Butchers And Guardians

[Ithnan Cryo]

System: Charros
Planet: Charros IV
Location: Mountain Canteena

Cold air blew through the canteen as the metals doors to the outside world opened and closed unendingly. It was midday and the less than charitable sort were coming int from their illicit day to day dealings to share drinks and swap stories. Occasionally a person would be dragged out screaming by several others and a lone blaster bolt sound echoing through the nearby mountains. It wasn't a place one would go to make friends but more so contacts and business partners. In Ithnan's case, it was neither. He had no plans on making friends with pirates and half beat drug pusher. No, he had come on a mission for the empire and that was the only target in his sights.

He was covered in a black cloak and casual armor, nothing too flashy. His goal wasn't to stand out but blend in. From the booth he was sitting at he could see the crew of pirates he had been stalking. "The Drifters" is what they called themselves. Not a big name in the galaxy but big enough in the system that even amongst these people they were avoided for fear of retaliation. In the passing months, they had not only set up local enterprises off planet but also become a pirating problem for the rebels and natives.

One could ask why the Sith would care for the blights of the Silver Jedi's, but in this case, they truly didn't. Word had gotten around that some of their hauls held tech schematics that could bolster the research's department studies. Whether it was true or not wasn't confirmed but the Empire would rather be safe than sorry.

With his lightsaber on his hip, hidden away by his cloak. He got up from the creaky old table and swam through the crowd effortlessly, not pushing a single soul, as the four Drifters drunkenly got up and saw themselves out,placing a large tab on some unfortunate passerby. As he followed the small rail of people outside the harsh wind and cold truly hit him and he fastned his cloak tighter as he followed them through the mountain roads and to their ship. A simple shuttle with enough space to hold 20 or more. His years among ships had garnered him some perception on how they may appear inside based on design.

Wasting no time he bumped into one of the four.

"Aye, you skug watch where you're walking." The zygerrian drifter spoke in a slur tone that gave Ithnan some hope this would work.

"You're drifters right?"

All four of them stopped and eyed him, one putting an uncoordianted hand on his pistol.

"What's it to yah?" another spoke, human it seemed.

"I was looking to join and I heard you were offering work." His voice was charming, probably a bit to charming for drunken criminals but none the less they werent all there at the moment.

"You ever held a rifle boy!" The Zygerrian yelled out.

"I fought on Commenor. Killed a Sith and everything."

They all laughed. "Sure boy and I kissed the Queen. What do you say, boss might like a fool." The Zygerrian looked around to his now fading partners.

"Yeah Yeah whatever just bringem along and keep em in the back." Anothether human saidas the ramp into the shuttle opened and they all walked inside.

"Come on then boy!"

He had a small barbarous smile under his hood which he hid as he stepped on board.

[member="Saka Amara"]

 

[Ihsan]

The pirates dutifully loaded up the shipment of weapons onto the shuttle, all of them appearing slightly on edge as they went about their duties, the Mirialan observed them obsessively from her position overlooking the landing bay.

Saka would have found the whole situation uplifting, making progress in fighting against the pirates and reducing crime. She would have, if she hadn't also potentially ran the risk that she was outmatched by the more numerous gang members that inhabited the ship. For this Saka had to be sneaky and use her agility and size to her advantage, the only trouble was getting past the sentries and on board.

Fortunately she had a plan, a diversion from which the pirates would be distracted by while she snuck aboard. All she had to do now was wait for the right moment.

[member="Ithnan Cryo"]

 

[Ithnan Cryo]

Ithnan stomped his way up the ramp of the ship, be sure to keep watch the pirates every move. So far the plan had gone well enough that he could feel the anxiety of an early failure being shifted toward the heap of worry he had of being caught within the base itself. That was the goal. Enter the base, steal the information, get the feth out. It was a three-step plan that had a large myriad of minor details in between that could only be deduced when inside. There was little intel on this job and still, despite it all, he accepted it wholeheartedly. If he was to ever find a master he would need to prove himself useful as an agent and apprentice, and what better way of doing that then servicing the Empire.

One of the pirates stopped and turned to look at him, swaying a little. The entry of the ship smelled just as bad as the Canteena did. It reeked of alcohol and illegal substances that he had the misfortune of selling in his youth. The walls of the ship had clear damage to it and blaster marks remained all over, pointing to the ill-gotten way to which they had received it most likely. Ithnan had no problem with pirates as long as they didn't mess with his stuff, but a sloppy pirate was irritating, to say the least.

When the pirate and his eyes met he put on a small friendly smile, trying not to be overly devious in appearance. The human pirate looked hip up and down a few more times before he finally spoke. "Follow me, you'll strap yourself in and stay quiet till we arrive. No need for questions until we clear you with the boss boy." The human pointed him back behind the now-closed ramp where two rows of seats where stationed.

While he had never been on this model he recognized that this had to be a troop transport of some kind. Each seat had a storage locker placed above it where one could hold gear and other belongings before being dropped into whatever battleground await them. The Empire had several models but none of them seemed close to this one, a relic of the past perhaps.

Ithnan gave a pleasant nod and followed the man to a seat while the other went towards the helm of the ship to set up the autopilot back to base. Once he landed he knew he would have to detach himself quickly from the group and make his way for the storage area. How was he going to do that? Well, that part fell under the "minor details" department. The alarms would surely be raised which meant he would have to get out in a timely fashion after acquiring the data.

With a harsh jolt the shuttle lifted off the snowy plateau of the mountain and as quickly as one of the Pirates threw up on the ground the ship was exiting the atmosphere of the planet and heading toward the coordinates installed into the computer.

[member="Saka Amara"]

 

[Ihsan]

From the back of her mind, something cried for her attention, but she ignored it. She focused on the task ahead. The coordinates didn’t tell her where the pirates would be hiding it, but gut instinct told her it'd be on the ship itself. The only way to find out exactly where it was would be to search the ship, but there was a risk associated with that. There was no telling how many of the pirates were aboard and if she came barging in uninvited it could be suicide. It wasn’t hard to recognize the superior numbers of the criminals and it wasn’t a given she could escape if detected. While she wasn’t shy to admit she could easily beat many pirates, she wasn’t arrogant enough to believe she was invincible.

So she was in a dilemma. At times such at this, it was usually a good idea to confer to the force, to seek wisdom and truth in the path ahead. Saka chose the best option available to her which was to sneak aboard without any backup or support from more senior jedi knights and masters. None of the pirates outside spotted the shift in the shadows as the small Padawan entered the ship via one of maintenance shafts.
[member="Ithnan Cryo"]

 

[Ithnan Cryo]

The flight was as to be imagined, all quiet on his end and loud chatter from the brotherly band of brigands. Ithnan was fine with it this way. The less he spoke the better his chances of not poking the drunken bear. Plus on top of it all, he was told not to speak by a "superior" and presenting himself as a good little dog would probably get him further in this case.

With a hard rock, the ship's metal screamed as the old and refurbished metal clunked and clanked its way across the stars. The lighting in the passenger seating would occasionally flicker and he could've sworn that the movements of varmints in the pipes was scurrying into his ears. Honestly, he was more worried about the ship crapping out on him now when it seemed to have such frequents use any other day.

"We're coming up an ace, what the entry code again!" a nameless pirate yelled from the helm back towards the human that had been wordlessly tasked with watching him along the ride.

The guardian pirate rubbed his temples "5XZ54, our name was Youngblood."

Ithnan stared at the man as his friend at the wheel answered a radio call repeating the same code. Within a few minutes, Ithnan's body braced another hard bump as the ship landed as gently as age would allow.

Phase 1 complete, now came the hard part.

"Follow me, boy." The pirate unbuckled and stood up.

"Of course." he followed suit.

[member="Saka Amara"]

 

[Ihsan]

As her eyes swept over the dingy shaft, assessing potential exit strategies in the wake of success, Saka sucked in a sharp breath. Now came the task of navigating the crusty old ship with all its twisting serpentine corridors and dank spaces, filled to the brim with people of questionable backgrounds. There was no telling how extensive the maintenance shafts were, but it was safe to assume that they pretty much covered all the ship including the more guarded areas; making the task of evading detection much easier than previously thought.

Maybe waiting for backup was a wiser choice.

She could handle herself however, she was one of the best Padawans in the order when it came to fighting and completing tasks given to her by superiors in the order and her Wookiee master. However good she was with a lightsaber, there was not a chance in hell that she could dodge blaster fire from thirty aggravated pirates.

Why didn’t I plan an alternative route?

Undoubtedly, her master would call it a mistake. Saka smiled a little, imagining his amusement at the simple mistake before gently scolding the Mirialan for making the mistake.

As she contemplated her options, sudden inspiration struck. She backed away stealthily, heading toward the opening ahead. Saka peered ahead and she was sure… yes. There it was. She climbed into the shaft, praying it didn’t narrow near the top. Bracing herself, she used her back and legs to work her way up. It was painstakingly slow and her muscles screamed at her angrily. She gritted her teeth and kept going.

Saka sighed with relief when she saw the wide opening above her. She crouched as she rolled over the top, quickly scanning for any movement. She didn’t expect any in a weapons room like this. However, she wasn’t taking any chances. There was no one.

"You wouldn't karkin' believe it! three of the fethin Nosaurian scalies tried to rob me of my fethin credits, mind you... i was too sharp for em methinks." a unfamiliar yet rough voice could be heard outside the door, Saka froze momentarially and moved to take cover behind a crate of grenades as the pirate entered the room.

"Now where did i put those blasted things, he better have not mispla-" All the pirate met in response to his absent minded rambling was the hard sensation of a boot to the back of the neck as he lost all consciousness, his fall cushioned by the Mirialan padawan who dragged the far larger pirate out of sight.

[member="Ithnan Cryo"]

 

[Ithnan Cryo]

The base was as to be expected from Pirates who could barely keep a ship up to snuff. The walls were dirty and marked with names and tally marks. The inhabitants were as loose and careless as the ones Ithnan had the pleasure of accompanying here. They looked like a hard lot. People who had committed some of the vilest crimes in the galaxy and get away with it. It more disturbed him that they were succeeding in getting rich and not their means of doing it. Only the resourceful and tactful should be rewarded he believed. Whoever was keeping them organized to any extent must've had some semblance of those traits in them.

Ithnan quietly followed the men out of the landing area and into the metal beast that was the old base. Marking of the SJO could still be seen despite the scratches and burn marks along them. An old base from a harder time perhaps. He wasn't aware of all the SJO's base deployments since its inception. All he knew was that whatever had removed them was irrelevant now as the new owners would be less likely to imprison him once his desires came to light.

"Check if the boss is in will yah?" His personal guard broke off with the rest of his group as he led Ithnan down the forward hallway at the intersecting paths. This was rather convenient for him to say the least. Killing four people without one blaster round going off would've been difficult....but then again who knew what was allowed on the base and wasn't. Blaster fire might've been a common occurrence. Regardless he brought up no objections and continued to follow the pirate and elevator. The numbers labeled on the side indicated it was coming from a sub-level in the asteroid and was rarely used for going up as the button was missing.

"What 's down below," he asked rather calmly, eyeing behind him to see if anyone was around.

"You're going to stay in the holding cells until we say so boy, now shuts up and get on" The pirate spoke as the lift doors opened and three pirates steppe off, ignoring him and greeting the guard with vulgar familiarity.

Stepping into the lift he watched the guard give his goodbyes and step on after him pressing SL5, a rather deep sublevel he thought.

"So Commenor aye....how was it that you fought the Empire and survived?" The guard was digging in his dirty coat, pulling out a few pills and popping them into his mouth.

"I never said I fought for Commenor." As he said that and the words sunk into the pirates head Ithnan delivered a heavy kick to the guard's leg and swooped behind him placing the man into a tight choke hold. The pirate struggled between reaching for his neck rather than his blaster. However before the pirate could make that realization Ithnan twisted the man's neck roughly, snapping it and leaving a trickle of blood to escape the man's mouth.

[member="Saka Amara"]

 

[Ihsan]

Saka groaned in frustration. It was disheartening to be stopped at the brink by this. She drew back into the shadows, running possibilities in her head. She hadn’t planned for incompetence. . Yet, here she was—stranded in an alcove because one of these oaf pirates had stationed himself just below the Mirialan and right in front of her entrypoint into the pirates base which was formerly a SJO recon base years past.

Feeling some satisfaction, she saw she was only fifteen feet from another entry point via a crack in one of the outer ruined bunkers walls. Only one rooftop gap separated her from getting into the base. Saka gauged the distance and the angle. I can do this. She made sure everything was secure inside her cloak and completed a running leap, twisting her body to land with a roll on the next roof. Then, she quickly dropped down the side of the bunker to the hard ground below. Right on time. It would be going dark before long and she could make her way down the crack and into the base before the patrols noticed anything funny.

She felt a momentary rush of contentment as success dangled in front of her. Only one mistake had been made and that was easily fixable.

Yet something felt wrong in the force, like there was a shadow looming over the pirates base.

 

[Ithnan Cryo]

Ithnan yawned as the elevator continued downward, he had spent a rather long night researching these pirates. To see the fruit of his labor had landed him in a beat up elevator with a dead man left him with a small tinge of disappointment. it lingered on his mind as the elevator finally came to a halt at the sublevel. The first thing he noticed was the blood-streaked walls and floors that lead into varying cells that lined the sealable hallway.

Was this the work of pirates or the old inhabitants? He couldn't tell at an eye glance and he neither had the time to investigate what exactly became of visitors on this base. Scanning the elevator panel for a mere moment he pressed SL3. His information as to the layout of the base was completely dark, a test probe. The Sith had a way of testings those it sent on busy work especially the acolytes. He would need to be cautious and smart about how he moved about the base. For now, taking a hostage would have to do. This base was large enough that he assumed an unfamiliar face wouldn't immediately bring attention.

Ithnan wasn't dressed in a standout manner regardless, his black cloak swaying heavily with the speed at which he walked off the elevator. He made sure to send the elevator back down to SL5 as to make anyone waiting to get on dally longer and give him more time to go unnoticed. As for where he was now SL3 seemed to be a..factory of sorts? He smelled the familiar scent of old machinery and the opera of machinery that graced most workshops. Whatever these people were building down here it warranted a whole level and a lot of personnel. They rippled in the force and he felt them all around him as he walked the halls of the level.

Aliens of all types passed him normally going about their business, and cleaning droids raced the hall doing...absolutely nothing in his opinion. If he was going to find his prize this seemed like a good start. Hopefully, in the confusion, he could snoop more intimately, for now, he just scoped out every room he passed for a computer.

[member="Saka Amara"]

 

[Ihsan]

Saka stopped, out of breath, behind the nearest corner and waited to see if anyone was following her. Nothing. Excellent.

She steadied her body and made her way along the abandoned complex that connected to the main part of the base. She had entered in an opposite fashion to the main building that the pirates occupied, thus making it somewhat easier to avoid detection. She hadn’t anticipated stowing away on the pirates ship and arriving at an abandoned SJO base. Why hadn’t she better prepared? Another mistake. Well, she would adapt. Saka would show her master she was capable.

Winding a path out in a random directional pattern, Saka entered an opening in one of the ventilation shafts connecting the complex to the main base, hoping she wasn’t leaving enough trail to follow. Navigating the dense labyrinth of shafts led the Mirialan to some level that functioned as a factory of sorts, maybe for producing weapons? It mattered not, what mattered was retrieving the thing she came for.

Although something caught the Mirialans eye, she made a small mental note in the back of her head to follow this strange looking man, as he carried a certain air to him that made the Padawan uneasy.

 

[Ithnan Cryo]

Ithnan continued his way through the floor, none the wiser to anyone that he didn't belong. His eyes would eventually spot a computer room or what seemed like an access point for the engineers that worked this section and the workshop nearby. Two Twilek men were staring down at....something. While two other droids robotically carried out their tasks, uploading files and tending to their master's orders. He would fit right in here.....not. The white-haired man placed a hand on the lightsaber to his waist beneath his cloak when suddenly alarms flared up and lights pinged a bright red rhythmically through the floor.

The two Twileks looked at him and then to the alarm before pushing to leave out the room as per usual when the alarm was raised. It wasn't like they knew it was him who had killed anyone so suspicion was still low. However before he could push his luck any further he set upon letting them and their droid entourage pass so that he could enter himself, shutting the door behind him. It took him no time to start his task as he pulled out a machine from his belt and plugged it into the computer, pulling up whatever files it could store. It was filled with schematics and what looked like drop off points for whatever they were delivering.

It meant nothing to him now but back at base something of use may have been able to come of it. Silently he waited as the computer uploaded all the data to the drive and the flashing light passed over him in waves making appear and disappear in a dark display. In the back of his senses, he could tell someone else was here. A person that rippled in the force more than their sentient beings present. A force sensitive among pirates could always be likely and he was sure he'd rather not find out.

[member="Saka Amara"]

 

[Ihsan]

She hesitantly stood to her feet and dropped down from the shaft opening, landing a few meters away from the only other force sensitive, her eyes adjusting to the light. Saka offered no words save for an inquisitive stare as she tried to figure out who he was.


"You're no pirate are you? you certainly don't smell like one i'll give you that, who sent you?"

[member="Ithnan Cryo"]

 

[Ithnan Cryo]

When the woman fell from the shaft he immediately turned and stared into her eyes. Just as she had said to him she didn't look like a pirate or even give off the harsher demeanor most of them did when he walked by them earlier. No, she was something totally different and with little time for a fight or caring interview he had only one option available to him.

" I was taken prisoner by these guys when our cargo ship was passing through a nearby system... Who are you exactly? You don't scream pilot to me either."

He looked to see that the drive had copied all of the data and swiftly pulled it out and stored it under his cloak, not caring if the force sensitive saw or not.

"If you are here to stall my escape I'll have to apologize for hurting such a lovely looking person." He would begin to walk toward her, his hands holding his lightsaber under his cloak, out of view.

[member="Saka Amara"]