Fwurg

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

"Negative." Nathan whispered.

"The longer we're here the higher the chance we will be detected and the others might have found something already."

And with that he started to move to the cargo-bay they came in through and back to the others.
((Check: 9 = 4 Force Level + 4 Fitness + 1 Stealth -- remaining undetected))

[Shebi Ajava]

Back at the lab, Ajava was not at all amused with Arianna's retort.

"No Arianna, I am not your superior. But you know as well as I do that communication is necessary to work as a team. I proposed a plan of action, not a suggestion, and you did not object. Instead, you silently went your own way without informing us of this. You are right that we are not part of an army, so if you have a problem with a proposed plan, say so before executing it."

"And no. I did not want you to go alone exactly because Nalan told us that she encountered someone she did not sense with the force. We have encountered such operatives before, you and me both. And you know that if a group of ultramarine-like operatives would have beset you while you were alone in that tomb we wouldn't be talking right now!

With this would-be king here it is not unreasonable that a powerful group of operatives is here. Either as part of the would-be king's entourage or as part of a plot by another faction such as the Hutt Families. I had no reason to be suspicious of Nalan before I met the woman she claimed couldn't be sensed with the force, it fit the situation. But now I have met this woman. She seemed a normal woman... So either Nalan is incapable of moving around unseen, which is unlikely as we know she is a trained infiltrator, or she had an ulterior motive to telling us she failed."

[Fecta Trigiel]

"Besides, Ariana, Shebi Ajava clearly said that she thought that there were operatives around. And don't forget that two pair eyes see more than one, and an extra eye with ultra violet vision, night vision and infra red vision sees even more.

Anyway, while we wait for Nalan and Nathan to return we can think of our next steps.

For so far the leads I identify we can follow further are the irradiated bottles, other possible relatives and the physical appearance of the king. For someone who has inbred non-tempered DNA he has surely a distinctive look. After this I think I am out of ideas."

[Mercury]

Nathan and Nalan made their way back to the other Jedi, soon finding the five of them together once more. As they made their conversation, a knock on the door was made, but instead of waiting for the knock to be answered with whether or not the visitor was allowed entry, suddenly the door was opened rather forcefully by a strong looking Kaminoan, who moved inside.

Close behind him was the would be king, who had apparently left his ship to come to the Jedi, followed by a small arsenal of guards, flunkies and followers.

"Jedi!" he greeted them.

"I hear that besides the primary tomb of my ancestors, you have now broken open the Orlin tomb." how the king knew this fact was a mystery, but no doubt it had something to do with the scientist not keeping his mouth shut and the kings spies hearing of this.

"You are no doubt wondering why the DNA of this ancestor does not match that of my other ancestors. I assure you there is a perfectly good explanation." he reassured. "However there is a far more important matter which I want to bring up, which is how much I as legitimate ruler of Scir appreciate the work that the Jedi do." that seemed an odd angle to take on this.

"I'm afraid that my nation has not been quite as good at explaining how grateful we are to the Jedi and the nations that sponsor them, and I was pleasantly surprised none of you brought this up - very polite of you but unnecessary. Still, this is something I shall be very glad to correct when I take up my rightful position."

He paused a moment to gauge their reactions.

"Tell me how could our nation express its gratitudes to your nations in this matter?"

[Fecta Trigiel]

The moment the 'guests' entered uninvited, Trigiel closed the list. Logically he didn't want that random people saw the list while the investigation was still going on. At the same time his arm pocket opened, but it closed again shortly after seeing that it was not an attack.

"Interesting that you assume that we went for Orlin's DNA. I'm still interested in the explanation though." he said with a friendly, somewhat playful voice.

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Nathan had just started uploading the files he took from the ships database to a secure Jedi server, using his wireless holonet connection, when the would be king entered with his entourage.

Cautious of the amount of people the king brought and his words, which sounded an awful lot like an attempt at bribery to Nathan, he left his hand dangling near his lightsaber. Silent on the outside, he contacted the others via their communicators.

"Careful people, this sounds an awful lot like an attempt at bribery. When he fails they might attack, stay sharp."

Pretending to casually lean against the wall he kept a close eye on the kings entourage, watching for any sign of aggression or suspicious movements.
((Check: 8 = 4 Force Level + 4 Vision -- watching the king and his followers))

[Ariana Danacia]

"Please explain."

[Nalan Passik]

"Well I for one like the fact that our work gets appreciated. But let us not digress and please explain your reasons about the Orlin tomb"

[Shebi Ajava]

Not impressed by the would-be king or his retinue of servants and soldiers, Shebi Ajava observed the reactions of her fellow padawan paying close attention to how Nalan reacted. After seeing that they felt strongly about this rather unsubtle attempt to buy the truth, she decided to remain silent.

Unbeknownst to the others she contacted the king telepathically: Let your explanation cover enough, and we will speak more, would-be king.

((Check: 12 = 6 Force Level + 5 Energy + 1 Telepathy -- To contact the would-be king without the other Padawan knowing it.))

((OOC: Does the recepient of a telepathic message known exactly from whom it comes? The wiki says the power allows you to receive a telepathic answer, but it doesn't say anything on the subject of identification.))

[Mercury]

((OOC: I believe the recipient will be able to tell the sender provided they are familiar with the sender. Since the king-candidate has talked with Shebi Ajava before, I believe he'd be able to recognize her.))

"I trust your discretion in this matter, but... because of the embarrassment he caused, my ancestor was killed and replaced by a double, a perfectly ordinary citizen who happened to by chance look exactly like him, so nobody outside the royal family knew this. Which only goes to further prove I am indeed the rightful heir, as I know this secret which only a royal would know.

Now, I understand that this matter may warrant a detailed investigation, which could take years, perhaps even decades to complete and which even then may never be able to come to a decisive conclusion. In the meanwhile, the Jedi would of course support my kingship and naturally Scir would in turn be happy to compensate your worlds for the cost of such research with generously profitable trade arrangements in your worlds favour, as I explained."

[Shebi Ajava]

"Though you knowing such a secret would indeed be in you favour, such things should be verified. I take it you have evidence that viscount Orlin was replaced by a doppelganger?", Shebi Ajava asked dryly.

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

"And what if we would want to wait until we have conformation with supporting you ascending the throne?" Nathan said as he stopped leaning against the wall, placing his feet a little further apart.

He knew very well that this could lead to trouble, but he would not accept a bribe. No matter how profitable it was for the STF.

[Ariana Danacia]

"I believe we have time to wait for the investigation. Unless you have other evidence that supports your claim, we can not confirm that you are the rightful king yet."

[Fecta Trigiel]

"Confirm nor deny, As we are still in investigation. We will take your generous offer in consideration."

[Mercury]

"Of course I have evidence - his DNA does not match that of my family." the would be king explained. "In any case, I think I have been patient enough about this pending your investigation. If you will not verify my claim to the throne, I will have no choice but to go public with my claim and to present the DNA evidence both the usurpers and yourself have found matching me to the bodies in the royal tomb."

He looked at the others "I do not want to throw my people into civil war, but I will if it will expedite these matters.

Now I have made you a very generous offer, promising profits of in the thousands of tax for each of your worlds over time. What will it be? Wealth... or war?

I shall give you an hour to consider the matter, after that, I must do what I must."

The King turned around, ready to move out. The threat he made seemed realistic - no doubt that was the reason Senator Lophos had asked for the Jedi's discretion.

What would the Jedi do? If they chose to support the King, their respective nations would stand to profit financially, and the King would become a dictator of Scir, but though oppressed at least the people would have peace: Senator Lophos had already indicated he would abide by the decision the Jedi would make.

But if they chose not to support the King, not only would their nations miss out on a chance to gain money, but Scir would be tossed into a civil war between royalist and democrats. No doubt a relevant portion of the population would rally behind their king.

It was all in the hands of the Jedi gathered here in this room and the clock was ticking. Fifty-nine minutes, thirty seconds.

((OOC: The time delay is a purely IC thing. Take all the time you need. However, IC if you want to contact anyone or try a different plan, you have limited time.

Because things have not gone as smoothly as I had hoped, here is some OOC background information:

You have been put into one of those jerk move situations that a storyteller can put their PC's in: you have to make a choice based on incomplete information. You know something, but not enough for a perfect call.

In fact, not only do you not have 100% certainty on whether or not the king is or is not a fraud - despite your efforts - but you also don't know for certain what the future will bring. Will it be as bad as I predicted in the above narration or not? Can you influence the aftermath?

What is happening here is that you are being asked to trust the force and make a judgement call, based on what you know. There is no certainty on what you will get and this is deliberate.

In any case there is no "perfect solution" to find. Both choices have their advantages and their disadvantages and no amount of puzzling or considering will make it any easier.

You'll have to think how your character, based on the available information, would act and then live with the consequences of that choice.

I hope you enjoy the rp challenge ^_^))

[Fecta Trigiel]

"..." Trigiel was speechless for a short second, the way the king was trying to play them was astonishing idiotic. "Sir, you cannot expect from us to have the desired report in juts a few days. If you go now to the people it could lead to useless and harmful conflict. Something easily prevented if we finish our report decently and not come with a half finished piece of uncertainty."
((OOC: EDIT: fixed a typo.))

[Shebi Ajava]

Passively listening to the would-be king's ultimatum, Shebi Ajava was already calculating the impact of Nalan's possible betrayal and the things she or Ajava herself could gain by supporting the would-be king.

Once the king left, Ajava turned to the group and focussed her attention on Nalan.

"Before we discuss the issue of the would-be king, there is another issue I wish to bring up first. It seems Nalan is deliberately withholding information." Looking directly at Nalan, she continued: "I met the woman that supposedly interrupted you before you could find anything on their computers. But she was a normal person. I could easily sense her through the force. The only reason I can think of for you to try and deceive us about finding anything is that you are working for some other party, and did not want us to get a hold of whatever you found. And since we know your are a skilled infiltrator, you had to make up a reason why you couldn't find anything.

With this would-be king here it is not unreasonable that a powerful group of operatives is here. Either as part of the would-be king's entourage or as part of a plot by another faction such as the Hutt Families. I had no reason to be suspicious of you before I met the woman you claimed couldn't be sensed with the force, it fit the situation. But now I have met this woman. She was definitely a normal woman..."

"So either you are incapable of moving around unseen, which is unlikely as we know you are a trained infiltrator, or you have an ulterior motive to telling us you failed."

Shebi Ajava made sure that she could grab her lightsaber at the slightest unexpected move by Nalan.

"Nalan, I would very much like to hear why you are trying to deceive us!"

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Positioning himself in such a way he could easily step between the two blue women, Nathan was determined to smother this conflict fast.

"Personally I don't see how one mistake leads you to the conclusion she's willingly and knowingly withholding information from the rest of us."

Nathan said to Shebi Ajava.

"Besides she offered no protest of any kind when I hacked the ships network and downloaded the entire database.

More importantly we where just offered a bribe to support the king."

[Shebi Ajava]

"This isn't a simple mistake. Nalan actually told us 'But the strange part was that I could not sense her at all in the force.'

We know that ultramarines have this exact effect, and if the Slave Rebellion has such operatives we can be sure that the Hutt Families have access to operatives with the such capabilities as well. If this would-be king is indeed an infiltrator sent by the Hutt, it is very reasonable to send a team of operatives with him.

Are you telling me that Nalan, a well-trained Jedi infiltrator is incapable of sneaking around on a ship because she was found out by a normal person? That seems a little too convenient. I will not believe that you can fail on something

Besides, I had Trigiel with me, he can easily corroborate my claim that she was a normal woman. While Nalan was supposedly found out by this woman because she, in Nalan's own words, 'she was not even there you know.'

You don't see how one mistake leads me to the conclusion she's willingly and knowingly withholding information from the rest of us. Simple. Based on what I know about her skills, I can not believe that she actually failed to conceal herself from a normal woman. And her claim that she failed because this woman can not be sensed in the force has been proven false.

So the only conclusion left to us is that she deliberately failed, or that she succeeded and kept her findings to herself. I am giving her the chance to come clean, and explain herself. If she doesn't, I have no choice but to consider her compromised."

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

Nathan was more than a bit surprised about Shebi Ajava.

She clearly didn't trust Nalan, which in turn made Nathan doubt she trusted the rest of the squad.

His marine training told him to always trust his fellow squad members and that failing to do this led to dire consequences on the battlefield.

"You are exaggerating the importance of this. Trusting each other is more important right now than bickering about a mistake using the Force any of us could have made." Nathan's voice held a clear authority. "Now lock it down and save it for the trip back to Unity, when where done."

Looking to the other Jedi he went back to the subject Ajava had avoided.

"I say we don't acknowledge the kings claim."

[Shebi Ajava]

Ignoring his attempt to stonewall her by quickly changing the subject, Ajava spoke before anyone got a chance to reply.

"Padawan Asillion, are you implying that I make mistakes when I use the force?", Shebi Ajava asked in a sharp tone. "Because right now, I am in no mood to be insulted by having my proficiency in the Force questioned."

"I have clearly explained why I want an explanation from Nalan, and I will not start a war on this planet without knowing that I can trust the opinion of all my team members. I have reason to doubt a team member, and I have asked her to explain the situation. Do not change the subject again, but allow her to explain herself."

[Fecta Trigiel]

"I am with Ajava here," Trigiel said, "even I can evade a common woman, and she clearly was a common woman. So I am actually quite interested in what Nalan has to say."

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana moved her claws to her light sabers and turned her head towards Nalan. Without saying anything she waited.

[Nathan Miodrass Asillion]

"While you may be the strongest of us, even you are still a padawan. We are all still learning how to use the Force.

And even the Jedi masters admit our knowledge of the Force is incomplete. Mistakes are bound to be made by all of us."

Noticing the movements of Ariana and the increasing tension in the room Nathan moved his hand to his lightsaber as well.

"Now for the last time. What are we going to do about our royalty problem."

[Shebi Ajava]

"There's three of us that want an explanation. Nathan, stop stalling and let her speak!"