=== RECORDING COMMENCED ===
Be very thankful you're not sentient, holocron. I haven't had a bath in two days, and I smell like a bantha.
We're on... Vanquo. Another resource world. The Knight leading our party agreed with my proposal to scout the other resource worlds of Taris, just to be sure. It never hurts to know exactly what one might be up against. More reports of similarly appalling violence here, as on Tarnith. Suurja's our next destination: the worst-hit of the lot, by the sound of it. Predictably, the numerous adverse reports and grapevine talk has resulted in a drastic reduction in morale at all the factories and mines we've visited thus far. Plus, according to Alek, some workers are already planning on taking things into their own hands - largely because "management" is starting to look incompetent at protecting their interests. He says he overheard this while he was fixing his comlink: don't ask me why he chose to do so in one of the common 'freshers.
Food for thought - government is essentially about management, on a far wider scale, and with vaster implications. The well-being of billions - literally millions of billions of beings, affected by every decision - great or small - made in the halls of power. I think people really take good government for granted. Beings can be so... shallow, and short-sighted, voting for candidates purely on the strength of one pet policy... or because they happen to look good, or talk smooth, or have the right 'connections' - there's just so much superficiality in politics that I truly cannot abide it.
Sometimes, too, there's a lack of suitable candidates. ...leaving politics aside, I'm starting to think - what would an ideal government be like? Strong, decisive... there are many hard decisions a government has to make, I'm sure... but so often what the Senate seems to do is to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach. What makes for strong government? How is 'strong government' defined? And... what is 'good governance'?
... Hmm. Never really thought about this before. I mean, I don't really like the Senate - certain folk within it, to be precise - but as a Jedi, my commitment ought to be to the Republic... and the Senate represents the Republic. Maybe I shouldn't be so critical, eh, holocron? For the record, I really do love the Republic and what it's done... for the most part. Everyone really did pitch in to fight off the Sith in the last great War, and it's always heartening to see people from all walks of life...beings from the farthest reaches of the galaxy, working hand-in-hand. I wish we could always be as united, and I wish Humans weren't always so damnably asinine and smallminded.
I'm rambling, aren't I? ...all of us are exhausted. Physically, mentally, emotionally. Is this what it's like, being in the frontline - in the field? Actually starting to miss the morning meditation sessions back at the Enclave. This is... kind of freaky, since I never really liked them much to start with.
...Alek's already fast asleep. I should get some rest, too. Long day tomorrow.
=== RECORDING ENDED ===
=== RECORDING COMMENCED ===
I'm in orbit, in a medbay. My head hurts! The medics have decided we ought to be taken off-duty. So we're going back to Dantooine, early... 'we' being Alek, Ferron and I.
Our Knight and F are still in the field. They should be making planetfall on Suurja anytime now. I hope to the Force they will be all right without us. Maybe it's my head injury, or the medications, or just the shock of having woken up to find myself in a medbay, but I have a terrible, nasty feeling that just won't go away.
I've sustained a moderate concussion, by the way. Alek has a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder. Ferron is receiving treatment for heavy particle inhalation. Yeah, I know...! What happened? An accident, that's what - and I recall very little of it, save that it happened at one of the incident sites we were investigating on Vanquo. F and our Knight had found traces of heavy machinery repair having been carried out in a partially-destroyed barn. Farms aren't known for engaging in heavy repair-work, so the existence of a sizeable workbench with large solder burns in it naturally caught our interest.
While the ladies were busy scraping up bits of welding and molten slag, sweeping the floor for traces of mineral ore and stuff for later analysis... you know, stuff like that - Alek and Ferron decided to have a closer look at the marks that were just about everywhere on the walls, to see if they could deduce just what had taken place - and how the barns and outhouses had all been destroyed. I decided to follow some oil spills.
Okay, okay... so... we got a little carried away, and for this I blame our collective addiction to that HoloVision production, 'Galactic Crime Scene Investigations'. I'll admit, it was kind of fun pretending we were all GCSIs. For about five minutes. On hindsight, what kind of half-baked moron GCSI conducts inspections without helmets or other protective gear? ...the folk in the series always, always suit up in every episode -
...I guess we all assumed that our abilities with the Force would be sufficient to keep us out of harm's way.
We certainly know better now: a Jedi's ability to sense things through the Force generally can, and does, protect him - but there are limits. See, I was following some traces of oil, and the trail took me to the opposite side of a partially-collapsed wall behind which were Alek and Ferron. The wall looked rather shaky - so I stayed clear of it as much as possible, and commed Alek and Ferron not to approach the wall or get too near as it might collapse. Next thing I know, there's a nasty rumbling above me, and I tried to jump away - but my foot slipped on a patch of oil, and I ended up falling flat on my butt. Rocks were falling from the top of the wall onto me. I had just enough time to use the Force to push away one or two of the largest pieces, before getting hit on the head. That must've been when I blacked out, because the next thing I knew, I was already here.
I am damned lucky to be alive.
Evidently our Knight is not impressed with us. I know. I've read the report she put up. Among other things, she reported that Alek spotted some blaster burns on his side of the wall and had (too hastily, in her opinion) scooted nearer to examine them, when the top of the wall suddenly collapsed - outwards. She wasn't certain about what happened next, but I've since learnt from one of the nurses here that Alek said that moments after the wall collapsed, a large piece of masonry crashed through the roof from nowhere, directly overhead of Ferron. Uh... I guess that must have been one of the rocks I managed to push away.
Sigh. So much for my hopes of proving myself on this mission and making Knight early.
Anyhow, Alek reacted by Force-jumping at Ferron, throwing him aside, taking the hit himself. He earned a dislocated shoulder for his heroics, and also a broken arm. Unfortunately, Alek underestimated the force with which he thrust Ferron aside, and poor Ferron found himself wedged firmly in a large exhaust pipe, choking on hideously polluted air, which tasted chemical, and reportedly "had bits in it".
It seems that it took F a full two minutes or thereabouts to pull Ferron out of the pipe. By that time he had already coughed and choked himself into unconsciousness, and had to be given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
I think it's highly ironic that the first kiss Ferron's had from a girl was not because she wanted to kiss him, but because she had to, in order to save his life. You know how tetchy the Cathar can get with, ah... things of a more... physical nature. I'm not suggesting anything, mind - but... yeah, I wonder - does getting kissed by a girl count as anything particularly important with the Cathar? I mean, is a kiss considered like... taboo, or something, uh... you know, intimate? Of the... 'you're SO dead, sonny, time to get engaged or hitched' variety...? Ha, ha, ha... Ferron will freak out if it's suggested to him at this stage. Alek's sure to bust a rib laughing at this.
Our Knight has left instructions for us. We're to take the collected ore and other samples back to Dantooine, and have them analysed for composition and provenance.
=== RECORDING ENDED ===
=== RECORDING COMMENCED ===
The analysis reports just came out. What the hell! Mandalorian iron?
Mandalorians!
My suspicions were correct - it is the Mandalorians... again! We're not prepared for war! I mean, there's been no formal declaration of war, not yet... but these are Mandalorians - anytime is War Time with those lot -
I have to warn F, and our Knight. NOW.
=== RECORDING ENDED ===