                                Star Wars 

                           Wizard's RPG Stories

          source : http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=starwars/newsarchive
          upload : 10.IV.2006


     Thaere Is Not Your Friend

     Scenario Supplement for Night's Homecoming

     By Morrie Mullins

     Former Living Force Plot Director and Campaign Designer

     Tensions have risen regarding Thaere's military presence in Cularin.  One
night last week, a message appeared everywhere: "Thaere Is Not  Your  Friend."
Since then, the letters TINYF have popped up on buttons, shirts, and stickers.
Now, "Eye on Cularin" investigates the growing accusations. This supplement to
the Living Force campaign ties into the November scenario, Night's Homecoming,
the conclusion of the "Night Eyes" trilogy.

     Tensions have risen in recent months regarding the continued presence  of
Thaere's military in Cularin. One night last week,  a  message  appeared  -  -
painted on walls, scrawled on tables, chiseled into sidewalks - -  in  several
hundred places throughout the Cularin system. From restaurants in  Gadrin  and
Hedrett to bars on Tolea Biqua to shelters  on  Almas,  the  same  five  words
appeared:  "Thaere  Is  Not  Your  Friend."  No  single  group   has   claimed
responsibility, and while Thaereian forces supervised the removal of  all  the
offending graffiti within a matter of hours, the message was clear. Someone  -
- a large number of someones - - views Thaere as an increasing problem.

     While the full-fledged graffiti has not  reappeared,  the  letters  TINYF
have popped up with surprising (or, for Thaereians, alarming) frequency. A few
brave individuals have even ventured out into public wearing TINYF buttons and
shirts, and TINYF stickers have found their way onto numerous doors,  windows,
and other places such a message might be noticed.

     The displeasure of the Thaereian forces is plain to see, but they do  not
seem, at this point, to have  done  much  about  it.  People  are  interested,
though, and it has fallen to Cularin's newsnets to begin probing the issue  in
more depth.

     Hello. This  is  Ryk  Osentay,  reporting  for  "Eye  on  Cularin."  It's
impossible to live in Cularin this week and not have seen the tiny-F, as  it's
come to be called - - the five letters T-I-N-Y-F that  have  shown  up  almost
everywhere. Their ubiquity is disturbing many, since it is unclear  where  the
various  stickers,  buttons,  shirts,  holograms,  cookies,   bootlaces,   and
monogrammed holsters have come from. Such items do not appear out of thin air,
after all; they must be manufactured.  But  where?  And  by  whom?  These  are
questions that many citizens of Cularin are asking themselves.

     If I had to guess, though, I'd  say  that  the  citizens  are  much  less
concerned about where the letters come from than  about  our  protectors  from
Thaere. The letters, after all, are shorthand for a message that came  through
very clearly to Cularin last week: "Thaere is not your friend." But why?  What
does the  message  mean?  Is  there  something  that  we  ought  to  be  doing
differently? Could something allow us to see the truth behind Thaere's actions
- - if there is some truth other than what they claim, of course,  which  this
reporter would never, ever suggest? What is  it  that  we're  supposed  to  be
gleaning from the message?

     To  answer  this  question,  "Eye  on  Cularin"  conducted  a  series  of
interviews with citizens of our system. While our survey may not be  quite  so
broad as that conducted by our missing colleague, Melanda Forswoth, we hope to
sample a meaningful cross-section of Cularin's citizenry.

     A picture of missing "Eye on Cularin" reporter Melanda  Forswoth  appears
on the screen, with information regarding her disappearance and  a  number  to
contact if the viewer has any information. It disappears and Ryk is seated  at
a table in a darkened room. A  shadowy  figure  sits  across  from  him.  Ryk:
Welcome back. I'm here with an individual who has requested anonymity. He -  -
or she, since we can make him or her sound like whatever we want - - claims to
have information about Thaere that might help to explain what we've seen  this
past week. Guest?

     Guest: Yes. I know much. You know little. Nerf-herding follower of bantha
tracks. Shaggy beast of wampalike intellect.

     Ryk: Um...

     Guest: You do not know. I know.

     Ryk: Well, no. That's why you're here. So we  can  talk  about  what  you
know.

     Guest: Fool! I am evil overlord! You bow down to me!

     He stands, shoving back his chair, and pulls a half-meter wooden rod from
one leg of his pants.

     Guest: Fear my lightsaber!

     Ryk: Um... That's a stick.

     Guest: Die, coward scum of not-Sith!

     He tries to toss the table aside and finds it too heavy. He shoves at it.
It moves a few centimeters.  He  curses  -  -  everything  but  "poodoo"  gets
censored - - and trudges around the table, stick in hand.

     Ryk: Guards? Hello, guards?

     A stun blast comes from off-camera. The shadowy man with the stick  falls
unconscious. We fade out. When the picture returns, Ryk doesn't seem  to  have
moved, but someone different sits across from him.

     Ryk: We're back. Security has detained the previous guest, who apparently
didn't have all that much  to  tell  us  anyway.  Our  next  interviewee  will
hopefully shed a little more light on the situation. And - -

     He looks off-camera. Ryk: And I've been told that this one isn't carrying
any large sticks with which to attack  me.  Welcome,  guest.  Summary  of  the
"Night Eyes" Trilogy The "protection" offered by the Thaereians often includes
harsh justice - - harsh enough that  many  citizens  of  Cularin  have  become
increasingly resentful of  the  Thaereian  presence.  Senator  Wren,  however,
maintains that Thaere has her support. Could she possibly know their cruelty?

     The dark form across from him nods. This individual looks to  be  smaller
than the last, but the shadows seem to layer over his - - or her - - face  and
shoulders. Nothing at all is clear.

     Ryk: I understand that you work in electronic surveillance. Is  that  the
case?

     Guest 2 (voice masked to sound exactly like Ryk's): It is.

     Ryk: You have some small amount of talent, then? But more importantly,  I
think our viewers will want to hear about your  connections.  I've  been  told
that you have information from someone deep within the slicer underworld about
certain fund transfers. Can you tell us how you came by this information?

     Guest 2: By being smarter than you.

     Ryk: Of course. More specifically?

     Guest 2: Largely genetic, I assure you.

     Ryk: This is going nowhere. Let's bring on the next - -

     Guest 2: You want to know about the InterGalactic Banking Clan's ties  to
Thaere, don't you? No one else is going to give you the information I have.

     Ryk leans forward, elbows on the table that separates him from the guest.

     Ryk: That's very much  what  we  want  to  know  about.  Given  that  the
InterGalactic Banking Clan is a known financial supporter  of  the  Separatist
movement, what can you tell me about them and their link to Thaere?

     Guest 2: Oh, not much. Just a little matter of a transfer of 200  million
credits from IBC accounts to the Thaereian Navy over the last six months.

     Ryk consults a datapad.

     Ryk: 200 million? I wasn't told that.

     Guest 2: No, you weren't. If I'd given your producer the real figure, I'd
be in Thaereian hands by now. Two hundred million fills  a  lot  more  pockets
than just those of the fighter jockeys, let me tell you.

     Ryk: You're saying our producer has been paid off by Thaere?

     Guest 2: Maybe. I'm saying there  aren't  many  people  who  couldn't  be
reached for that price. A little here, a little there... idiots in this system
will take money from anyone. You know what's funny? You transfer credits  from
the right kind of account to another account, and that opens up the  receiving
account forever. Take money from the wrong people at the wrong time, and those
people can get at your goods for as long as you've got  'em.  It's  not  every
account, but one of the big corporate accounts? They do enough  transfers  and
the system set up by the IBC is configurable enough that if they use the right
code, they have permanent access to everything a receiver ever does with their
money. So getting paid a little by the wrong people can make you vulnerable as
long as you're using the same account structure.

     Ryk: That sounds ominous. Are you saying Thaere has done that?

     Guest 2: No...

     Ryk: Let's go back to our producers having been paid off, shall we?

     Guest 2: If we're still broadcasting, then either they haven't been  paid
off, or they think the best way to hide the fact  that  they  have  is  to  do
nothing. I don't care about your producers. I'm already talking, so they can't
do anything to stop me right now. I gave them lower figures and only hinted at
how much Thaere got from the IBC. Not enough to make them call in the  hounds.
Ryk: Why? Why is Thaere getting so many credits from the IBC?

     Guest 2: I'm smarter than you, Ryk, but  you  aren't  that  dumb.  Thaere
isn't loyal to the Republic. They're working with the Separatists. For all  we
know, they have been all along.

     Ryk: "We"?

     Guest 2: They practically have control of Cularin, and we have one of the
biggest Jedi training facilities in the galaxy outside of  Coruscant.  If  the
Separatists can take control of Cularin, it may shift the balance of power. So
far, Cularin hasn't been called on to assist in the Clone Wars.  That  doesn't
mean we won't.

     Ryk: Does this mean Senator Wren is a traitor?

     Guest 2: We don't think so. She's being manipulated, like everyone else.

     Ryk: Who is the "we" you keep mentioning?

     Before the guest can answer, the lights in the room come on. Every shadow
disappears, and the masking of the guest's face and voice shut down. The guest
is none other than Gerta Haman, the Human woman who led  Cularin's  resistance
against the Metatheran Cartel and was feared by some to be dead.  [The  heroes
would have encountered Gerta in the original "Eye of  the  Sun"  trilogy,  the
first three Living Force events.]

     Armed guards wearing Thaereian uniforms rush into the room and slam Gerta
to the table. Her eyes are wide and fearful as her hands are bound behind  her
back. The guards jerk her to her feet.

     Gerta: Thaere is not your friend, Cularin! Not your - -

     Four guards reach in at once and bash Gerta's face with stun batons, much
more forcefully than  stun  batons  need  to  be  used.  She  slumps  forward,
unconscious, and is dragged out of the room. The scene fades. The  next  image
is of Ryk, seated beside Yara Grugara at the "Eye on Cularin" news desk.

     Ryk (having difficulty speaking): It hardly  feels  like  that  was  only
yesterday, Yara.

     She pats his arm. He nods in appreciation and takes a deep breath.

     Ryk: This  morning,  the  Thaereian  ship  transporting  Gerta  Haman  to
Coruscant, where she was scheduled to meet with Senator Wren  to  discuss  the
allegations made on this program at the request of the Senator, was  attacked.
Haman and fourteen members of the Thaereian Navy were on  board.  Jedi  Knight
Ish-Bel Tur served as guardian of the  mission  and  liaison  from  the  Almas
Academy. Three minutes after the initial distress call, the ship  exploded  at
the edge of Thaereian space. There were no survivors. The Thaereian government
has offered a sizable reward...