Uri glances at Tomas at the mention of the planet Alderaan. The percentages make him skeptical of the effectiveness of a request. "That's not gonna be enough. Didn't you hear me? It has to go all the way. Who's your boss, anyway?"

The woman side glances the young padawan when he asks again. "There's another shipment going out next week," she says. Undeterred by Uri, she states, "I can't say anything more about our processes. The boss has been generous to allow you and your group to stay here. I'm sure he'll respond as soon as he gets a chance."

Meanwhile as the two converse, Tomas appears to be getting bored of the conversation. The youngling walks idly around the room looking and touching various things.

Exasperated, and feeling as though he won't get an answer if he presses further, Uri tries to stave off angsty-teen mode with the Jedi mantra in his head. "Thanks." Quietly to himself, he thinks, For nothing.

The sound of a ball-clicker that Tomas got clacking breaks Uri's focus away from the scientist, but after the fact, he can't help wondering if something was off about her tone. Maybe Tan knows who their boss is.

"Let's go, Tomas."

The padawan and youngling head back to see Master Tan. The youngling watches Uri as they walk and tries his best to appear "Jedi-like" with a proper pose and gait.

After looking in a few rooms, they find Master Tan in the mediation room. As they enter, Divak opens his eyes and welcomes them. "Have you learned anything?" He asks.

Uri peeks at Tomas and smiles to himself as the boy tries to emulate him.

When he returns to Divak in the meditation room, he answers, "Yeah, I went to Geology and told them about the rocks, they said that they had some Thaissen crystals that behaved the same way. They call these rocks 'kallida'. Most of the shipments go to a mining op on Mustafar. Demand from the planet is increasing, and it's all handled by a middle company because this outpost is not official. The next shipment is a week from now. I told the head researcher there that they have to stop, but she said that mining and selling these rocks make up a fifth of their income, and that she would submit a request and see how far it goes."

Uri gives Divak a brief moment to process what he said, and continues, "She wouldn't tell me who their boss is, and that he'd respond as soon as he gets a chance. Master, I don't think it's likely that we'll hear an answer before that shipment goes out. This feels evasive to me."

Master Divak Tank nods. "I will see what I can do regarding the facility's benefactor. I agree with your approach and I believe we'll need to investigate the shipments. The qualities of the rocks might not be known to their buyer. However, if the buyer is specifically purchasing these rocks because of their qualities then we will need to know who it is and make sure it isn't the Emperor or his minions."

The Jedi Master looks to Tomas and then back to Uri. "I want you to take lead in this task. Once the other Jedi return, organize a party to follow the shipment to Mustafar and learn more about the buyer. I believe the Janos' underworld knowledge and Shoshannah's academic background might be useful paired with your insight and Granite's abilities. Gather your information so you can debrief the others. When next week's shipment goes out, the group can follow or ride along with the transport."

"I heard Jedi Knight Granite in the workshop. I believe he finished constructing his device. He may be ready to venture back out onto the surface. While he is quite capable, Jedi shouldn't travel or explore alone--there's too few of us to take on that risk. The others should be returning within a few days."

Uri's eyes brighten. "Uh, ok, I'll put some notes on a datapad. What was Granite working on? I'll head there next." He takes a few quickened steps to the door, then turns and looks at the youngling. "Tomas, do you want to come look at what Knight Granite made?"