December 10 recap

•Ras Patul is assigned a Padawan.

•Marina says goodbye.

•Yvegeny takes on a job from the Genoharadan with the help of the ship's new pilot.

•Bao Koon and his apprentice, Haesh, get to know Ras.

Ras and Yvegeny find that they have various messages waiting for them on their comlinks. In the first one, Kelif tells the party he will stay on Naboo with his family. Ras receives a message telling her to meet with the Jedi Council of Reassignment. Yvegeny gets two more messages; one is from Marina, telling him that she's leaving the Raraza to pursue the planet Iego on her own, but she'll send for Yve when she finds it. She does say, however, that in her wheeling and dealing to find the planet, she made a bad deal, and now someone (she doesn't know who) knows that Yvegeny is really Kazbich. She does say, however, that she has hired a new pilot for the ship. The second message for Yvegeny has an unknown sender from the Genoharadan, saying it's time to get to work — they've got a job for him, and it's pro bono to pay them back for loaning out Shodu to capture Gaph.

Upon arriving at the Council of Reassignment, Ras is assigned a Padawan — Drallon, a Quarren teenager who was the apprentice of Master Muz before his untimely death in the Sith attack on the Jedi Temple. Drallon has been badly shaken by his master's death, and while he is a promising lightsaber student, he has refused to use one since Muz's death. As Ras is not only a gifted lightsaber student but also an expert negotiator, it is believed that she will be able to help complete Drallon's training. As such, Drallon will accompany her to Chommell Prime.

Ras also meets a Jedi Knight who will be joining her: a Kel Dor Jedi Investigator named Bao Koon. An expert seer and a formidable Force user, Bao specializes in tracking down and neutralizing darksiders, and he wears civilian clothing to blend in, rather than his Jedi robes. He is joined by his apprentice, a sarcastic Yarkora named Haesh who is following in Bao's footsteps. The Council recommends that Ras Patul, Bao Koon, and their respective apprentices get to know each other before they join the Republic fleet at Chommell Prime.

Yvegeny meets up with a protocol droid in the lower levels of the city, who tells him his assignment — assassinate Geonosian senator Mazzag, who's been trying to form a political coalition and has given his associates gift droids that have been secretly recording information for him, which could drastically tip the balance of power in the Galactic Senate. The droid then wipes its own memory and wanders off. Yvegeny has Crask Luk follow Mazzag around the city to get a sense of the guy's schedule.

At the same time, Ras and Bao decide to renew their search for Wertsnik, but aside from a few scant clues about him being in the Works district, they don't have any good leads. Yvegeny asks Ras to help him take down Mazzag, but Ras refuses — he's a senator, and he's clean; all she's got to go on is Yvegeny's say-so. However, Crask produces some clues — Mazzag stays in the high-class areas near the Senate, but he does frequent a restaurant that specializes in insectoid cuisine.

Yvegeny looks for a good way to poison Mazzag's food, and contacts Oro, but insults him by calling Lyta his "master." However, he does pass the comlink onto Lyta, who doesn't know any insect-specific food poisons. Lyta does give him the complex chemical names for a common "bug bomb" used by exterminators. Yvegeny takes this information to a nearby pharmacist, but the pharmacist becomes concerned when he says he's going to use this to kill a Geonosian. Yvegeny claims there's a building infested by Geonosians "who've gone insane because of the Force," but the pharmacist raises a security force field and advises Yvegeny to leave.

Using Ras' name, Yvegeny then goes to the Jedi Temple, where he meets up with a Bith Jedi Healer in the infirmary. Yvegeny claims he needs medicine for a Geonosian friend and gives him the names of the chemicals Lyta described, but the Bith recognizes this as poison and, confused, provides Yvegeny with actual Geonosian medicine. Having exhausted his options, Yvegeny contacts an exterminator and picks up a few bug bombs.

With the trail for Wertsnik having gone cold, Ras then tells Bao about Aya Lim, the conflicted Jedi apprentice who they encountered on Nar Shaddaa and Myzil V. Using the description, Bao is able to detect Aya Lim in the Force — within 100 kilometers of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, in fact. Bao starts tracking Aya Lim into a middle-class district not far from the Temple.

Yvegeny looks for allies to help him take down Mazzag, and goes to the lower levels to talk to Prello the Hutt. Yvegeny tries to convince him to lend him some muscle, but Prello is reluctant to get involved in an attack on a senator and is paranoid about the trail going back to him if things go south, so he refuses. He does spread the rumor, though, that Calo Nord is on Coruscant and after a bounty.

Yvegeny decides to go back to the landing pad to meet up with the new pilot, who turns out to be archive droid A9G-E5. A9G (who Yvegeny calls "Aig") explains that he comes with very good references — he was an archive droid for the University of Alderaan who was also programmed to be able to pilot ships and chart astrogation courses for university-owned ships. He's since become an independent droid and gone into business on his own as a pilot — and a good one, too, as he knows several advanced flying maneuvers — although he still has a huge store of general knowledge about the galaxy in his system. A9G is unwilling to risk himself killing a senator, but Yvegeny convinces him to be his driver by saying that Senator Mazzag was responsible for the death of his former crewmate, Kelif Binks-Fett. Yvegeny has disguised himself in the turban of Calo Nord to throw off anybody who spots him, but A9G is paranoid and wants to preserve his dignity, so he wears a turban himself.

Bao Koon trails Aya Lim to a flophouse not too far from the Jedi Temple, then follows that trail to a nearby starport. He and Haesh call in Ras and Drallon to rendezvous. They arrive at a starport where civilian freighters are going across the galaxy. Aya Lim is seen from far away boarding one, though she does look back, seemingly sensing she is being followed. Ras checks that ship's registry — it's going to the Outer Rim, but one of its stops is Chommell Prime. Ras senses they will meet again soon, and a crowded civilian spaceport isn't the place for a confrontation. On the way back to the Temple, Drallon and Ras talk — Drallon is reluctant to use a lightsaber now that he has seen them used to kill his friends and former Master, and he is terrified of the notion that he may one day have to take a life himself. Ras reassures him that a Jedi does not take lives needlessly and that a lightsaber is a tool of defense, not aggression.

A9G drives a rented speeder convertible while Yvegeny sits in the backseat, ready to shoot Mazzag. A9G pulls alongside the speeder to see that Mazzag is guarded by two Colicoid infiltrator droids. One jumps across the gap and engages Yvegeny with his vibroblade arms. Yvegeny shoots it a few times, and A9G flips the speeder on its edge, knocking the droid to its destruction while Yvegeny barely hangs on. Yvegeny shoots the remaining droid and Mazzag, sufficiently wounding him that a lobbed bug bomb finishes him off. Mazzag's droid driver panics and takes him to his Senate office while A9G drives away to avoid any pursuers.

At the starport, Ras sees breaking news footage of Senator Mazzag's speeder coming under attack and groans.

Galactic Gazetteer: Chommell Prime

The planet Chommell Prime was one of the first planets colonized during early expansion into the Mid Rim. Hyperspace explorers catalogued the planet about seven hundred years ago, and Chommell Prime — so named because it was the largest planet in the sector — was discovered to be a gas giant with large quantities of naturally produced irolunn gas, a substance that substantially improves the fuel efficiency of capital starships. As no company had sponsored the scouts who discovered it, Chommell Prime became the subject of a bidding war between various mega-entities. The planet soon entered galactic prominence when its deed was purchased by the wealthy Medon family of Utapau.

No history of Chommell Prime is complete without a history of the Medons. This Pau'an family dates back to the early days of the Republic — no less than three Medons signed the Galactic Constitution. They made their fortune in planet exploration and prospecting, selling the natural resources of one world to buy another. As such, they have been very influential in the Republic because they have helped fund various hyperspace expeditions that found very profitable planets. The Great Manifest Period, in which the Expansion Region was established 15,000 years ago, was funded in large part by Medon money.

However, it is important to note that the Medons are fiercely independent. While they are patriotic to the Republic, their first loyalty is to their family. Most Medons who pursue business do so within their own corporations — they do not deign to work for others. The Medons are kind to their friends and ruthless to their enemies, and many competitors have been bankrupted by the Medons' superior business acumen. The Medons are aided by a group of Gen'Dai servitors, who have served them for centuries.

Upon purchasing Chommell Prime, the Medons took advantage of the natural irodunn gas and constructed a large starship repair hub, called the Expanse. Ninety kilometers long and two kilometers wide, this facility is one of the largest drydocks in the galaxy, capable of servicing over a hundred capital starships at once. Inside, the Medons have constructed a variety of tourist attractions and accommodations for visitors getting their ships refueled. However, the Medons are very strict about their investment — no weapons are allowed on the Expanse, and violent agitators have been known to be simply hurled off the station by security droids, to plummet to their death.

In the interest of business, the Expanse has been declared neutral territory by the Medon family, allowing any ship to dock there as long as they can pay (and as long as they can avoid any violent incidents). A small underworld has thrived in the lower levels of the Expanse, however, using the vast shipyard to smuggle contraband from ship to ship. Mercenaries who are looking for work can usually find a quick job from the ships passing through. The Medons have also allowed corporations such as Czerka and Lhossa to extract their own irodunn gas — at an enormous tribute, of course. Corporate espionage runs thick, as many entities would love to end the Medons' monopoly of irodunn gas.

Besides the Expanse, there are also several floating Medon estates drifting among the clouds, but these are heavily guarded and intruders are not welcome. (A nearby desert planet in the same system, Chommell Minor, also houses a Pau'an colony, but it is more for middle-class Pau'ans and is nowhere near as fancy.) A few smaller drydocks have been set up by the Medons across the planet, though these are not as popular as the more accommodating Expanse. Several small corporate-approved irodunn gas collectors float through the atmosphere, and a few cruise ships make short stops at Chommell Prime to enjoy the spectacular view. There are rumors that the Medons have secret drydocks hidden away in the lower reaches of the atmosphere for their more private customers, but given that they can easily move across the planet, no one knows for certain where they are.

Most curiously, a flotilla of stolen and battered Czerka ships has been recently spotted drifting through the atmosphere on the far side of the planet. Attempts to contact the ships have been met only with grunts and growls, and it's believed the ships fled a Czerka colony before suffering hyperdrive damage. The Medons have been trying to find and destroy the flotilla, as refugees on their doorstep is bad for business.

Troubling for the Republic is that despite Chommell Prime's loyalty during the Mandalorian Wars, the Medons are maintaining their neutrality during the Sith invasion, and many worry the Medons are positioning themselves to be valuable to the Sith in the event that Darth Revan destroys the Republic. Sith ships have been seen docked at Chommell Prime, but given that violence is not tolerated on the Expanse, the Republic has been stymied at trying to apprehend them.

Character updates

As the party prepares to rejoin the greater galaxy after the long stay on Naboo, some of the players are making some changes to their characters:

•Milky is retiring Kelif, who will be staying on Naboo with his family. He will be now playing a Kel Dor Jedi Investigator, going for something of a "noir detective" feel.

•Jim will be retiring Lyta and Oro in favor of a more soldier-type character, species presently unknown.

As far as I know, Ras Patul, Gobmush and Kazbich/Yvegeny will remain constant.