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 ##Begin Log## Captain’s Log, entry #009 Stardate: First day of my latest stop on Coruscant After all that death-defying heroism, I still ended up having to hitch a ride to the right docking bay to meet up with Corso.  My whole trip on the Esseles feels like some kind of dream – I step on a ship at Carrick station looking to make it to Coruscant and get even with Skavak, I arrive as planned, and in-between I gun down a platoon of Imperial soldiers with three of the craziest ladies I've ever laid eyes on. I can forgive Corso for not believing me, it sounds like some nutty spacer's story. I hardly believe it myself. Still, those three girls I was working with were something else. Todessa's a walking tank. I knew officers like her back in the army, and I can tell you for sure I'd be dead two weeks into her command from either enemy action or wise-cracking. Hell of a card-player though, it's probably her freaky poker-face. R'andayn's a mean little ball of aggression. The Jedi must be hurting worse than I thought if they're handing out sabers to nutcases like her. I should just be relieved she enjoys beating on Imperials and Sith enough to stay on our side. Still, if we ever run into each other again I should ease off in case she uses that saber of hers to give me a shave from the neck up. At least Jolune was there to balance things out. Way closer to what you think of when someone says Jedi. Kind of cute, too, in a book-reading sort of way. Too bad about the haircut, but hey, she's blind, I can cut her some slack. I wonder if... Wasn't I writing about something else? Oh right, Coruscant.  First things first, I had to get past customs. Quinine “Browncoat” might not have any cargo, but my Republic ID was still keyed to a certain notorious blockade-runner. Good thing I carry a spare... Recommended for actual, honest to God smuggling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpDXRqYErkE  quote:Customs Droid: Error // Identification protocols + past cargo logs = contradictory // Request = please hold for customs enforcement agent!    A few crossed wires, aaaaand... quote:Customs Droid: Identification protocol = accepted! // Coruscant Security + Customs Enforcement Division = welcomes you, Admiral Numinn! // Request = have a pleasant stay! I'm always a little happier any day the Admiral Numinn I.D. still works. Hope the old guy's doing well.  quote:Corso: Everything on Coruscant is huge. You see those city towers as we flew in? How many people you figure live in those? Millions? It's true. Every time I've been to Coruscant, the place has still looked as scarred and beat up as ever, and the sack was years ago. If you ever needed a clear sign we're losing the war with the Empire, it's that.  quote:Quinine: We'll just rattle some skulls until Skavak falls out. Can't say I've got any better leads, my contacts on Coruscant had run off years ago.  quote:Corso: Viidu always said if you look for a sabaac table surrounded by beautiful women, you'll find Darmas, but I can narrow that down.  quote:Corso: A friend and I are in a real bind. Is there a place we can meet you?  If we're walking blind into one of Coruscant's “rowdy” parts, better we start building a reputation now. quote:Corso: Keep your comlink channel open, Darmas. I've got some bad news about Viidu. Maybe all my recent experience with getting stabbed in the back has made me jumpy, but I'd like to meet this friend of Viidu's first before I go trusting him. Viidu had a bad track record for judging character.  We weren't even out of the space-port when someone flagged us down. Looked like a politician. I tried to get past him, but he was clearly looking for me.  quote:Anitol Rosspar: I admire anyone who charges into an active volcano full of separatists and comes back alive.  quote:Anitol Rosspar: Senator Kayl leads the effort to rebuild what was destroyed during the Sith Empire's invasion. Healing those old wounds has been slow and painful. Yup, definitely a politician. Wonder how many saps he's given that spiel to? quote:Quinine: You're here collecting credits for the reconstruction, is that it? Now that came as a surprise. Meeting a Senator? I don't think I've ever even seen one in person. They're the heavy-hitters of the Republic government, and more importantly they've got a lot of credits to hire people for “urgent threats”. It sounded like trouble, but if I'm going to afford playing at Darmas's table I'll probably need at least a few creds.  quote:Anitol Rosspar: My time is the senator's time – and I never wait for long.  Geeze, you break one rebellion and save an ambassador from the Butcher of Coruscant and suddenly everyone can't keep their hands off you.  Finally we get out of the space-port and set our eyes on the crown jewel of the Republic. Coruscant. Corso said it had a way of making you feel small, but I never saw it like that. Coruscant's the Republic on a small scale. You've got people from every planet, all in one place. It's beautiful, or at least it should be.  Anitol had been happy to chat up my accomplishments as “one of the Republic's finest,” but there was one word missing from his speech – smuggling. I'm a smuggler, or at least I was. Moving goods around the galaxy and getting paid for my trouble, seeing the Republic and maybe pitching in here or there. Now I'm meeting senators and fighting alongside Jedi, I'm fighting off more Imperials than I've ever seen before – and I'm not even getting paid for it (thanks, Jolune). Am I really just going to find Skavak, throw him off the Senate tower, and go back to shipping freight? It's not just that, though. I look around Coruscant and I see scars that haven't been fixed in years, if they ever will be. I look back on Ord Mantell and see that a win there just means the Republic holds on for another day. All my life the Republic's seen winning as surviving, as losing just a little less ground than we were going to. Even on the Esseles, we had to beat the odds just to escape with our lives, and that was while everybody on that ship was trying to throw each othr to the wolves. Coruscant burns, but nobody takes the fight to the Empire's doorstep. Nobody thinks we can win. Maybe the Republic's not what I thought it was, and maybe I'm not who I thought I was either. ##End Log## [The time has come to make a choice. Quinine must choose his advanced class – will he retain his optimism and dreams of space adventure, becoming a Scoundrel? Or will he harden his heart in the face of the Republic's decline and take up the way of the blaster, as a Gunslinger? This is an advanced class vote, but it's also a chance to vote on Quinine's direction as a character. The Scoundrel is the stealth and healing branch for the Smuggler, who can sneak past enemies, heal friends, and uses one blaster and from time to time a trusty scattergun. The Gunslinger is the heavy damage class that dual-wields pistols for added punch and tends to bring more gadgets and heavier gear. Picking Scoundrel will reflect Quinine sticking to his lightsided, womanizing, roguish ways. He will remain a smuggler, adventurer and Republic patriot. Picking Gunslinger will inject cynicism into Quinine's life, and he will begin to see himself as a mercenary and working for the Republic as a job for credits. He won't be going full darkside, but he will start being motivated more by self-interest than old patriotism and misguided chivalry. The choice is yours!]
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