2007-11-22 - A Piece of a Puzzle

Coruscant: Retreat of the Jedi Knights - Courtyard
Within these clean white walls, the chaos of the City seems to disappear. The airspace above is completely clear of traffic, and the cacophony of aircars and speeders cannot seem to penetrate the heavy stonework all around. By day the clear blue sky shines down between the frame of the walls, and by night the brilliant stars of the Core are complimented by innumerable points of light drifting lazily through the sky: starships high in orbit.
Most of the courtyard is covered with a verdant green grass, speckled here and there with white star-shaped flowers; this plantlife grows freely across the untrimmed lawn. A road of the same clean white stone as the walls meanders across this lawn like a creek, spilling into wider 'ponds' of circular landing pads placed here and there seemingly at random. In the center of the lawn, a wide tower stands slightly higher than the walls, crowned with a simple dome. Similar towers stand at each corner of the walls.
Tuil sits on the grass. Since his return, he has spent much time here simply sitting and thinking when not busy with other business. The Jedi has his eyes closed and he looks like he is current meditating as stones occasionally rise up off the ground and float around.
Meena Tills enters the grounds of the Jedi Retreat and seems uncertain at first, but then he spots Tuil, and immediately turns his steps toward him.
Lobo follows closely behind the Senator. The Cyborg seems ill at ease. He scan the area for any potential threat to Meena Tills.
Tuil's eyes open and he rises without pause. Calling out to the senator, he says, "Greetings and welcome. You did not call my comlink. I would assume you have important news of some kind?"
Meena Tills sighs at that. "I do not know if it is important or not," he replies. "But perhaps we can go somewhere reasonably private?"
His red eye tightens on Tuli, moved by unseen servos beneath his flesh. Lobo only spends a moment sizing the Jedi up, then resumes his careful scan of the area. Coruscant is dangerous after all, for some.
Tuil waves. "This way, please."
Coruscant: Retreat of the Jedi Knights - Council Chamber
There is a somber feeling about this wide circular chamber, enclosed all in simple white stonework. The roof ascends overhead in a subtle dome the peak of which is lost to the soft lighting in shadow. Set about the circumfrance of the chamber are a number of simple chairs, each carved of dark wood and uncushioned. Each of these chairs varies in size and shape, but all are of nondescript design.
Spaced about the perimeter of the chamber are several small open doorways leading without into the courtyard, and between each of these a small recess holds a fountain built into the stonework of the tower walls, bubbling and gurgling with the good cheer and peace of a natural creek. The bowl of each fountain holds a cunning spherical lamp that bobs and floats in the water, and each of these is subtly tinted somwhere in the spectrum between blue and green. The affect of this moderate light dancing with the water across the domed ceiling is ghostly, and the indeed the chamber seems a world of its own: a sanctuary apart from the galaxy without.
Tuil turns back and asks, "Please, if you would, tell me what concerns you that requires a place of privacy."
Meena Tills sighs and seats himself. "You requested information about the item that the navy seems to have ... lost. I have no information about that. However, in the midst of recent events, one small thing happened that does not fit everything else I know, and given the nature of Jedi ways, I think it wiser to tell you that one fact that fits nothing else, rather than make further speculations about who might have absconded with it."
Tuil sits and waits, practicing the virtue of patience.
Lobo pauses by the door. He doesn't secure it, however the positioning he takes leave a surprise from that direction no room. The Cyborg gives the Senator a nod, then returns to his scanning of the area. By now his role as Meena's personal security is obvious.
Meena Tills grimaces, seeming uncomfortable. This is not something he wants to do, it would seem, yet something he feels he must. "It may seem irrelevant at first," he continues. "Some days ago, when Vanix saw the ascenscionn of Stella Tari, I paid her a visit to congratulate her on her ascension to the throne. As it happens, Petrus was there, having been asked by the PRincess to help provide security in the immediate wake of the election."
The names mentioned by Meena or possibly the events cause a flinch in Lobo's otherwise impassive features. He says nothing. Still, the fact he listening isn't hidden. Cowled in darkness, the Cyborg plays his role well, watching over the Senator but always listening. Collecting information that may lead to the danger of his charge.
Tuil nods and remarks, "This seems unremarkable so far. I have not made the acquaintance of the princess yet. Say on!"
Meena Tills nods slowly, glancing a moment at Lobo. "During the conversation I observed the Princess hug Petrus, and he winced, as if from pain at a deep wound," Meena continues. "The next day he was as well as ever, and made no mention of having been injured, nor did he at the time. That is a sole, solitary isolated fact, the only one I can state from personal experience that makes no sense to me in light of all else I know. I pass it on to you, for what it is worth, or not worth, as the case may be."
"Intriguing." Tuil sits back and rubs his chin. "She hugged him and he winced. I have seen some battle myself lately and I do not claim to have not suffered any wounds." He smirks and nods to the senator. "This news is another piece, but to what puzzle, I will have to ponder."
"I have met Stella Tari. Last I saw her she was on Vanix as a Captain of the Police. Aure Kaia and the Jedi Orin where in her company," Lobo states quietly. he continues to watch for danger, not looking in the direction of those to which he speaks. "She did not seem wealthy enough to rise into the position of Princess. I compute that she has a powerful backer cloaked in darkness." It Speaks! 
Meena Tills nods. "I wish I had more information I could give you, but I am in the position of a man in a dark cave, making inferences from shadows cast from outside."
"Trust in the Force, Senator." Tuil glances up at Lobo and calls, "Many there are who are rising up who have not the means with which to rise. Dragen and now this Tari." The Jedi shrugs. "Our eyes deceive us. We must not trust them, but instead we must stretch our feelings."
Meena Tills gives the faintest of smiles. "I do not find my feelings to be trustworthy allies. In politics, at least, it is safer to ask the old question, "Who benefits?"
"First we would need to detect Tari's motives and then decide who would benefit. This can be investigated."
"Obviously the new princess of Vanix has some form of relationship with the Supreme Admiral. The intimate contact between the two only confirms that," Lobo says in his emotionless monotone. "Dragen and Petrus are at odds. Logic dictates that Dragen and Tari are not in cahoots, if my theory about her connection to Petrus is correct."
Meena Tills nods. "Petrus and I are political allies, and we discussed the need to find an ally, and discussed whether there was any chance of Vanix electing a sympathetic Senator," he notes. "I desire only good for the Republic, and the discussions were in that light, and I have seen no evidence that Stella Tari intends anything other than the good of Vanix and the Republic. The wincing seemed unrelated to events on Vanix, and I would judge that a safe assumption."
Meena Tills says, "I only mentioned the one fact because I know that the matter you asked me about, Tuil, must be important to the Jedi.""
Tuil is considering deeply now and he looks up at Meena, "The first object went missing while in Petrus' custody and then on Kashyyyk there were a pair of cloaked figures who attempted to recover the related object and were injured while doing so..." The Jedi allows that to hang in the air, letting the others make the deduction themselves.
Meena Tills shrugs. "Frankly, I wish to know as little about this matter as possible. If it is a Jedi affair, I would rather it remained a Jedi affair. I've told you what I need to tell you. If you do not mind ...?" ... he begins to turn toward the door.
Lobo falls silent as the conversation drifts above his pay grade. He turns his attention back outward. Always expecting something to happen.
Tuil rises. "May the Force be with you, Senator, Byborg."
Meena Tills nods and turns to the door.
FORCE: You experience a fearful feeling and receive a vision: a flicker of red, an image of a tall tower.
You cannot tell where this vision comes from.
FORCE: You experience a gloating feeling and receive a vision: A very clear image of Manzio Antigon, on Vanix II..
You cannot tell where this vision comes from.
Continued in A Piece of a Puzzle (II).
Category:November 2007 RP Logs