The moonlight is fairly bright, good enough to see by anyway, as Ian slinks from house to house seeking his quarry. Unbeknownst to him, he’s being trailed by his two compatriots as they keep their distance and contemplate what to do. As one who has had some experience living in shadows, Dex is more than casually impressed with Ian’s ability to move silently and keep hidden. Considering Ian’s general boldness and delusional state of mind, it’s a trait that he finds unexpected, yet not unwelcome. In fact, if Dex weren’t actively watching his progress, he’d probably lose sight of him altogether. Jarren’s senses, on the other hand, have become dulled by exhaustion. He loses Ian time after time and is forced to rely on Dex to track the longhaired human. Dex finds himself pointing out Ian continually.

Having been successful earlier with the alarms and knowing that randomly searching for Joko is unlikely to pay off, Ian decides to call on the Force once again, so waves his hands in a circle as he imagines is necessary to tap into the power. Unlike before, at the spaceport, however, there is a qualitative difference in what he experiences when he invokes the Force this time. He feels invigorating power rush through him, like unbearable mischievous excitement. Hatred, anger and fear well up within him and he grips his blaster with burning desire.

Coinciding with Ian’s idiotic wizard-like hand waving, Jarren becomes subconsciously aware of the Force. As a neophyte Force Sensitive, only beginning to discover the mysteries of the Force, Jarren does not connect the sensing of the Force in others yet even though the perception is there. Instead, the Force ripples in his mind, which springs up a reminder of his past in protest. He recalls the dark moment when the truth of his own Force sensitivity was revealed and all of the feelings that came with that revelation – fear, uncertainty, doubt, hatred. His flashback is interrupted by Stripe tapping on his shoulder. Ian is on the move again.

To Ian, suddenly Joko’s location is clear, as if he knew all along where to find the Rodian. Scoffing at his foolishness for going the wrong direction and burning with dark fury to complete his mission, Ian reverses course and eagerly sets off at a diagonal through the semi-grid of the residential area. Quickly and silently he moves between the houses, rapidly closing on Joko’s which is now only twenty meters ahead - one row away from the main strip, and one house north. Approaching it from behind through the alley that runs between the back yards of the opposite facing houses, he can see his target up ahead. A few of the domed residence’s lights are on and aggressive alien language can be heard drifting out to him on the increasingly brisk wind. Not understanding Rodian, it’s tough to follow the drift of the conversation other than by their tone of voice. It’s definitely some kind of argument, however.

As the two of them take up pursuit, Dex, figuring that he’d played his hand as long as he dared, whispers the truth to Jarren about the deal with Cal (or at least a plausible version of it). Jarren pauses and is inscrutable in his response, but immediately realizes the ramifications of letting Ian complete the mission. He draws his blaster, setting it on stun and telling Dex to do the same. After dashing to the corner of the next house and facing out across the alley where Ian is to get a clear shot, Jarren signals to Dex to fire at the count of three.

At the designated time, both Dex and Jarren fire at Ian who has approached within ten meters of Joko’s house. Ian is caught completely by surprise as Jarren’s shot finds it’s mark, catching him in the center of his back. The look of surprise is etched on his bearded features as he falls in a heap, unconscious. Dex’s shot misses badly and scorches the side of Joko’s house, leaving a tell tale black mark.

In the window of the house, a curious bluish-green male Rodian head appears. His hand, with its’ sucker-tipped fingers, shield the light from his eyes as he peers out into the night, straining to see what the commotion was. Raising their blasters in unison, Dex and Jarren step quickly back into the shadows, hoping not to be seen. After a few tense moments, an angry female voice can be heard within the house, spouting what would probably pass as Rodian obscenities. The male, presumably Joko, shouts something equally vile at the unseen female in response. Hot on the heels of that, a loud crash can be heard indoors as if some pottery or dishware was smashed against a wall. Joko dodges out of the window frame, forgetting the noises from outside.

As the battle rages inside the house between the male and female Rodians, Dex and Jarren breath a sigh of relief at not having been spotted as well as thanking the Force that Joko didn’t look on see the inert body of Ian. Fortunately, only Ian’s boots would be truly visible from Joko’s window since he fell partially behind a trash receptacle and into the shadow of the neighbor’s wall. Inside Joko’s house, the sounds of hostility intensify. There is more breaking and now a scream of rage from the female followed by conciliatory sounding speech from the male.

[OOC: Ian: Def 18. Jarren: 19 + 6 = 25 hit. Dex: 5 + 5 = 10 miss. Ian FORT SV. DC18 Roll=2+6=8

Travis (or Rick if you are managing Travis’s character sheet) please take off one Force point and add one Dark Side point.]