The PB-950 Patrol Boat emerged from hyperspace and stood still in orbit above the planet of Devaron.

From their position, Devaron appeared to be a healthy planet that was covered in green vegetation with small bodies of blue water patched in between. The ship's class 2 hyperdrive had done a decent job getting them from the capitol of the republic to Devaron.

During their travels the team has had more than enough time to view the incoming holomessage...

:::A blue holographic image of a female Devaronian appears. She looks in distress with a blaster wound on her left anterior deltoid muscle::

"Ugh.." She winces, "To anyone who receives this message. My name is Farfan of the village of Laqasa. We are the keepers of the Eyes of Laqasa. Our settlement was attacked by a group of mercenaries led by a female who goes by the name of Lady Zirkon. The warriors of our village were slaughtered and the majority of us have been taken into slavery. I managed to escape in order to send this message. Here is the location of where we are being held captive. Please help us. I no doubt shall die to send this message to you. But, if my people are rescued then it will have been worth it. Zirkon has taken the Eyes.......Uckkk.....uckkk....Uckkkk."

:::All of a sudden the women's waist begins to clench as she is lifted up off the ground. She then flies off screen. You hear the sound of a weapon being plunged through her chest cavity. Then a hideous shriek of delight. The recording goes off.::

Coordinates with the message's origin appear on the ship's navi-computer, giving the exact location of where the captives are being held. The local government has attempted to send one squadron of warriors to free the villagers, but the squadron has yet to be heard from. They are most likely dead.

"Either that was great production values or there's a force user down there," Fog comments twiddling the end of his lekku in contemplation. "Has anyone been here before?"

"That's nasty," Vigdis remarked, looking at the the holomessage, then turned to answer Fog. "Nope, haven't been here before. Maybe Brains over there knows something about the place," she added, gesturing towards Astrid.

The Kyuzo Sector Ranger, towering over the others, shakes his head simply. Devaron is new to him. He is, however, familiar with these sorts of scum. That was the reason he had been assigned to this case after all. The force user was another matter. "That's why we have Jedi." he states in response to the Twi'lek. The vocal enhancer makes him intelligible, but his voice still sounds quite gruff, deep and gravely as he grinds out the words, struggling to form the alien words.

His resolve to complete this case was already quite strong, the holo-recording only serving to further reinforce his determination.

In response to Vigdis, Savah answers. " Not just about the place. What are these Eyes of Laqasa? And why would a Force user be interested in them? " Then, as opposed to any one in particular, Savah speaks in general, as she looks at her mission companions. " And what should be our course of action? Do we seek out the local authorities first, or do we want to keep the momentum of our arrival here? We have the coordinates of the prisoners, they might not last long if there is a merciless Force user out there. "

Espio clears his throat, "I must check with the local authorities and get support. You Jedi should scout the site and report back. Do not engage without authorization." he directs emphatically.

“I have not been to Devaron, but I do know the history of the goggles. The Eyes of Laqasa were created by Jedi huntress Laqasa Trill, to assist her in maintaining the ecological balance. She approached the hunt in the same meditative manner you might practice a saber technique, though she never used her lightsaber in the hunt.”

“The eyes are actually goggles, of course, and are purported to be imbued with the Force in some fashion. I am afraid I am not familiar with how exactly they benefit the wearer, but Trill attributed her success against an invasive repti-simian species to the goggles. She recounted the hunt for her elusive, chameleon-like prey in her journals, and gave much credit to the goggles which she had created.”

“I believe they have been kept at a hunting lodge to this day, deep in the Blue Mountains... Is that, by chance, where these coordinates are leading us? And yes. I will lead a small party to scout the site.”

The location of Zirkon's encampment is indeed at the base of the Blue Mountains. The distress signal is surrounded by the Blue Mountains to the North and a dense jungle from the East, West, and South.

The local authorities are based out of Montellian Serat, the capitol of Devaron. Commander, Choth Rohrk, is the contact Prok Espio has. Choth is a short and stout Devaronian with red skin and ram shaped horns. He usually dresses in a green military uniform that allows him to access the jungle vegetation of the planet. He is willing to take a call from Prok Espio at any time of the day.

"If we're not familiar with the planet then it might be best that we all go to the capital first, speak with the experts and obtain recommended terrain-suitable vehicles which are stealthier than just roaring in overhead with the Patrolboat," Vigdis suggested.

" I, too, would much prefer a scouting party. " Savah interjects. " But charging headlong into an enemy encampment with no support over open ground never worked. Isn't there a possibility to drop a scouting party off slightly further? Somewhere in the jungle? Best of both worlds,so to say. "

"Maybe from the Blue Mountains to the north of the encampment? There would be more cover to prevent Zirkon's group from seeing the drop-off, and a chance that we could get an overview of the camp from above before making a closer final approach." Vigdis suggested.

"A local guide would still be a good idea, particularly if none of us are experts in stealth and wilderness survival and orienteering. I'd hate to walk for two days, only to find out that I'd gone in the wrong direction!" she added after a moment's thought.

“Prok, open coms with your local contact, and I’ll secure the holomaps we need.” (The Kyuzo Sector Ranger establishes a connection).

”Commander Rohrk, this is Consular Astrid Andasca of the Jedi Exploration Corps. With me are Sector Ranger Prok Espio, as well as several Jedi, sent by the Council.”

”Thank you for welcoming us to Devaron, Commander. You know why we are here. It would assist us greatly if you could send us the holomaps for the region in question. The Exploration Corps has the maps, of course- helped create them- But under the circumstances, we deployed to aid you in this matter without delay.”

Astrid’s use of the Force here is subtly woven into her words, barely perceptible to even the Jedi present, who tend to frown upon such casual usage.

"Please call me Choth," The Devaron replies, "Of course. Sending you what we have."

On the ship's holoprojector you see one large building. The first image is a bird's eye view and then the second is a ground view. The bird's eye view shows a large square shaped building with four entrances all at the front of the building (No back or side entrances from what you notice). The only visible guards are at the front of the building.

At the front of the building there are four entrances.

1. At the north most side of the building. The door is the smallest of the four doors. It is stationed right outside of a little stand that is being housed by a 'cook' who is preparing meals for some of those working under Zirkon. The only one who seems to have access to the door is the 'cook'. The cook is using a retinal scanner to go in and out of that door.
2. Door 2 is a little below door number 1. There are two Quarrens guarding it at all times. There is a decent amount of activity going in and out of this door. As you notice some of the Quarrens and Students of Zirkon are transporting cargo to and out of the door.
3. Door 3 i There are two Quarrens guarding it at all times. There is a decent amount of activity going in and out of this door. As you notice some of the Quarrens and Students of Zirkon are transporting cargo to and out of the door.
4. Door 4 is at the south side of the building. This is where the guard toward post. 1 Nikto along with 4 Quarrens are stationed there.

There is a large Silhouette 5 Corvette docked right outside of the base. Zirkon and her troops seem to be loading the ship up. Outside there are tarps and tents setup. There are two more building outside.

1. Small shack with a refresher. Some of the Quarrens and Students use that building as a break room in between loading.
2. The second building has a loud HUMMING sound being emitted from it. There are three guards stationed outside. At one time during the surveillance footage a technician is seen going inside of the building and then out.

This is where the holo-footage from Chotch' spy goes out as a hand clasps over his mouth and then you guy see a blade stabbed right through his heart.

Chotch makes mention of any other assistance you may need. "Willing and ready to help."

"D***! How old is this surveillance footage from your, errr, scout, Chotch?" Vigdis asked. "And do you have the resources to keep that corvette grounded - or at least out of orbit - if we go in and then they try to take off before we're finished with them?"

She looked again at the images. "Can we get a count on the number of students and number of guards/other help, and does anyone have any guesses as to where the prisoners are being kept? My guess is that door #1 - counting from the north - has to be food supplies, but there might also be prisoners there."

Chotch grunts, "Last time my scout party reported was 30 hours ago, and we have some star fighters that might be able to buy you some time."

“I wonder how difficult that ship would be to stea..” (glancing at the more knightly of the Jedi present) “err.. surreptitiously confiscate? Impound for trafficking in cultural property?”

Espio leans down over the map and rewinds to the birds eye view, scanning it briefly. Then he switches to a larger-scale map of the area, showing the camp and its surroundings. He leans back, crossing his arms as he thinks through approach vectors and potential landing sites... He sees two. One to the south, and another to the north.

He shakes his head at Vigdis, "No. How many were in the buildings? Counting the ones we see is a best-case scenario." He switches the map back over to a view of the base and looks at the doors, gesturing in turn to each door. "Door four. Guards, no activity. What are they guarding?" He asks rhetorically. He pauses momentarily, "They need to sleep." He points to door three, "Door three. Most activity." He points to door two, "Door two, probably cargo."

When he finishes, he turns to Astrid, "I have authority to impound their ship. I have discretion in the method of impoundment, but the ship must take minimal harm."

He changes the view of the map again and addresses everyone now, but primarily the Hutt pilot, Thorkan. "I see two spots. One north," he traces his finger along the attitude necessary to come in unseen, "One south." likewise, he traces this path. "We should go with the north." he states confidently, feeling no real need to explain why, having used up most of his word-count for the day within the last three minutes and wanting to relax his larynx.

"Wouldn't mind looking at that corvette's engines myself, either," Vigdis muttered to Astrid.

More loudly, she asked Astrid "Would you be able to, umm, sense the presence of stampedable wildlife in the area? Something like that would be a nice distraction to cover our approach."

The Hutt sleepily notices his fellow compatriots as he enters the room “ you all seem very excited did something good happen? “ ( note he speaks basic with a rather odd pitch)

" We may need your expertise for a nice little surprise drop. " Savah replies the hutt pilot with an excitable grin. " We're looking at the best approach. Do you have any ideas? "

“ Ohhh” he half stops himself from laughing “ So land you mean actual landing? “ he glances at Espio “ Not the Zephaniah 5 type right? “ but before anybody can answer he rushes towards the cockpit “ HA! You kids are alright!! “

Turning in the doorway “ You know Marshall, if it’s safe it’s dull! “ he gives out a large laugh before heading in further

The Kyuzo steps back towards the table as the Hutt leaves and reconsiders his original plan. He wasn't expecting such detailed intel. Based on what he'd heard about the warriors sent out to investigate, he hadn't expected more than an old satellite image of the general area. This intel was pretty good. As much as he'd prefer to take it slower, get support before moving in, they were already here and time was of the essence. He finally spoke up. "This is more information than I expected." He pulls a small, circular object out of a pouch in his belt and turns it over in his hand for a moment before he begins to speak, at which point he holds it up for all to see. "Take this tracking beacon. I will come from the south while you Jedi come from the north. I will distract, you place this on the ship. If possible, attempt to take the ship and fly to Montellian Serat. If you succeed, return quickly with reinforcements." He pulls another small, metallic item out of his belt, holding it up for the others to see. It is a badge carrying the crest of the Sector Rangers, Espio's SEO ID number, and a coded activation panel on the back, which Espio triggers. "This will give you my authority, and should be enough for them to give you the necessary forces." He places both on the table for the Jedi to pick up.

Thorkan the Hutt lands the Patrol Boat in the designated position. In terms of an area to land it was a good one. However, there was a slight fender bender on the landing, causing a small bang sound like a tree branch falling in a quiet neighborhood at night.

**********************************************************

There was a lot of commotion and chatter going on at the base. Who knows what type of message the Devorian was able to transmit.

Grys, a large red nikto in charge of the outer perimeter defenses of the base looked around as the Quarren and Humans attempted to work together. Attempted was the key. There was a lot of minor bickering and passive aggressive behavior. One group was constantly coming up to him and complaining about the other.

"Next person who complains will be speared."

This ceased that behavior fairly quickly. They were on direct orders to evacuate the base. Thirty-hours ago, Grys and his brother Tso personally dealt with a Devorian commando team. Easy pickings. There was chatter on his commlink,

"Grys, how much longer until we are ready to evacuate with the slaves?"

Grys brought up his hand held commlink,

"Give us another 6-7 hours. We are loading up the final items as we speak. Then we'll have to load up the slaves and then the artifacts..."

"Excellent. Report to me as soon as that is done. I still have some tests to conduct on the Eyes. Zirkon out."

She was paying a lot and professional towards him and his brother. Overall, Zirkon had not been difficult to work with. It was her students and the Quarrens.....

There was disturbance in the distance. What was that? Some of the Quarrens and students heard it to. "Everyone back to work," Grys ordered. The nikto brought his commlink up to his mouth again.

"Brother be on the lookout. Don't send a search party out. There is to much at risk. Just be on guard, and have your weapon ready."

After warning the Jedi to give him time to take the long way around, Prok Espio dons his helmet and strides out of the ship, heading around south before wheeling and making directly for the compound. As he wants them to know he's coming, he makes no effort to hide his movement. His black and gold armor has been polished to a sheen and he wears the badge proudly over his heart.

Responding to a challenge from the guardpost, he sets his vocal enhancer to boost his volume and bellows at the sentry. "I am a Special Enforcement Officer of the Sector Rangers. I have warrants for the arrest of Athaliah Zirkon and for the arrest of her accomplices." He knows they aren't going to just give in and so has already powered up his fibermesh. It isn't regulation, but it works pretty well. His pistol is unbuckled from the holster and ready to be grabbed at a moments notice, he's just waiting to see how this all shakes out.

Astrid Andasca has one thing going for her, in that she does not look like a Jedi. As a member of the Exploration Corps, her attire is actually more like that of Zirkon’s archaeology team. Mountaineer armor, goggles, macrobinoculars hanging in front, surveyor’s satchel resting on one hip... and yes, the extended hilt of her shoto hanging at the other.

When she is sure her presence has been detected, she makes no further attempts at stealth, and continues to approach the north entrance. “Hey, good lookin’, whatcha got cookin’?”

Seeing the defensive posturing, the implicit challenge in the guards’ stance, she holds her hands out. “Woah.. Easy, there, fellas. Zirkon’s expecting me, but I’m positively famished, see?”