Xho me the way to go home [D5, ME, Dantooine's Last Hope]

[Zizzy Roosh]

Zizzy arrived at the ship dressed for an evening of digging though the archives. Her revealing but practical beach attire had been swapped for her trainee's robes, probably much to the disappointment of most. It would be cooler on the ship though.

She has decided to bring Camlen, just in case something came up that he could help her with. Finding a terminal with a comfortable chair she started delving into the archival info.

"Okay, Master Xho. Give me all of the information on him for the last six years.". She queried the database and sat back to see what it would give her.

[Hatoful GM]

MASTER XHO
CEREAN
MASTER
DECEASED (date)

The date was just over four years ago.



"That's it?" Camlen scoffed. "I'm pretty sure we knew that already."

He shook his head, blond hair mussing, as usual. "Dig a bit deeper. There's gotta be something else." He gave Zizzy an encouraging smile.

...................................................................

Go ahead and make a Computers check, easy difficulty (1). Camlen can assist with Int 3 Computers 1.

[Zizzy Roosh]

"Huh. That's weird. It won't even show me his research papers. Maybe I need to try searching something else? Any suggestions? Where was he need, I know it wasn't Coruscant." Her attempts to find anything on Master Xho just kept hitting a wall. Maybe there was another way? She turned on some Ortolan Blues to help them with their research.

D5. ME. Xho no. Easy computers. Assist from Camlen: 1eP+2eA+1eD 1 failure, 2 advantage


Use advantage for an alternative approach.

[Hatoful GM]

An angry blat was what Zizzy earned for her query, and a flashing red light. Camlen had briefly brightened as the music came on, but now frowned thoughtfully.



"Unauthorized? For a query like this? Needs master rank to override..." He chewed his lip thoughtfully. "He had more than one workshop. The main one was on Ilum. You could..." He frowned. "... he had a lot of unique equipment; I can describe some of it. You could try tracking back from that, seeing if you could slip in through an unexpected line of questioning."

..........................................................................

If you follow Camlen's suggestion, you can try again at average difficult. Or, you can try something else!

[Zizzy Roosh]

Zizzy tried that, but either her description of the equipment wasn't good enough or it was also linked to the info on Master Xho. "Huh. Okay, this is really weird."

She reset the console and when she waited connected the holocron up to a projection system. "Well, at least you should be able to play your mix tape now."

She tapped her chin trying to think of a different approach. "I guess I could look up activity logs for Ilum in the six months leading up to the date it says he died?"

D5. ME. Xho not again. Average computers. Assist from Camlen: 1eP+2eA+2eD 0 successes, 1 threat

[Hatoful GM]

Again, the computer flashed red, requesting a master's credentials.



"Yeah, okay." Camlen nodded. "I like it. Shouldn't be too much info, either. Believe me, Ilum doesn't have a whole lot going on."

He grinned at her. "Hold on. Let's see how you like this." He reached out, as though activating a console, and music began to play over the speakers. It was similar in style to Ortolan Blues, but with more wind instruments, and a bit faster.

...........................................................................

I like that idea, too! Back to easy. And don't worry, there's always other ways.

[Zizzy Roosh]

"Oh, that really good. Is that Bith?" She nodded in approval. "Okay Camlen, you've got taste, I'm impressed." Her fingers tapped away to enter the new search query. This time it didn't kick her out, and there was something interesting in these files...

D5. ME. With the Ilum behaviour. Easy computers. Assist from Camlen: 2eP+1eA+1eD 0 successes, 4 advantage

Wrong dice above, I didn't spend destiny.
D5. ME. With the Ilum behaviour. Easy computers. Assist from Camlen. Correct dice: 1eP+2eA+1eD 3 successes, 2 advantage

Hooray for correct dice!

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen smiled. "I thought you'd like it. There's a lot of cross between Ortolan and Bith bands." He was clearly pleased, his smile lingering even as they read.

The activity log didn't prove that interesting, at least at first. It was easy to spot the day that Xho died. The real piece of information came in the report a week later, detailing the arrival of a full Jedi investigative team. And not a small one, either; the sort that was only dispatched when something big was going on.

(no roll required to follow up)

[Zizzy Roosh]

Without thinking about it Zizzy moved a little with the music, her tendrils gently floating in time with the beat. She revealed the info to Camlen.

"Oh wow, there's like a full team of Jedi Investigators." She looked at Camlen. "That's not normal. Something weird must have happened, but what?" Her fingers ran across the keys as she looked for further information related to the case.

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen's eyebrows went up. "That is unusual. It sounds like a lead to me. They must have suspected something to send so many Jedi to investigate."

As the music played, he gave Zizzy a decidedly fond sidelong glance. "I'm gonna pick something else out. Gimme a sec." He turned, hand raised, as he sorted through for the proper song.

The information on the investigation team was a bit terse, but there was still a wealth of information. Inventories were taken, forensic information was requested, people were interviewed. Based on the flurry of activity, it seemed like no stone was left unturned. Personnel at the nearby landing base had been brought in, too, regarding the theft of a small craft. This, combined with a missing person, gave the Jedi Investigators a suspect.

It wasn't entirely clear what evidence was gathered; that was in another report, which Zizzy lacked access to. In the end, whatever it was, it wasn't enough for the Jedi Investigators to return a definite verdict. They did, however, give a strong recommendation for arrest and expulsion from the order from their sole suspect.

Master Xho's Padawan, Camlen.

[Zizzy Roosh]

Her gut reaction was that this was clearly a mistake and he must have been set up. Why would Master Xho trust Camlen enough to have him make a holocron of he was likely to turn on him? She decided that she really needed to get a copy of the investigation report and memorised the code so she could request it. Then she took another look for Master Xho's research Paris before Camlen turned back around.

"So... Any chance you're allowed to tell me more about why Master Xho decided to have you record a holocron?"

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen selected another song, with a good steady beat, but a little slower and smoother. "How about this?" He said, turning back to Zizzy with a smile.

The question made him stop. His mouth opened, a look of surprise obvious on his honest features. "Yes. I can, in fact. Something's changed." He gave her a curious look. "I don't know what criteria this uses to judge what I can give access to. I know holocrons can judge Force aptitude, but I don't think that's it." His lips quirked. "Unless you've become a master since we last spoke."

He shook his head. "Anyway, Master Xho discovered the location of something. An ancient lost planet. He was worried that if the information fell into the wrong hands, it could be disastrous." He grimaced. "I don't know the location, or even the name, but I can tell that it was once very important to the Jedi."

[Zizzy Roosh]

"That's... Good actually, I like it." She listened to the rest of his story with care.

"Huh. Okay, that's very interesting. Do you think you might have that information, but you can't access it yet - or you just don't have it at all? And I'm also wondering: why did he encode you into a holocron and not himself? And did he mail you back to Coruscant?" She stopped herself. "Okay I've got like a hundred more questions but I need to learn to be more patient with them." She smiled and allowed Camlen to think about it.

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen laughed at the sudden rush of Zizzy questions. "No, that's fine. I don't mind at all." His lips quirked. "I like a curious mind."

He looked thoughtful. "There's more information, I just can't access it. Not yet. But we unlocked a bit more, so there must be a way to unlock the rest, too."

"Ummm... what else." He frowned. "Why me, because he was doing something a bit experimental. I think... I think this was an older holocron that he overwrote." He grimaced. "That... seems weird, but he must have had a good reason." Camlen nodded, his faith in his master strong.

He spread his hands. "As far as the last question, sorry. I don't remember anything about what happened before you woke me up. He... did travel, sometimes. Maybe he dropped me off on some trip back? Or someone else did it? I don't think he would have trusted many people with, uh, me, though." Camlen shrugged.

[Zizzy Roosh]

Zizzy's curiosity was fully engaged now. "Wait, he overwrote an older holocron? I didn't even know that was a thing. Is there someone else in there with you? Or is it like, only room for one consciousness?"

She pondered the full implications of what Camlen had said. "Hmm. Was Master Xho worried about the information getting into a specific set of hands? Or just being cautious." It sounded a little paranoid, but now it had her wondering if Camlen had been set up to take the fall by someone who wanted Master Xho's information.

[Hatoful GM]

"Yeah." Camlen brushed a hand through his hair. "It's just me in here, so he really overwrote it. I can't imagine he'd get rid of any sort of important info, though." Still, it was clear from his expression that Camlen was a little uncomfortable with the idea anyway.

He pursed his lips. "A little of both. The Sith, definitely. But I think he was worried about the wrong Jedi hands, too. Maybe that part was just..." he sought the right phrase, "-an abundance of caution." A polite way of saying maybe his master was a bit paranoid.

[Zizzy Roosh]

"Wow. Okay." The overwriting of a holocron was odd enough, but being paranoid about his fellow Jedi? That was a little shocking. Could it just be an academic dispute?

"Do you know if there was anyone in particular that he was worried about? Sith and Jedi I mean. Did he share that sort of thing with you?"

[Hatoful GM]

Camlen sighed. "He trusted me, a lot. But I could tell he still held back, a bit."

He pursed his lips thoughtfully. "His greatest fear was the Sith. I don't think he was afraid of any particular Jedi, more in..." He shook his head. "'Anyone can fall to the Dark Side', he used to say, to explain some precaution he took. Maybe something about this made him especially worried. I don't know."

The song changed, moving back to something more familiar to Zizzy. Camlen didn't seem to notice, his expression troubled.

[Zizzy Roosh]

Zizzy tapped along to the beat pondering the implications of this information about Xho. Something occurred to her, but it felt silly even saying it. "Was he... Did Master Xho get force visions of the future? Do you think maybe he was worried about falling to the dark side himself?"

And importantly, which legendary planet would be so important that the idea of the wrong person finding it was so hard for him to stomach? Zizzy started to look up any info she could find on lost planets with powerful links to the force.

[Hatoful GM]

Unfortunately, there were many, and separating truth from legend was just too broad without any place to start.

Slowly, Camlen nodded. "He did. Have visions, I mean. It's one of the reasons I was paired with him. He helped me to understand my own visions."

His frown grew deeper. "If he was afraid for himself, he never told me. Do you think... what do you think?" He asked hesitantly.