Log:Array Consortium: Spy Delivery

Spy Delivery

Location: Lok, Karthakk System
Participants: Aola Ziveri

With the relay droids prepared and synchronized, Adhar dispatches Aola to Lok to drop the droids off in different target zones.

Lok is a withered dustaball. Like Tatooine's rocky cousin, its main claim to fame being that its craggy cliffs are from where the monstrous kimoglias come. Dead riverbeds, volcanoes, vast sulfur pools - this is where the Captain has chosen his first conquest, perhaps to be lord over the enormous poison-lizards.

The Karthakk system is the isolated place where the Revenant pirates dwell; Lok is but one world here, the planets of Maramere and Nod Kartha joining it in revolution around their burning yellow sun, angrier by far than many. Where Maremere is an ocean world, and Nod Kartha a blasted waste, they present no danger, and are far enough not to be worried about as you jump into the system. It's Lok's first hurdle, the Spine of Lok, that will caue you trouble the moment you jump in. Black asteroids, so dark as to be seen only with sensors, will need to be navigated first, and whatever pirates might be lairing there in wait of folk like yourelf. Though you have three security officers at your disposal, manning the guns, you'll still need to try and work your way through the black rocks enter the planet's atmosphere. True to his word, Adhar has marked out three locations where the droids - who are packed into the cargo bins under the passenger seats - must be dropped off, four per site. You even get a full list of voice commands.

So, into hyperspace you go, with droids, guards, and whatever else you decide to take in the shuttle's narrow passenger hold. The guards are up front with you, manning gunnery consoles and sensor stations. Soon hyperspace' blue glow will give out and the reality of the void will swallow you once more...and then the rocks.

Well...at least they'd sent a decent pilot to get through the Spine, although Aola was swiftly wondering if she should have gone alone with the droids loaded into the small storage of one of the fighters. Her focus was on the path, a frown remains on her lips of concerntration. What in the hell did they want with this planet, or -any- planet really? She'd ask the questions when she made it back from this dangerous job. Working the controls carefully, she chews her bottom lip as she tries to navigate the obstacles. If she doesn't slow down, any 'pirates' might just be convinced she's too tricky a prey to bother.

The rocks are black against the starfield, difficult to see, much less navigate through - but you keep from pancaking against the rocks, andinstead manage to twist the shuttle between a number of the glassy boulders before settling down on a proper course. At the very least, there aren't any pirates here taking this approach. Soon you make it through the belt, genius that you are, but it's very clear that the first line of defense to get through to Lok is a hell of a doozy.

Aola's not above a little smirk as she navigates the starfield, in a shuttle no less. "Man Bee-boop," she comments out of habbit. "I hope someone was recording -that-." Even so, it's back to business! Angling the shuttle towards her destination, the Twi'lek pilot continues with the task at hand.

No doubt they were.

Beyond the rocks, Lok is a sandy, dry and sun-baked world - where Tatooine is all about sand and dunes, Lok is a volcanic, flinty mess. And so you descend, heading toward the first of the first sites - a broad, rocky plain midway along the equatorial belt, something the maps read as 'The Protectorate of Nym'. Somewhere in the wastes, the mighty fortress of Nym, the pirate lord of the Revenants, stands. You, however, are to deploy the first knot of droids in the wilderness.

It's a crappy world, but it wasn't the first nasty volcanic world she'd seen. At least her flightsuit would over some degree of protection. "Alright," she murmers mostly to herself. "Lets land this thing and get these droids snooping." With that, the woman turns the ship towards the wilderness and makes to begin her landing.

Well, it's 'crappy', but there's some beauty to it too - not quite as dramatic as Mustafar, but there's a certain sternness to the countryside that could stir the heart - or if not, there's always air conditioning.

Descending to the ground and landing, the shuttle's spikes have some difficulty settling down on the baked earth. After all, these things are built for concrete landing pads. Nevertheless, you manage to settle the shuttle on the flinty ground, where the talons dig into the earth without sinking too deeply. Take a couple of tries, though.

The security guards are prepping to assist, strapping on armor over their civilian clothes and taking carbines from storage areas. They don't try to go with you, mind. They just wait on station for orders.

The job of opening up the storage hatches under the seats and commanding the droids is all yours! Hooray!

Well...it was almost a flashback to her days on her parents merchant vessel. Almost. She certainly was more gangly teen and less 'armed fatale' then she is now. Stepping down onto the surface, the woman seals her helmet to eliminate the sulfer smell before moving around to the storage hatches and setting to work.

The droids, at least, are pretty light - maybe forty pounds each, they're sturdier than they look, but that's likely by design. As you take each one out, they deploy on their own, standing on the deck with their spindly limbs, looking like mobile toolchests. When all four are ready, you can simply tell them to deploy - and when you do, they go marching out across the wasteland. Well, that's easy enough.

"Maybe the challenge was just getting through the field," Aola muses once the droids set off, making her way back towards the shuttle ramps. So far, so good, right? Of course, things could go wrong quickly, but she had to trust on her own skill and the security team waiting within to help her if they do.

The next stop is Nym's stronghold itself. Being a massive complex, walled and armed with defense guns and the like, the veritable city-state seems to be no artifact of a crumbling order. The walls of the stronghold are towering and thick, and the structures within seem strong examples of desert stonework - a bit like that on Tatooine, though the dust collects more on the architecture than it does there, and not all is bleached from the sun.

There is a starport here, too, though it's more of a collection of permacrete pads than a formalized port - nevertheless, ships land and take off there, though not with the regularity one would expect from a thriving city, even one run by pirates.

Perhaps that's a true sign of the times.

Getting permission to land - something that is granted by a bored-sounding fellow somewhere below - you set the shuttle down without incident, and the hatch can open. This time, though, you're going to need to lead your little band of merry 'men' to an industrial area just off the starport, and do so without rousing suspicion.

Well, this was the part that she'd expected to require a little more finesse. Hopefully her time swapping skills and knowledge with her sister was going to pay off. It would take a few moments, changing out of her array suit and into more 'formal' looking wear. Her spacer's attire with a little extra armor here and there, her blaster rifle at her side. It was as close to the look of 'Pirate Queen' or 'Mercenary leader' as the young woman could mange. "Alright, keep close and hold off shooting unless I tell you to...or someone shoots at us."

Straightforward enough instructions, but it was all she gave before stepping off into the pirate city.

All hail Aola, Queen of Pirates! While not trained in the art of disguise, you've got attitude and sexuality in spades - and with the guys in plates and rifles coming with, the guise of bandit leader is pulled off without question - at least, nobody stops to question you on your criminal certifications, if there's ever such a thing. Four armed people escorting a quartet of crappy droids gets the occasional quirked eyebrow, but for the most part the citizenry is pretty blase about it. They've got their own stuff to do, and the heavily-armed fellows wearing the symbol of the Revenants on their dustcloaks seem pretty pleasd to leave you alone so long as you're not causing trouble.

Two streets up and to the right, and then down an alleyway - this is the way to the back of the industrial building that you'll need to access so the droids can go wandering.

Keep up the stride, don't slow down, don't break character. Perhaps the Twi'lek would have to send her sister a gift when she finally got back to Nar Shaddaa. For now, the blue-skinned woman leads the team with confident steps towards the street, making the turn and keeping her eyes open for any signs they might be being watched a little too closely. She just needed a window to get things done after all...

The structure is a large one, some kind of factory or the like; the back door is really a fairly large loading gate, one that requires keycards or some other nonsense to crack. A guard is back here, a big fellow with a blaster carbine in hand, muscled up like he ate half of a Gold's Gym and absorbed them into his own body.

He is, however, asleep. So there's that.

Aola had been shown a long time ago by one of the Resistance scouts how to dispose of a sleeping target, silently and brutally...but she both lacked the blade and the will for such a move. She did however, not want him waking up. Biting her bottom lip, the woman lifts her blaster carbine and flicks the switch to stun before glancing around and leveling it at the sleeping giant's head. This was going to be one heck of a hangover when he woke up, but at least they'd be able to search him for his access key easily enough.

Well, it's not like you're going to be able to /miss/. The crackling wave of the stun blast racing through his body causes the big man to stiffen, and opening his mouth for but a moment the big felow collapses on the dusty ground. Searching his body takes a little more time, because his pockets are full of odds and ends - ooh, credits! - eventually, however, you also find a code cylinder that should fit the panel.

The credits? They're passed to the security team. They can split them if they get through this without Aola getting shot! Taking the code cylinder, the woman keeps her blaster rifle at the ready as the door opens and takes a deep breath. Stay cool, keep in character, but be ready to shoot more people in the face. It's a simple approach, but it worked so far, right?

The service door hisses open, suggesting regular maitenance. Beyond, the building is filled with a tangle of machines, all manner of things that whir and whatnot in their anonymous way. Welp, this is the place, folks. Better to dispatch the spies.

"Let them loose," she speaks to the team members holding the droids. So far so good! She almost felt bad for the sleeping guard, almost. He -was- still a pirate after all. Chewing her bottom lip, the Twi'lek steps out of the space once the droids are set up and free. The sooner they were done? The sooner she was headed home to relax with good company who were less likely to shiv her in the back. The code cylinder is easily deposited back on the guard, but the woman frowns with a look towards the credits she'd handed out before shrugging. He'd probably come to the belief he'd been robbed while he slept, perhaps it would make him a better guard in the end?

Well, it's not as if you killed him, right? Commanded thus, the rattletraps head into the facility, and the door seals shut behind them. The guards look suitably impressed - it's nice to roll with a professional, after all. Now, to get back without attracting attention.

"Same plan, stay calm," the Twi'lek instucts as she starts her path back towards the shuttle. Noone had seen them drop off the droids so the mission was technically a success, but that didn't mean that the woman wasn't going to prefer to hold off celebrating till they were safely back in friendly space. Her hand remained gripping her slung weapon however, just in case.

On the way out, you do your level best to look like a bunch of people who haven't just broken into a building, but something just doesn't ring true - on the way back to the spaceport, you are painfully aware of the eyes of the guards on your back as you head to the pads.

"Top," one of the troops at your side says, "I think we've been made."

For what, though?

"Could just be eying us to jump. Weapons ready and keep walking," Aola instructs. "We don't want a firefight away from our ship against a whole city. Keep your eyes open and keep moving." Perhaps it might be a little more obvious now, but her strides are that much quicker while she keeps moving back towards the shuttle.

Someone must've radioed ahead, because as you arrive at the pad there are a quartet of burly, hairy fellows in patchwork armor hanging around the shuttle. They look bored, rather than alert, but they're carrying blasters. One of them sees you approaching, and nudges another. They start settling into stance and look suitably forbidding. Oh good.

There's a moment for Aola to flick her weapon back from stun, to kill. Perhaps she'd intimidate, but if nothing else she'd be ready. "Problem gentlemen?" she speaks, hoping that the security team are fanning out and have been trained well enough. "You're in our way." Maybe, just maybe, the Twi'lek could talk her way around a firefight.

"You make a delivery around here?" This from the leader, a burly Herglic with more scar tissue than sense. He fixes a beady black eye upon you, the other long gone. Doesn't seem to have affected his vision much, at least where seeking targets are concerned. "You didn't pay handling fees. Like, any of 'em. That's not acceptable around here, girly. Not the way we do business at all."

The Twi'lek woman shrugs her shoulders lightly, tilting her head to the side. "Oh, of course..." she purrs, turning back towards the man she had handed the credits to and gesturing for the funds with a quick movement of her hands. She would make it up to the team with a round or something later. Flashing the leader a winning and somewhat flirtatious smile over her shoulder, she gather the creds and moves back towards the man, leaning forwards just that little bit more than necessary with a slight pout. "We were in such a hurry to get our work done. Just a quick little rendevouz...we didn't wish to offend." A wink, she lets the creds fall into the Herglic's hands before gesturing with her head for the men to board the ship before the thugs can really think on it any more than necessary. "I'm sorry to make you all wait on little blue me...make sure you have an extra drink tonight for working so hard!" Another flirtatious smile and she attempts to move past the thugs herself, gesturing for one of her men to start up the shuttle.

Now you've got a lot of charm, Aola, and many are the men who might melt before your mammalian charms - but this here's a Herglic, a walking killer whale, and he apparently isn't buying what you're selling. "Look here, girlie," the big fellow says, frowning at the coins that shower into his massive hands, "You make sure you don't make that mistake the next time, eh? I'll let you go this time, seeing as you're new, but be aware: I know your face, and if you lose your memory again, I'm gonna lose my temper. I lose my temper, and...poof. No more shuttle. You get me?"

Well, at least he's not lost his temper /this/ time, right? The money helps.

Despite the moment of tension, the big bastard lets you go. The rest of the delivery goes smoothly, as the third group of relay droids are deposited at the third site, just as the great beast that is a Kimoglia crests a hill not far away. In the end, however, your shuttle does not attract much of its attention...but the size of it! Thirty - no, /forty/ meters long, the great reptile plods across the blasted land as you take off, fangs and bony spinal plates gleaming in the sun, raising its head only for a moment as you make your departure.

A good job done, even with a few complications. No doubt the Captain will be pleased.