                                Star Wars 

                           Wizard's RPG Stories

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          upload : 10.IV.2006


     The Cell Revisited

     By Morrie Mullins

     Living Force Plot Director and Campaign Designer

     Living Force Plot Director and Campaign Designer Morrie Mullins  presents
the latest in our monthly series  of  supplements  to  the  campaign's  newest
scenarios. In "The Cell Revisited,"  the  alien  crime  lord  Nirama  sends  a
message to his followers in which he looks at the roles of trust, respect, and
loyalty in his shady organization -  and  issues  a  challenge  to  those  who
attacked him. This supplement ties into  the  August  Living  Force  scenario,
Philology, the third part of the "Below the Belt" trilogy.

     To the Membership - Nirama

     Loyalty. This is the concept that has ever been most key to our  survival
and our prosperity. I ask loyalty of you, and I provide loyalty in return.  It
is never a certain proposition. There are flaws in each one of  us  that  make
loyalty more likely, or less likely, to manifest. But I have seen, first hand,
the pain that can arise when loyalty is called  into  doubt.  In  those  cases
where loyalty is lost altogether, it is not uncommon for organizations such as
ours to splinter, perhaps disintegrate. It is also not uncommon for  lives  to
be lost.

     The last Standard Year has brought the loyalty of some of our  companions
into question. I have addressed issues surrounding the so-called "Cell" in the
past, but of late, I have received reports that they might  not  be  quite  so
extinct as I had been led to believe. It was my understanding  that  with  the
help of the outsiders, Markus and I brought down the Cell  and  extracted  its
core leadership from our ranks. That even rumors of  its  continued  existence
can reach my ears disturbs me far more than I can express.

     I would therefore like to take this opportunity to discuss with you  both
the positive and negative aspects of loyalty. Because disloyalty seems  to  be
at the core of what has occurred of late, let me begin with the  drawbacks  to
being loyal.

     Being loyal means, at its core, accepting  another  individual  as  being
worthy of trust, respect, and some level of obedience. I fully recognize  that
most of us would not be in the lines of work we have chosen if we were good at
any of these things. There are reasons to not trust any  given  individual  we
might come across. Even the best of persons might be misled by a  false  sense
of righteousness. Even the kindest, most gentle  Jedi  might  -  through  some
misguided application of a long-established and completely correct principle -
engage in activities that cause us to call into doubt  whether  that  Jedi  is
worthy of our trust. Philology Adventure Summary Len Markus, aware  of  recent
activity in  the  Asteroid  Belt  beyond  the  "legitimate"  explorations,  is
interested in gaining information on behalf of Nirama. "Knowledge for the sake
of knowledge" is his excuse, but of course, there is no such thing.  When  the
heroes begin discovering even more  strange  creatures  and  a  familiar,  but
different, mysterious room deep within one of the asteroids, it becomes  clear
that Markus, at least, is after a great deal  more  than  just  knowledge.  An
adventure for Living Force heroes of levels 1 to 9. Part three in  the  "Below
the Belt" Trilogy. Play after "Below the Belt" parts one and two.

     I have spoken to many of you. Childhood is something distant to us,  even
those of us who are young, and it was filled  with  pain.  We  exist  on  what
society deems its "fringes" because someone, at some point,  shunned  us  from
the polite society into which we were born. Or perhaps we  have  never  had  a
chance at polite society, where trust is the norm. For whatever reason, we are
not built to trust, and remaining loyal to anyone - myself included - requires
that trust be present. Recognizing this, and knowing that words are empty  and
that only actions matter, I have made it my mission to not speak of trust  but
to demonstrate it to you. If you take the time to reflect on  the  time  since
the venerable Riboga left Cularin, you will see that our profits are  up,  our
prosecutorial rates are down, and the number of deaths on  the  job  has  been
reduced by over half. I will not ask you to trust me. I will only ask  you  to
look at the outcomes of my leadership.

     Respect is a trickier beast still. The most  highly  honored  Riboga  ran
things in a fashion in keeping with his home culture, inspiring fear in  those
around him and leveraging that fear to obtain his desired  ends.  It  was  his
belief that such measures were the only  means  of  ensuring  that  you  would
follow his commands. I prefer to think of you  as  more  highly  evolved  than
that. You are capable of thought and decision-making. I allow you the  freedom
to choose your own paths, with the understanding  that  you  will  accept  the
consequences of those choices. Use of force by my  administration  is  limited
quite strictly to those instances in  which  individuals  sought  to  directly
undermine and threaten either my own person or others within the Consortium. I
have never made force a threat. It is simply part of the bargain. You  respect
me and the fellows of the Consortium, and I will respect you in return.

     Living Force Scenario Supplements

     Renna's Transport Service (September 2002)

     The Cell Revisited (August 2002)

     Dark on Dark (July 2002)

     A Friendly Face (June 2002)

     The Sith Fortress (May 2002)

     Desert Cries (April 2002)

     The Kaluthin Are Always Greener (March 2002)

     An Official Engagement (February 2002)

     Oblivion's Kiss (December 2001)

     Broken Orbits: Tilnes (November 2001)

     Broken Orbits: Uffel (October 2001)

     Broken Orbits: Dorumaa (September 2001)

     It is on obedience, though, where most of us run into problems.  Were  we
good at obeying, we would not spend our  lives  running  blockades,  smuggling
forbidden wares, and walking in the shadows to keep ourselves from the eyes of
the remainder of the world. Yet to follow someone, to allow someone  to  lead,
to be loyal to an individual  -  any  individual  -  requires  some  level  of
obedience. The amount required is inversely  proportional  to  the  amount  of
trust  that  exists.  The  more  trust,  the  less  stringent  the   obedience
requirements. The less trust, the more obedience is necessary. When I  provide
you with directives, I expect that they will be followed, but I trust  you  to
make decisions as to how they can  best  be  accomplished.  If  my  directives
contain fallacies, it is within your prerogative to point them out to  me  and
ask me to reconsider. I do not require, nor do I even want, blind obedience.

     The problem - - for many would consider it a problem, though  I  do  not,
particularly - is that by offering you the freedom that I  have,  I  open  the
door to plotting against my position. I make it easier for groups such as  the
Cell to function.

     So be it. If I were to  rule  with  an  iron  fist,  killing  anyone  who
questioned my judgment, I would be no less likely to  have  opposition  emerge
within the ranks. I  therefore  challenge  the  Cell  to  make  itself  known.
Surrender, and there can be peace within our community. I hope that  you  will
not push me to fight, but if it comes to that, you have been warned.

     - N