Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

After Order 66, few Jedi dare to venture outside the shadows—rumors of the dark and terrible Darth Vader haunting even their waking moments. Yet, some Jedi find this life of fear unbearable. The Empire is always watching, and Vader himself is eager to confront any Jedi that might bring him closer to the whereabouts of his betrayer, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Shurijo » Mon Oct 18, 2021 2:22 pm

Several hours later, a human male Imperial officer along with a squad of troopers approaches Shoshannah and Tavleth. "I am Jenneth Pilar," he states. "Welcome to Raada. I hope to provide the Emperor with the best crop the galaxy has ever seen. Please extend my gratitude to Director Acina." Waving his hand ahead, he leads the group towards the prefab installation's gate.

Troopers guarding the gate, open it, and allow the group to pass through. Outside the base, Shoshannah notices a typical remote, Outer Rim Territory settlement. The town was small with scattered housing and a few service oriented businesses like a restaurant, bar, and farming equipment mechanic shop. The settlement's spaceport had been surrounded by the Imperial base's walls to be included within their prefab installation and assuming to prevent any off world travel.

The arable, crop fields surrounded the settlement while the rest of the moon appeared to be rocky hills, as far as Shoshannah could see. From her estimates, the farmers consisted of only a few hundred spread over several dozen work crews. The vast majority of the settlement appeared to be farm hands, with only a few others to take care of the local services.

As they near the crops, Shoshannah makes out a work crew in the field. Tavleth notes and asks, "Their equipment seems to be old. Did the Empire not provide new farming equipment?"

Pilar responds, "It was not in the budget. Our goal is to be cost effective and that would have exceeded the allocated funds. The local equipment was deemed fit for use. We have also increased their work crew by extending work hours and enlisting citizens from other, less important, local businesses."

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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Muskrat » Mon Oct 18, 2021 5:48 pm

Shoshannah asks, "What are the local businesses you recruited them from? Sometimes what's important for agricultural production may be surprising." At the very least, she may be able to make a case against this practice in her report--assuming she doesn't escape.

She scans the area, trying to get a sense of the attitudes of the work crews. Are they being quietly submissive or are their hints of resentment? She also looks for places within the village she might be able to hideout.
Cunning 2/ Perception 1

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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Shurijo » Wed Oct 20, 2021 7:48 pm

Pilar looks at Shoshannah appearing that he doesn't get questions very often. "Important businesses. The tavern and spaceport personnel are not needed for farming, so they joined the work crews along with other smaller businesses."

Looking around the work crews, she watches them as they perform their duties like the numerous generations before them. The Raada farmhand families have passed their occupations through many generations. They move and work as she would expect. She gets the feeling that they are tired from the extended shifts required to meet the scheduling requirements, so they work as fast and proficient as their mental and physical fatigue allows them.

As the troopers and Pilar continue forward, Shoshannah's eyes linger a bit longer on the farm hands and she sees both fear and hatred in their eyes as they stare at the troopers, Pilar, Tavleth, and her.

The village buildings are adequate for the environment with proper drainage and irrigation throughout the town, but the walls and builds are not harden against blasters or from any larger mounted canon blasts from the nearby Imperial base. The simple structures might allow someone to hide, but it wouldn't take long for the troopers to conduct a building-by-building search.

On the outskirts of the town, she notices a couple houses including what appeared to be a mechanics shop. A few kilometers outside the village, the rocky hills surround the area. With her knowledge of geology, she believes there might be a chance of caves within the hills. The Imperial troopers would have a more difficult time searching the hills and possible caves than the town.

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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Muskrat » Wed Oct 20, 2021 9:08 pm

"How much of a problem do we have runaways?" Shoshannah asks Pilar. "How effective is our control of the surrounding countryside? Are there any folks who live outside the town in the forests?" She uses "we" and "our" deliberately to foster the misconception that she now identifies with the Empire.

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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Shurijo » Fri Oct 22, 2021 10:11 pm

Pilar turns to answer her questions, "None have fled so far. On these backwards Outer Rim worlds, there's usually a few that get riled up. The troopers keep the peace and there's been no resistance since the last event."

Looking out to the horizon, he muses, "There might be some living in the hills. There's little to no food there so unless they can survive eating dirt and rocks. We've done some fly overs and scans and didn't see any signs of residency outside the town."

Turning to look back at the base and pointing to the spaceport, he states. "The starfighters perform routine patrols of the area." Just as he's looking at the spaceport, a small starship appears from the atmosphere making it's way towards the landing."

Shoshannah notices that Pilar eye's linger a bit longer on the incoming starship. Possibly, the ship wasn't expected.

"We.. we should head back now." He stats as he throws his arms up in a motion to round everyone up and send them back to the base.

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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Muskrat » Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:44 pm

Shoshannah inwardly sighs. If Pilar is correct about the surrounding countryside, she will have little chance to escape and hide out here. But they might be able to make the case for exploring the countryside, which would allow her to assess it on her own.

Shoshannah wonders what Pilar is worried about. In an innocent voice, she asks, "Already? We haven't even had a chance to take soil samples. I don't mean to make your job difficult, but when will we be able to come back out?" She hopes Pilar will accidentally share some information in his response.
Presence 3/ Charm 2

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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Shurijo » Tue Oct 26, 2021 10:53 pm

Pilar seems distracted as he carelessly waves off Shoshannah's comment. Telling the trooper squad leader, "Let them wander for a hour -- not outside of the farms -- then back to base. I'm going to see who's in that starship."

"Aye, sir." The squad leader responds.

With Tavleth and the troopers, Shoshannah now has some time to explore the nearby area.

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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Muskrat » Wed Oct 27, 2021 10:10 pm

It was not what she had hoped for, but Shoshannah was pretty happy with Pilar's response. And presumably low ranking storm troopers would be easier to persuade than their boss.

She turns to Tavleth, "Well, let's get to the farms and start getting some soil samples." She wants to do some routine work and get the storm troopers used to her, lowering their guard before she tries anything.

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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Shurijo » Tue Nov 02, 2021 11:21 pm

The troopers follow Shoshannah and Tavleth into the farms. Ahead, she sees a few crews working the crops. There's a dozen or more armored troopers carrying blaster rifles in her escort. Around the perimeter of the farm lands, she sees squads patrolling. Inside of the farm land, she notices several smaller trooper units patrolling around and between the various farm crews working the crops.

As she collects some samples, the troopers keep their eyes open for trouble with them watching Tavleth and Shohannah and allowing the other troopers to do their jobs of patrolling and watching the farm hands.

With a few soil samples in hand, Tavleth says, "This should be good enough for here."

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Chapter 5C: Barren Soil, Fertile Mind

Post by Muskrat » Wed Nov 03, 2021 9:43 pm

Shoshannah nods and says, "For here. But we should be sure to get samples from all the fields--we don't know how much variation there is."

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