Master Crular has requested for two Padawan or Initiate volunteers to help clear out a section of the cellar of the Jedi Temple.

The area has been infested with some rodents which need to be cleared out and while you are there, he has requested the various junk be taken to Unity City to be sold.

Your mission will be a success if the designated section of the cellar is empty and spotless, and any junk found there is no longer in the Jedi Temple.

(( This is a mission for up to two Jedi of Padawan or Initiate level and is meant as a training mission. It may involve a small amount of combat and a bit of light puzzling ))

Padawan Avitus walks up to the cellar door. As no one else was around yet, he crossed his arms and leaned his back against a nearby wall, silently waiting awhile for another padawan to show up.

(( I was unsure if there was a required trip to the quartermasters before every mission, but I skipped that as I am not locking down any jedi order equipment for this mission. ))

Not long after, a rather short Padawan, with colorful, wild hair, appeared and trotted toward the cellar door. She abruptly halted in front of Padawan Avitus and turned to face him in one smooth motion.

"Are you here to help clear out the cellar as well?" Denari asked and, without giving him time to answer added: "Shall we then?". She seemed rather eager to start.

(( I also don't think a trip to the quartermaster is necessary for this mission, though upon hearing the request, she would have asked Master Crular if the rodents were edible, and if they intended to have them killed or caught to be released elsewere ))

Avitus bumped himself off the wall and faced Denari, lumbering a little more, as if still getting going.

"Why yes I am, let us go clear out the pests."

He stretched his arms out above himself in a yawn, and then headed to the cellar door, walking down the stairs.

Denari follows Avitus down the stairs.

The heroes descended the staircase into the cellar, their footsteps on the stone steps of the staircase echoing in the room below. It was cool down here, cold even. And dark.

Even starting at the very entrance, there were cobwebs. Like the cellar in which they hung, they had long since been abandoned by its original denizens, which was a small mercy as the Padawans had to push their way through to get into the underground room.

As they made their way past the webbing, they could hear the scurrying of tiny feet scattering throughout the area, disappearing behind dusty crates and over rusty metal containers. The rumours of rodents were definitely true.

(( Normally I wouldn't have given you any description of the room save "there's darkness", but I have a feeling Denari may be able to help. I'll leave it to her to give a description of what light she can bring to the situation! With her help, you'll be able to see a large room with disordered crates scattered in various spots and piled against the walls ))

As the light from the upstairs hallway faded, Denari increased the intensity of her radiant pigments around her wrists and on her tail, to provide a soft fire colored light. The light from her tail shone through golden fur, giving it the likeliness of a torch with unnaturally calm flames.

As they pushed through the cobwebs, the moving nature of the light sources cast possibly unexpected shadows of herself and her companion.

As she stood to inspect the room, she told Avitus to tell her if the light she produced was too bright or not bright enough for him. She was producing a little more light than she herself needed; thanks to the Force, she saw much better than most and she did not know if Avitus had the same ability.

She moved her tail in front of her body, to remove the shadows they were casting in the room, revealing dusty crates and rusty metal containers scattered around the room and piled up against the walls.

"Well, this place certainly has been forgotten..." Denari commented. "Where do you want to start? Take down those cobwebs and see how many crates we can get on that hoversled Quartermaster Akhta keeps in the hangar? Or take a look around first to see what's what and where those rodents went?"

"Well that's very useful. This light will do just fine, except if we get separated, which won't happen with rodents anyways.

If we move some of these crates, then we might actually be able to catch the rodents. As is, they have way too many hiding spots. We do have to make sure they don't get out in the crates we carry."

And with that, Avitus took one look around to see if he could still see any rodents and then set back up the stairs to get a duster for the cobwebs and the hoversled.

"Very well, I'll go find something to keep the ones we can catch in and see if I can get us a head start on catching them until you get back. If you need light to get down later, gimme a shout."

As Avitus went back up the stairs, Denari ventured further into the cellar, ears keen on sounds, to inspect crates and containers on content and intactness. She was looking for something that could be used as a cage, preferably something empty, or nearly empty, so that not too much stuff needed to be repacked.

While searching she tried to keep note of salable or otherwise interesting goods.

Denari's light seemed to have scared off the rodents at least enough for them not to show their faces. For now anyway - maybe they were laying in wait to jump upon whomever approached.

Avitus easily found a duster and made his way to the Temple Hangar to borrow the hoversled. It was in good working order and once turned on, easy to maneouvre towards the cellar by simply pushing it along. However, before he could make his way back to join Denari, he was intercepted...

"Oi!" the stern voice of Quartermaster Akhta interjected, hands as fists in her sides "Just where do you think you're going with that?"

Meanwhile, Denari found the crates and containers near the stairway were mostly filled with various junk and old supplies. Some of them were sealed and intact - a large container of caster oil, a pyramid made of stacked cans of canned cabage, a crate filled with assorted cables.

There was a large barrel full of meat, still sealed as there was far too much in there to use all of it before it would spoil, though it could keep indefinitely as long as it was kept closed. Also a large cardboard box with a heavy overhead projector in it, six crates each depicting a determined looking Ewok seemingly carrying something of great importance, an old sofa and an old-fashioned wheel, complete with rubber tire.

There was a large coiled up garden hose stored in an even bigger terracotta planter, an old desk with a leg missing, a wobbly looking ladder, several bags filled with old clothes, a plastic crate filled with old, half-used cans of paint and wooden planks of varying lengths. An ancient computer - or a refrigerator, it was that size anyway - blocked the way to advance deeper into the cellar, being too heavy for Denari to move on her own.

For some reason, the order had at one point acquired a rubber duck the size of a large dog, though its yellow color had since faded to be more ivory-ish. Behind it lay a set of skiing equipment, which probably had no use at all since it rarely snowed in the domed Unity City. And there were so many chairs, stacked up against one of the walls three rows deep, one wondered if the Jedi order had at one point put on dance shows for large audiences.

With some searching, Denari managed determine the three best candidates to serve as a cage: an old rabbit cage with some holes in it (those would need to be fixed before it could be used), a metal footlocker without a lid (they'd need to find something to cover it up with) or a metal storage barrel (though the lid was on so tight she couldn't quite manage to get it open).

After Denari had excitedly gone through all the stuff and had identified the three best cage candidates, she decided the metal storage barrel was probably the most convenient candidate. However, as she couldn't get it open by herself and Padawan Avitus wasn't back yet, she opted to try and fix the rabbit cage while waiting.

She set out to retrieve a few wooden planks to cover the holes with, figured they could also be used to cover the foot locker, and took a few more.

She then went through the old junk and supplies again to see if she could find nails and a hammer, rope, tape, glue or anything else she could use to fix the planks to the rabbit cage for today. She did keep an eye open for the foot locker lid, but she did not have very high hopes for finding it.

Avitus quickly released his hands from the hoversled and spun around to face quartermaster Akhta, holding his hands in front of himself with palms facing Akhta in a traditional Raecian greating.

"Greetings quartermaster Akhta, I was just about to go looking for you to ask permission to use the hoversled to assist in the clearing out of the cellar. May I and Padawan Denari use this very useful machine to aid in our quest?"

(( Apologies for the long delay ))

The quartermaster looked Avitus over a moment. "Ah you picked up the job from Master Crular..." she realized.

"Well alright then. Just be sure to ask first next time - this is how I lost the good tool set." she noted. "On your way then."

With that, Avitus was able to make it back to the cellar with the duster and the hoversled. Denari was still looking for supplies to fix the rabbit cage when he returned.

The lid remained missing, lost in the dark abyss that was the cellar. There was just so much junk here, finding anything seemed Sisyphean. Even so, Denari had managed to find some glue, a slightly oversized hammer and a can full of assorted nails, screws and bolts. Between that and the wooden planks of varying lengths laying around, she figured she'd be able to fix up the rabbit cage with some time and elbow grease.

Avitus was able to carefully maneuver the hoversled down the stairs. It was a tight fit, but since the thing carried itself, it wasn't too difficult.

"Padawan Avitus!" Denari beamed brightly as Avitus returned. "Welcome back. I found cages. That one," pointing to the metal storage barrel, "if we can het the lid off, and if we need it, this rabbit cage, if we can fix it with this." She waved at the pile she made with the planks and the other repair stuff she found. "That's gonna take time though, and there is a lot more to do." She added. "So could you help me with the lid first?"

"Why yes, of course I can help you with the lid. Good job on finding containers!"

Avitus then walked up to the metal storage barrel with some pomp and first tried his own strength at taking off the lid if Denari would let him. He would only accept help if he failed a few times.

"Thank you." Denari replyed happily to the compliment. "You did a good job on getting the duster and hoversled here so fast."

Denari let Avitus try himself a few times. She was quite small herself and often others just had more strength and weight to use, so this was not quite a novel situation to her. If Avitus could not manage in a few attempts, she'd start helping when he was ready to accept help.

The lid really was secured on tight, but with Denari holding the barrel and Avitus using his full strength to twist the lid, they managed to

*POP*

With a loud pop, the lid came off, sending a small explosion of fluff into the cellar as hundreds of plushies were launched into the air. They had apparently been compressed into the barrel with some force and had bounced back to their original shape once the container was opened, launching some of them into the air.

Amongst the plushies were at least two douzen identical plushie droids, a couple of plushie blue women, a humanoid female with pointy ears holding a lightsaber and even a cyborg plushie. Mixed in were some hand-made ones that clearly didn't belong in the set, each consisting mostly of two layers of vaguely humanoid-shaped pieces of cloth filled with fluffy stuffing and a pair of pasted on fabric eyes that were way too large for the shape.

It wasn't quite clear why the Jedi Council would have a barrel stuffed with pressurized plushies, but plushies were easy to clear out and that left the heroes with a perfect barrel for their trap!

As Avitus finished cramming some more plushies into a crate he sighed and exclaimed "Well, the order keeps stranger things around than I had imagined."

"The rats will still be a lot easier to spot if we clear out most of the crates first. Do you want to fix the rabbit trap?" With that, Avitus would start to pile up crates onto the hoversled to start getting a first load out of the cellar.

It took a while and some elbow grease, but Avitus and Denari were able to load the majority of the crates and containers onto the hoversled, bringing them up into the main hall one by one and setting them up by the temple entrance. It was a bit of a creepy job, being watched by the rodents from the ever decreasing mess.

As they worked though, the Padawans soon discovered that behind many of the crates, there was a hidden hallway, covered up by some planks that had been secured there, preventing entry, but with some openings between the planks, enough that a small critter could squeeze through. There was definitely a hidden space behind there!

(( OOC: apologies for the delay. I was planning to reply this evening, but Mercury beat me to it ))

While helping Avitus put the plushies in another crate, she put one specimen of each plushie in the set, and a few of the hand-made ones, in the footlocker and put it with the rabbit cage repair stuff. "The order keeps strange things indeed." Denari agreed with Avitus. "There's also a large rubber duck in here somewhere."

Denari left the rabbit cage for what it was for now, and helped Avitus with the crates first. Given the darkness of the cellar and the scattered nature of the mess, she didn't deem it very efficient and especially unfair to let him start on that enormous task alone. They could always fix the cage if it turned out necessary.

Inspecting the covered-up entrance of the hidden hallway, Denari's curiosity started itching. The green pigments in her eyes and the blue ones on her cheek started twinkling visibly as she turned to Avitus.

"I suppose we have got to inspect the space behind this as well. Our lightsabers will make quick work of the planks, but do you think we could or should take any precautions? Or shall we simply see what happens?"

Avitus's glanced at the rubber duck before focusing back on the revealed hallway "The duck is just trying to play up my anatidaephobia"

"If we use our lightsabers to destroy planks in the jedi temple, then we can't put them back up when we learn why they were put there. Therefore, let us put in the work to take them down gently. Other than that, we'll be fine. If it is held back by wooden planks it cannot be a Rancor."

Upon mentioning this comment Avitus would try to contain his curiosity for the moment and find a hammer or nippers to remove the nails holding up the boards.

"Fair point." Denari nodded in agreement of Avitus' assessment of the situation. "There's a hammer with the repair stuff for the rabbit cage. Perhaps we can use the back of it to get the planks off."

"So... you have a fear of birds?" She asked as she retrieved the hammer. Apparently, she hadn't heard of anatidaephobia before.

"Not a fear of birds, just ducks." Avitus stated somewhat bluntly, not wishing to dwell on the topic much further.

Avitus waited for Denari to get the hammer, then accept it from her and get to work on removing the boards.

(( Sorry for not posting sooner, I got caught up finishing my master thesis. ))

The heroes removed the planks with some care, pulling out the nails and putting everything aside in the newly emptied area to be reused later.

As they opened up the area, the darkness behind it was lit up by the soft fire colored light of Denari's radiant pigments. A stairway led further down, maybe a douzen steps or so. The opening was narrow and there was a thin layer of muck on the steps, possibly from some water leakage mixed with dust and dirt.

At the bottom of the stair was another room, empty save for a contraption on the left side, some ancient machine that had been built into the room, going down directly into the concrete. On the right side was a collapsed tunnel, as if there was more to the underground complex, but with it being collapsed, that would likely be for a future adventure, once the rubble had been cleared out.

But most importantly, as the Padawans approached, they could see the light reflecting in douzens of beady little eyes. This was no doubt the source of the infestation, the place where the rodents had set up their nest! If they could clear them from this room, that would likely take care of the rodent problem.

Avitus stared at all the small critters and then turned to Denari "Any suggestions? I think this is going to take awhile with the traps. Or do you want to try to take care of them more 'directly', in that case I am going to get a light."

Denari looked a little pensive for a moment.

"I fear we won't be able to catch and relocate this entire population. We could lure or chase as many as we can into the barrel, if we set it up smartly, perhaps stuff a few nests into it manually, though the caretakers probably won't let us."

"The ones we can't catch we'll probably have to kill, sadly. I don't think the Order can take the risk of damage to health and property that comes with letting them live so close to us..." She seemed genuinely sad about the prospect.

"I'll go roll the barrel some closer" she said as she started walking up the stairs back to the cellar. "There's a large barrel of meat we might be able to lure them with. Or we could put the planks back up at the entrance a little more securely, with the barrel as the only way through. If we're on the same side as the rodents, we can chase them into it, then close the lid before they can escape."

"Ehh, they're only rats. Let's first try the barrel." Avitus shrugged a little, killing pests was after all only natural so that they didn't eat your crops back at the farm.

Avitus then gathered a small piece of meat to put into the end of the barrel and prepared the planks, creating a sturdy barrier with the barrel as the only way through, of course this barrier would not cover the entire height of the wall, but would cover the width to a tall enough height so the rats could hopefully not jump over it.

Denari rolled the barrel closer as Avitus worked on the planks. He wasn't a carpenter, so making a tight fit that was secure as well was a bit difficult, but with some effort he eventually managed to set it up somewhat securely - at the least any rodents that tried to squeeze through the cracks would have a hard time and might even get stuck.

Setting up some meat at the end of the barrel and rolling it in front of the opening, the area was now closed off.

It remained quiet for a while as the creatures did not immediately approach the source of the scent of meat that no doubt had started spreading. With some waiting though, they could hear tiny footsteps approaching, slowly at first and then they heard them on the metal of the barrel - something had crawled inside!

(( Did we manage to lock ourselves, or at least Denari, in with the creatures? Or are we both on the outside? ))

Denari remained very quiet as she listened if more creatures followed.

Following Denari's lead, Avitus also remained quiet for a bit longer.

(( Ahh, I assumed we were on the outside, but see that you wanted to be trapped inside with the rats to chase more of them inside the barrel. ))

(( Having someone on the outside makes sense though, it's easier to close off the space that way ))

(( I am fine with whichever side you wish to be on. For now, based on your responses I will presume Denari is on the inside and maybe Avitus is on the outside, so they can operate on either side? You can easily talk to each other through the barrier ))

The heroes waited a moment quietly. The one inside tasted some of the bait, then quickly scurried off again. It remained quiet a moment, but soon it became clear the other rodents had seen the first one got off scot-free, so now there was a small rush for the free food, at least a douzen or so heading into the barrel to feast.

It wasn't all the rodents in there, but their patients paid off and soon the majority were in there trying to snatch up whatever bits of food they could before any of the others could eat it. A few of the cautious ones remained behind, perhaps not hungry, but this was likely the most that were going to try to get into the barrel at any one time!

Denari was in the dark, still holding the lid as she listened.

When she heared most of the rodents were in there and distracted, she informed Padawan Avitus she was going to close the barrel. She talked just loud enough for him to hear. At the same time turned on the littlest amount of radient pigment she needed to safely move to the barrel and close it.

Agile as she was, she smoothly moved to the barrel to put the lid on.

In one smooth and agile motion, Denari closed the lid on the barrel, trapping the large majority of the critters inside of it. As the barrel closed, there seemed to be a small bit of panic among some of the critters inside, several of them pushing against the lid. The majority though didn't mind the dark and were making sure nobody else could eat all the food while they were distracted.

With only a few of them pushing to get out, Denari was easily capable of holding the lid on and twisting it until it came into its locked position. There were still some more rodents in the room, but once the barrel was removed, they couldn't really be considered an infestation anymore.

This did leave some questions though as to what to do with them now they were captured...

Avitus stood on the other side of the barrier, trying to make sure no rodents got through.

"Now we just need to get rid of these rodents and dispose the bodies somewhere outside. Then the rest can be cleared up over the next few days with some less manual work traps. You think you can get a lightsaber to work in that barrel?"

With that, Avitus would try to set the barrel upright so that the rats would have a much harder time of getting out if they briefly unscrewed the lid.

With the lid safely on, Denari increased the output of her radient pigments again, so that Avitus could see. She was relieved no mass panic had broken out yet.

She helped her fellow Padawan put the barrel upright and then leaned casually on the barrel with her arms on the lid, to subtly suggest it was not to be opened for massacre so soon.

"Lets first see if we can find them a habitat where they can live without causing trouble. If we can't, there might be a place where they can be usefull as a foodsource. We're not going to kill living creatures for just our convenience."

By now she should have had a good enough look at the critters to identify their species and guess their edibility and what kind of habitat and natural predators they needed.

"I'm not yet familiar enough in Unity City to know a place for them, but perhaps the Masters or Quartermaster Akhta might be able to point us in the right direction."

(( She has the Wilderness Survival skill ))

"Alright then, I'll humour you. But whatever we do, we're only releasing them very far away from here. Otherwise the pests are gunna find their way back here."

Avitus slapped the barrel softly.

"Well, if you don't know any place, let's go ask Master Dhahlee, she is very in touch with nature."

And with that, Avitus would check one last time that the barrel was sealed correctly and then head to the gardens to find Master Dhahlee with Denari.

Content with his cooperation, Denari joined Avitus to find Master Dhahlee.

The pair of Jedi quickly find Master Dhahlee in the gardens.

"A curious conundrum", she states after they explain the situation.

"I would think that Unity City is large enough for an additional barrel of rats somewhere...", she continues thoughtfully. "Though you might not want to get caught releasing that many rats", she adds quickly, "Even though Unity City could use some more scavengers, not everyone shares this long-term view."

(( Since Brend created Jedi Master Dhahlee, I asked him to play her here. I've approved the above message and you may presume any future ones as well ))

Denari looked pensive before she started speaking.

"In the absence of a big enough ecosystem with natural food sources and predators, a place where garbage is collected before processing might suit them. There they can scavenge without bothering anyone and the unstable nature of the environment will keep their population in balance.

"A more natural environment still has my preference, but do you know of a big park or forest in Unity City that has a population of predators, Master?"

Master Dhahlee looks both padawan over.

"Well, all parks in the city are neatly planned. You could try Meridian Park? It is the largest park, and while it does not have a large population of predators, you will have an easy time going there and releasing them.

Then again, the dome is a little bigger than just the city, and in some places a few plants have already taken hold where no structures have been build yet. One of these places is near the waste processing facilities. It'll have food and the workers there won't be bothered by them. But the facilities are under guard and releasing them might be more difficult."

Master Dhahlee sits down on a patch of grass.

"Seeing how you have a barrel full right now, you might not want to take too long deciding. Off you go."

After that she takes up a meditation posture, clearly not intending to answer more questions by the two padawan.

Denari bowed to Master Dhahlee before headling back to the cellar.

As they were walking she shared her preference with Padawan Avitus.

"My personal preference is the place near the waste facility. There they can't upset the carefully planned parks and it's surroundings, and we need to head there anyways with the things we can't sell.

"What do you think?"

(( OOC: I'm assuming Padawan Avitus is ready to leave as well. If this is not the case, I'll edit my post ))

Avitus bowed as well to Master Dhahlee, moving away.

"The waste facility will work. We can first try to get rid of all the 'inventory' in the basement, and then whatever we can't sell or donate we can throw out along with the barrel."

On saying this, Avitus walked back towards the basement to start organising the rest of the junk. "Any idea on how we're going to get the stuff to the city?"

"You can drive right? We can ask Quartermaster Akhta if we can use the landspeeder. It might not be able to transport a lot, but if we can get the barrel in and some broken and unsellable goods, we have a good reason to head to the disposal site first. Perhaps they have something bigger we can borrow for the rest of the goods.

"Lets release the rodents on one of those places near the facility before entering the facility though. The rodents will find the way, the workers won't know it was us and we reduce the time which the rodents have to start thinking about panic. Asking if they're welcome would be more honest though..." she trailed off.

"Well, I'm happy you're asking before taking now, so I see no objection" the Quartermaster gave a wink to Avitus when the two padawans requested the use of the landspeeder.

Stepping into her office a moment, the Quartermaster found the keys and handed them to Avitus, also finding a small data card with the vehicle registration for him. "I presume I don't need to tell you to drive carefully." she noted

"If you manage to get any credits for the goods your taking to the disposal site - sometimes they pay for scrap - feel free to get Denari and yourself a little something."

(( I am presuming you are taking the broken and unsalable goods and the rodents to the disposal site, if you want to take any other items with you, be sure to explicitly list taking them ))

After loading up the barrel and as much of the broken goods as they could, Denari expectantly took place in the passenger's seat.

She did not expect to need any emergency supplies for a trip into the city, so she was wearing her usual Jedi robes, with her hands free to carry all kinds of things.

"I will take good care of the landspeeder."

On saying this, Avitus would help Denari load up the barrel and the broken goods. Double check that the barrel was secured properly, and then get into the driver seat of the landspeeder. As Avitus expects no trouble on a simple trip to the city, he is only bringing his lightsaber and his jedi robes.

"Lets go get rid of this junk!" And with that, Avitus would start driving himself and Denari to disposal site.

Upon nearing the disposal site, Denari would pay special attention to the surroundings. Only if she spots a suitable place to release the animals, she would ask Avitus to pull over.

The two Padawans made their way to the junkyard, Avitus easily making his way through the traffic despite the large load in the back of the speeder.

The junkyard was huge, built into the caldera of a deep impact crater, becoming visible once they had driven up the ridge and past an Information Desk where a bored Gamorrean guard was reading a comic book.

The junkyard had various signs pointing to indicate where specific types of junk had to go, and a guard : metals, exotic matter devices, healthcare products, each had its own section where it would be processed.

Further down, they could see large mounds where junk that was deemed safe but useless had been piled up, and further still were older mounds that had since been covered up with a thick layer of dirt, tall grass and the occasional tree growing on top.

The animals would probably love being released at the organics mound - loads of food there, not to mention various birds and the likes competing for the privilege. Among the birds were predators as well though, feeding on the various scavengers, which might pose a risk for the critters though. There were even a few traps set, though honestly the company running the place wasn't exactly making too much effort to remove the free disposal workers.

The grassy mounds further down might also be a good spot - they could hide out there and it was a natural environment. Though the critters would have to work harder to find their food, they'd be safe from predators.

Finally there was another option: a large grinder which pulverized waste. It was guarded, and no doubt the guard would want to see what was inside the barrel - liability and such - but if they could sneak it in there real quick, the problem would be "taken care of".

Avitus steered the speeder towards the back of the junkyard, to the somewhat greener, tall grass pastures.

Then he stopped the speeder and said to Denari "Anywhere is natural environment for rats, so this should do well. They can go can compete with all the other rats here."

Avitus then exited the speeder, taking the barrel out and placing it on the grass before waiting a moment to see if Denari had any more animals rights complaints.

Agreeing with Avitus, Denari got out of the speeder as well, to help him unload the rats as swiftly as possible.

As the barrel opened, the rodents scurried out, rushing in all directions. One of the crawled over Avitus' leg a moment but quickly decided that this wasn't a good plan, hurrying into the tall grass with the others. Within moments the barrel was empty, the only trace of the rats being a bit of a squeek by one of them as it scurried off.

With the rats taken care of, getting rid of the rest of the garbage was easy enough, it mostly involved some time and elbow grease. The two padawans had little trouble getting all the junk to the right recycling locations.

As they were getting their final paperwork signed - junkyards did have books to keep - one of the Gamorreans working at the junkyard approached.

"Aren't you two with the Jedi Order?" he inquired.

After getting confirmation - there was probably little use denying it while wearing Jedi Robes and carrying a lightsaber - he turned and headed into an office, walking away without making further conversation. Gamorreans were rarely pleasant conversationalists. He came back a short while later though.

"We found this among one of the junk deliveries. Colleague said you guys might want to have it. Is it worth something to you?"

He showed a cube made of a dark metal alloy, with a blue crystaline structure inside. Some type of holocron:

Denari regarded the holocron calmly and asked if she could hold it for closer inspection. She took a closer look and concentrated on it briefly. She then handed it to Avitus so he could take a closer look himself.

After passing it to Avitus, she turned back to the Gamorrean and asked him if he knew what kind of junk delivery it came with and where that had come from.

Avitus received the holocron from Denari. Then he turned it round a few times to look at all the angles and joined Denari's statement.

"It might contain some old information, we can take care of it for you."

"All I know is that it was in our trash compactor when it malfunctioned - the trash compactor, not the blue cube thingy." he explained "Damn thing has been on the fritz ever since that load from the glue factory."

"It must have come in with the trash collected from the residents of Unity City. Maybe someone threw it into a wastebin somewhere, or it fell out of a vehicle and was left on the road and swept up."

The Gamorrean didn't seem to have much additional information about the holocron. However, no doubt the Jedi Order would be able to give some insight.

(( Rather than have you post "I head back to the Jedi Order", I figured I'd skip us ahead a little, hence the next post. If you want to ask more question of the Gamorrean or such, feel free to do so, I'll move the next post behind those questions ))

Arriving back at the Jedi Temple, Avitus and Denari found that Master Crular had time for them. He listened patiently as they explained the situation.

"So this holocron was found not amongst the things we kept, but amongst the things others threw away." he pondered "I wonder if it would have been found if you had not chosen to spare the creatures in the cellar."

Clearly, Master Crular attributed some level of meaning to this course of events.

"Tell me, both of you, why did you choose to spare them?"

It wasn't a criticism, rather an honest interest in the Padawans motivations.

Denari found the question a bit odd, so she took a moment to consider the alternatives and formulate her answer.

"In my opinion, there was no reason to kill them in the first place. The threath they posed was neither immediate nor intentional, they are of no value to us as source of nutrition and utilities, and there were options for relocation. "

She paused a moment before continuing to stress her next point.

"If one has a habit of killing living creatures weaker than them as a convenient way of solving conflicts of interest, then where does one draw the line before one is, for instance, murdering sentients because their homes are in the way of one's mining operations?"

Avitus milled about for a moment waiting for Denari to give her answer. He decided to be thruthfull to Master Crular, as it was never any good to lie to jedi masters, they could always pick you right out.

"I uhh, went with sparing them because Denari insisted. Normally back on the farm you'd just get rid of pests. They eat your crops and all."

Master Crular pondered the Padawans answers a moment and smiled.

"Padawan Denari finds the idea of killing the creatures to be distasteful, a step on the road to greater evil. Yet Padawan Avitus sees getting rid of them as something normal, neither good nor evil in itself.

You both come from different viewpoints, yet you managed to complete the mission without disagreement. This is good."

He looked both of them in the eye a moment.

"But enough lessons from this task. You have done well, and we will be able to put the cellar to good use now. Do either of you have any questions?"

The way Master Crular phrased his assessment was quite helpful to Denari. After a recent heated argument with another Padawan she was a bit apprehensive of the idea of going on missions with her, but she now realized that their different viewpoints did not have to lead to arguments that could endanger the mission. In that she would have a choice. She would definitely meditate on that.

But first things first. She was still quite curious about the holocron. And the obstructed space under the cellar.

She thanked the Master for sharing his insight and asked what would now happen to the space and the holocron, and when they might get the chance to study the information the holocron might contain.

(( OOC: I'd love extra training or discussions on Force Philosophy, but I simply do not have any inspiration for a starting point at the moment... ))

"Thank you master Crular, I hope I get to experience the different viewpoints of many of the other padawans."

Though Avitus still held on a bit to his own viewpoint, he did not fail to notice how Denari's viewpoint and methods had gotten a holocron.