Tropis-on-Varonat

*Tropis-on-Varonat was a small city in the jungles of the planet Varonat.*

*NIE Colonists brought in from Empress Teta and other overpopulated worlds have surged the population of Tropis to close to 10,000. They have cleared away enough of the jungle to create vast farming capabilities, while preserving the beautiful jungle around them.

Edgefields is now home to a small military academy and research center.*

*At the Varonat Academy, those workers not currently toiling in the fields are trained in street combat, jungle fighting, and guerrilla warfare. The home militia of Varonat will be its greatest defense. Such a small population should not be burdened with supporting a large army, instead each citizen should know how to fight. Mandalorian warriors teach the villagers many special tactics*

*The raw materials delivered by Tracyn's traders are used to expand the town. Prepartations are made in advance for another 2-3,000 colonists. The NIE and Clan Ordini are not as foolish as some colonists. They build hiusong before they send settlers whenever possible.*

*The housing units are completed and word is sent to Lehon*

*The new settlers have now been settled in and life is returning to normal*

*Workers begin processing and packaging aleudrupe berry juice as it is refined into blaster gas. Tests reveal that the new strain may be slightly more effective than previous years' crops*

*Arriving in the city center of the colony town, Tracyn headed down the main road, looking for someone who could help him. After he had traveled three blocks, a Mandalorian called to him from in front of a clothing store*

=Edwar=
"Tracyn Or'dinii?!"

*Tracyn whirled, then hurried over to the man, putting a finger to his lips* "Shhhhh! Not so loud ner'vod"

*The stranger was one of Prudii's old troopers, who had retired to a new life in the colonoes*

=Tracyn=
"Ed, come with me" *Tracyn pulled his old friend inside the store, and then began to explain in a whisper*

"I'm working a smuggling job, and I need someone to take me to Edgefields. Are you game? I need someone I can trust."

=Edwar=
"Sure thing, old friend."

*Edwar Sikirta led Tracyn baxk outside, down the street, and then down a sidestreet, then hopped into a small landspeeder and motioned for Tracyn to take the passenger seat.*

=Edwar=
"It sure is a pleasure to see an old familiar face, ner'vod"

=Tracyn=
"Aye, it's been a long time, friend."

*Edwar starts the speeder's engines, and they roar to life. He eases it down the almst trafficless streets of the colony town.*

=Edwar=
"It's about a 2 hour trip, unless I really test the speed of this thing, and some parts of the jungle are less than safe, so keep your blaster ready, ner'vod"

=Tracyn=
"I always do" *laughs and watches the city blocks go by quickly. Soon they are outside the town, passing through farmland. Then that too ends and the jungle begins.*

*Returning to Tropis after handing his job over to Edwar and Ruckuss, Tracyn made his way to the spaceport*

*Farming of the aleudrupe berry and production of blaster gas for the Incom Weapons Company proceeds as always. The quiet colony world is growing slowly, and its people are prospering from their isolation and their efficient farming and manufacturing. Exports begin to exceed imports and the economy rises.*

*Processing and packaging of the year's most recent aleudrupe crop begins in earnest. For two weeks, all the children are off from school, and all other business grinds to a near halt as teh harvest is gathered, and each man, woman, and child, takes their place in the processing of the vital crop.*

*The twice annual aleudrupe berry harvest commences, and the schools and businesses are closed as every able-bodied man, woman, and child pitches in for the week long harvest, desperate to complete the task before the next round of storms commenced. Most of the picking was done by hand, as the berries are too fragile for machinery. Baskets of berries are dumped into wooden cartons, which are then nailed shut and carefully transported to the Incom Weapons Company blaster gas factory, where the berries are crushed and fermented.*

*At the Varonat Academy, those workers not currently toiling in the fields are trained in street combat, jungle fighting, and guerrilla warfare. The home militia of Varonat will be its greatest defense. Such a small population should not be burdened with supporting a large army, instead each citizen should know how to fight. Mandalorian warriors teach the villagers many special tactics.*

*I looked cautiously up and down the wide center street of the colony town, but no one in sight seemed to be taking any special interest in me. After backtracking and dodging through a few side alleys, I had satisfactorily laundered any information about where or how I had entered the town. Making my way casually north along the main arterial of Tropis, I glanced at the passing addresses, looking for number 1437. Half a block further down, I spotted the address on the left, and crossed the street, dodging deftly between two passing speeders, and entered a cantina that filled the basement of the six-story building. The smells of four different popular Outer Rim drugs of abuse and a half dozen brands of cheap liquor assaulted my nostrils, and I cringed at the flat, off-key tones emanating from the supposed musicians dancing about the center stage. Steeling my insulted senses, I pushed my way inside, and headed for the bar at the back of the establishment, where I knew Adolfin would be working.*

*Taking a seat at the fourth stool from the lefthand wall, I removed my black gloves and stuffed them into a pocket, then folded my hands on the bar in front of me. The bartender, who was my contact Adolfin, had been watching me in a mirror out of the corner of his eye as he poured drinks for a party of Duros at the other end of the bar. The Twi'lek twitched his left braintail vigorously, and I flashed him a hand signal, repeating the sign and countersign that we had devised years earlier during the Kamino operation. A moment later, he made his way over to me and grabbed an empty mug from the rack at his elbow.*

=Adolfin=
Ah, welcome to Cantina Galaxy, my dear. What can I get for you today? Some Corellian whiskey, perhaps? I have a new vintage that's just arrived yesterday.

*This was, of course, a coded way of telling me his real message. a new vintage was a new opportunity, and whiskey meant that it was a contact, not a job. I already knew from his message that he had a new opportunity for me, but I needed the details. Apparently I had misjudged about it being a specific job, however. Smiling politely, I responded in kind, hiding my disappointment as wasting all that effort on the Mandalorian defense control.*

Yes, thank you, that would be wonderful. Tell me, do you have any recommendations for a tourist who's never been to Varonat before? I don't want to miss any of the local wonders.

*The Twi'lek twitched his braintails again, and turned away to fill the frosty mug from a tap with a small green placard above it. Then, setting the brim-full glass in front of me, he leaned over the counter and answered more quietly.*

=Adolfin=
Here you are.

Ah, new to the area, are you? Well, if you want to see something unique, you should check out one of the Morodin colonies. They are great behemoths, and very savage, but they are semi-sentient.

*The yellow-skinned Twi'lek reached under the counter, and presented me with a datacard labeled as a brochure on safari expeditions in the area.*

I think you will find this most useful.

*I glanced at the datacard as he handed is across, and smiled politely. So he had information about a new underworld organization (colony) here on Varonat, and thought I should get in contact with them (a safari). That was a useful tidbit indeed, although I had come all the way out here expecting him to have a more specific job for me.*

Thank you!

*Flashing him a (fake) flirtatious smile, I slipped him a tip, more for sake of appearances than because I was genuinely pleased with the information, and tucked the datacard away for later examination as the Twi'lek bartender moved away to tend to his remaining customers.*

*A small group of tourists and businessmen stepped out from the spaceport, all being recent passengers of a transport from Coruscant. As the strangers spread out to attend to their own business, a group of ten individuals headed to a nearby hotel. There, they booked several rooms for the night. Meeting up in one room, they checked for surveillance bugs before having a quick meeting about their next plan of action.*

*As the group were conversing among themselves, the datapad in the middle of the table beeped. They hunched over, reading the message to themselves. Once they finished, each one looked at one another. They had just been given a priority mission, one that canceled out their last.

They packed up what little belongings they had on them and discretely departed the hotel over the span of a few hours. They all took several different forms of transportation to different spots throughout the city. One of the men stayed behind, sitting out on a balcony that overlooked the front of the hotel. His job was to watch for shady characters who might be watching them.*

*The man on the balcony received a message from one of the agents out in the city. He read it quickly, a grin showing on his face as he finished. He sent the message to an off-world source before clearing the datapad of information. The man lay back in his seat, letting the sun warm him. Things just kept getting better and better.*

*Jace strolled down the street, breathing in the humid and hot air. He knew that a planet like this would most likely function like Tatooine; most structures would have a basement built below the surface, making it naturally cool. And seeing how this place wasn't like Tatooine, he guessed that the nightlife was real active around these parts.

It was then that he spotted it. A small dwelling on the corner, with dull lights above the door that read Cantina. He moved through the door, walking down the steps into the establishment. He was relieve to feel the cool air against his face, but felt that the acrid smell of smoke from the deathsticks and other drugs could have been left out. Stepping over to the bar, he ordered a Corellian Whiskey. Upon receiving his glass, he walked over to an empty booth and took a seat that faced the door but kept himself in the shadows.

Now, he had to think. He knew it was odd for one to come here for such planning, but he had gotten used to it. Some would say he thought better when under a potentially stressful situation. Owning a place like Chalmun's tended to condition one to work in such environments. He began bringing up ideas and strategies, tossing them around in his head as he judged each one. All the while, he slowly took a sip now and again from his glass.*

*The agents acquired rooms in hotels around the HQ, some of them as close as you can get, while others were farther off, closer to the spaceport and other buildings. Two hotels had a perfect vantage point where they could watch traffic enter and leave the HQ.*