Log:Courkrus: Batten Down

Mercenaries and Mandalorians Prepare to Assault Pirates

OOC Date: June 2, 2023
Location: Courkrus
Participants: Amaia Dara, Wun Numb, Terek Rosol, Kademir Taerok and Hadrix Kora as GM

The Grav-Truck's passage from farmlands to city outskirts was more uneventful than many might suspect. Awkward quiet in the truck cab, watchful silence in the box trailer it hauled.

Open fields with crops growing becoming a monotonous background for transit as the city of Vlarnya neared. As the suburbs rose the meet them so to did the presence of the Invids who held the planet beneath their thumb, though their focus was still outward from the major settlement.

"We'll be comin' in on where they won't let folks who ain' part of them in..." the owner of the truck turning off of the main road to bring it into a lot for a tapcafe that seems to be focused on clientele from the rural parts. The drivers seeming to know enough to keep themselves from being noticed. "They took the ol' Mynock Hotel... Like we said on the way in. So now y'here. Git out m'truck and sort whatever damn fool thing you're lookin' t'do."

Mai Dara stepped down from the truck, taking a moment to ansure that she had everything with her that she had brought with her. She did not, however, step immediately away from the truck. Instead, she took a moment to address the farmer, "You assisted us at great risk to yourself. We will not forget this. With luck, should we succeed, life will go easier for you and yours." And then she did step away, "I vote for a recon of the hotel and a quiet entry."

A 5' Silustran crouches in the truck, looking around, then jumps out and moves left. He is dressed in a grey jump suit with way too many pockets. Most have something in them. A discerning eye might notice the outlines of comm equipment, nuts and bolts, etc. A vibro-blade sits on left hip, and a BlasTech carbine is slung over his shoulder. A medpac is in a fanny pack on his hip. He is wearing a brown wide brimmed fedora, somewhat acid damaged. The fedora has both a chin cord to keep it on, and a maroon Haroot feather stuck in the brim. The Silustran's large black eyes blink once. Twice. They are free of cataracts, so he must be young. He looks very young, perhaps even 19.

Terek hops out of the back of the truck, tapping the side of it a couple of times, <"I second that idea."> He responds to Mai, as he gives the local a nod goodbye as he walks past the driver's side window, stepping up next to the gathering group.

<"Make credits"> Kademir quips through the speaker of his helmet. Back to being a professional. He rolles his shoulders to check the load of the bandolier and the weapon on it. His hand blindly taps the collapsed carbine in his thigh holster. His armored fist comes back up to his shoulder where the Bilari-Hilt is, and theres a tiny metallic rap in return from his BD unit. Once out of the transport he's engaging his electronic binocs and tapping at a military-grade datapad. Fingers take a moment to rapidly rattle on the frame in thought. <"Gate be ready to hide.">

Kademir takes the time others are disembarking to drop low thanks to his digitgrade legs and get a little closer to look for something in particular. When he returns fingers are now tapping at the chin of the elongated Dreadfinder helmet. His speaker kicks in again. <"Found a spot I can scomp in to."> His hand waggles. <"Approach is not optimal. However, if I can get into that alley near the hotel."> He pulls out the datapad, flips it around so others can see the diagram he's sketched.

<<"Aff.">> noted over the comms at the information provided by Kademir, Hadrix is moving towards shadows with a weather eye for the truck as it pulls further into the lot and the pair dismounting to wander into the cantina instead of conspicuously pull in and then unceremoniously leave.

The approach noted by the shista is as described, obnoxiously well lit most of the way, and the alley itself providing the only reliable concealment despite service corridor lights that cast soft glows to keep it from being completely dark.

The streets are quiet, though not without light foot traffic as figures move from bar to bar or from inebriation to what passes for home if they miss the mark. A large repulsor transport rumbles overhead, spotlights running up and down the street and figures aboard looking roughly armored and excessively armed.

It's a half block to the Mynock, but the real distance could be leagues depending on how (un)optimistic one was.

Mai Dara moved off to move quietly, nodding thanks to Kademir for the map. It was into the alley she went, moving surprisingly quietly for someone in full armor. Clearly, all those years of trying to sneak up on her Alor as a child had paid off. As she moved, she continued to scan, voice coming back now and then as she took the lay of the land, <<"The alley is clear for now. I mark two potential entry points. A delivery door, currently closed, and a paid of kitchen doors. In frequent use, but, if you were quick enough you might be able to use the shadows to your advantage."

Wun's night is not getting off to a good start. Startled, he tries to improvise, but he hasn't yet learned to fake things well. Still, he tries to stagger convincingly, acting like a drunk. He'll move off to start to circle round, and perhaps lose his attention. He'll say quietly say into his comms, "I'll try to lose them and then come back."

Three are in Mandalorians armor. One is currently in the spotlight, trying to be convincingly drunk. Kademir attempts to ninja his way shadow to shadow. He needs to get to that computer port to see what mischief he can cause and intel he can pull. It's always valuable after all. In the meantime he has to get to point B from point A. He almost gets away with it, but then there's the meddling repulsor-craft. This time he's broadcasting on the private channel between them. <<"So. I think I need to go ballistic in a moment.">>

As attention is drawn away from the group proper, Terek uses it to his advantage to slip into the darkness and move closer to that hotel proper, <"If you gotta start shooting, you gotta start shooting."> He replies, drawing his blaster from his side. He kind of wishes he'd set up with the sniper rifle again.

The Sullustan's stumbling under the spotlight is followed until he gets across a street before it sweeps on and elsewhere, stopping just short of Kademir before it halts and moves over Kademir.

"Hey, you!"

A wet voice sounding from the craft hollering down to the figure beneath, several others leaning out with blasters being leveled when a hissing sound comes from a side street - a small rocket slamming into the side of the patrolling vehicle. A body comes cartwheeling to the ground and the vehicle itself nearly smashes into the side of a three story bar and apartment combination.

<<"Covering your entry. Go.">> Al'Verde Kora's voice rasping over comms as the big man is made briefly visible before he takes off down the street, drawing attention and blaster fire.

The front of the hotel and a number of people in the street all turning to the spectacle and leaving the alley unobserved for the moment.

Well, that was certainly one way to ring the bell. Thankfully, the noise, the rocket, and the distraction provided by the team was decidedly...not in her direction. Mai moved, keeping good speed as she tried to time the entry in through the kitchen doors to when she judged some of the staff were going in and out. She would just ahve to pray that none of the actual pirates fancied themselves a sous chef. A silent count in her head, before she sprang forward, <<"Moving inside. Kitchen entry.">> As soon as she was inside, she did two things. One: Hope there was some big piece of equipment she could hide behind, and 2: Make certain her vambrace laser was ready.

Wun blinks rapidly, and moves to the darkest spot in the alley and hunkers down before triggering his comms. "Ok, unintended. I'm newer to this sort of thing than you all I suspect. What should I do? I'm ok at a lot of things, but not great at hiding." He cringes, realizing just how green he sounds. Still, better to ask for help than be silent and mess up this run.

The explosion outside of the hotel should draw plenty of attention towards it. Which is good for Terek as he slips through the kitchen. There's a lot of people back here, but most seem to be looking in the direction of the blast, allowing Terek to slip in between some areas and sticking to the dark.

For a brief moment he's almost caught by a Rodian in the kitchen as they run to hide inside of a fridge, the cathar holding position near that same fridge as the alien slams the door behind him.

At least it clears the path for Terek to keep moving deeper into the hotel.

When the spotlight and voices focus on Kademir, a brief mad thought to try to sing his way out of the conundrum zips through his brain. Instead. He is tensing up to launch himself into the air off his armors jetpack and draw the Bilari-Blade, a missile from afar takes care of that particular issue.

Kademir debates rocketing through the front and playing shoot-'em-up. The idea is discarded, saving the jetpack for later and runs over cover of explosions and falling debris into the alley. His vibrodragger pops out long enough to prize a cover off the junction box. It vanishes as he scomps in utilizing his gear and armor. Fingers dancing across access panel, then back and forth to the datapad.

The kitchen has the scantest moment where all eyes are on the doors that lead to the hotel lobby and restaurant (a very loose term for the latter), so much so that Terek and Amaia's entry goes unnoticed, if only because eyes barely pass over where they had made their entrance and even the minute swing of the door with no missing faces and no additional isn't noticed. Or so it seems for the time being.

With another speeder lifting off from the hotel roof and diving down towards the ground to join the damaged first, at least one Mandalorian is giving those whom can be spared to leave the building a bit of a merry chase. Complete with carbine and rifle fire chasing after the dark armored Hadrix.

In the system network, it's a mashup of system codes going back and forth. The holonet bringing in entertainment as much as providing communications within, to and from the hotel. A veritable cacophony of signals to sift through in search of whatever it is that Kademir is trying to isolate or trace.

But he is in as are two of the others. So it's only a matter of setup for execution.

Mai, having made it inside the building, moved, carefully, from storage room to storage room, searching for, not a security input, but one which was used for the general management of the hotel. One could tell quite a bit from the comings and goings. <<"Going to see if I can get a handle on the daily business in the hotel. Might help us to plan when best to strike the building. It would be a shame to do all this work and not take out as many of them as possible.">> Managing to find a small office, probably for the lackey who did the real work so the manager could claim all of the credit, Mai settled in, keeping herself angled towards the door, of course. You never turned your back on a potential threat.

Wun's youth is evident, as he hesitates to act. He triggers his commlink, <<"Ok, I have decent computer and repair skills, and can shoot. But lack the ability to hide as easily as you all, and experience. I could really use suggestions on where you can use me, please?">> He sighs, and hates appearing as the DNOT (Designated Noob of This). He sighs, and waits for direction.

He doesn't know how he managed to get through the kitchen unseen, but he's not going to take too long to worry about how he got lucky.

He ducks into a small alcove, watching the door while Mai does her work. He sticks to her and keeps her covered. <"That's good thinking. Could take a whole huge chunk out with one blast."> And now that he said it, he remembers he didn't bring any bombs.

In his almost natural element is Kademir attempting to take something apart. It's his favorite hobby. There are many types of taking things apart. Explosions. Shooting. Slicing. Electronics. But he's not building a droid today, he's trying to take down a system. After robbing it of information, of which there is plenty. His helmet visor turns onto the Sullustan. <"Stand there, weapon out, and make sure I do not get shot?">

Kade tweaks a few settings in the datapad. He then activates the comms in his helmet for all. <<"All right. I'm going to send you all the building schematics... now.">> The signal is fired off. Kademir focuses on tweaking that line of code, then another. Bit by bit, trying to build an electronic masterpiece under less than ideal circumstances to disable all the alarms. <<"Ooops.">> Kade does not elaborate... he also lost the chance to try to go 'Hey what did you do in there?!' when all the alarms go off.

One thing stood out in particular in kitchen records. The Invids ran things in shipboard time. 'Galley' calls were regular with the dinner hour fast approaching - meaning anyone not out chasing, on duty, or otherwise may yet be occupied. But also the captain and their inner circle had their own meal. Same as when aboard a craft, in their own private area on the penthouse level (such as it is, for the Mynock).

<<"Sit tight kid. When it kicks off, I'll be at hand...">>

Hadrix's voice on comms, wherever it is the old guerilla has gone while the pirates chase the trail he's left.

But the layout provided by Kademir gives routes for those inside to maneuver. Places to slip through via less used portions of the hotel and its service corridors, while the alarms are suddenly all blaring, to choose their position to strike. The Shista's work uncovering notes sent back and forth by the Captain and some of their seconds. Discussing some of the materials they'd acquired when they hit the Banking Clan Vault.

And what made what would have been a purely mercenary and bounty hunter affair also a Mandalorian one.