Cowboy Bebop [Merchant Fleet]

[Kairon Rees]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Ord Vaug was uncivilised as planets went, even for this region of the Galaxy. Whilst a number of sprawling settlements covered its surface, there was no unified government. The Final Order had been sending in elite storm commandos in disguise to train the forces of local warlords and pay them in expensive artefacts. The end goal was to create a world hostile to the Alliance, a stumbling block should they expand in its direction. FO ships frequent the system, but officially no landing of troops is permitted. There is a chance they can put the right warlord into power, to invite them into formally establishing a military presence.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Whilst the Alliance also had troops on the ground unofficially to attempt stabilisation, the GADF is spread thin. An opportunity has arisen to dent their operations. A group of storm commandos, dressed as mercenaries, is transporting an invaluable shipment from a major port, to a coastal city. Should this package fail to reach its destination, steps could be taken to sour relations between the final order and this prominent warlord. Along the route is the settlement of Jadestown. Small and relatively lawless, it is frequented by many traders as it bisects many routes between spaceports and major settlements.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Instead of hiring locals, the Alliance have taken the decision to utilise the Merchant Fleet again. The smugglers should be more than able to blend in at Jadestown and plan, prepare and execute an ambush. The cargo container is a few metres across and relatively heavy and guarded by two squads of Storm commandos. Should the guards be subdued, the smuggler’s freighters should be used to grab the cargo and flee the planet. Imperial patrol ships may attempt to prevent escape.[/SIZE]

Note: we'll move the story to the world in question shortly



[SIZE=14.6667px]ANS [/SIZE][SIZE=14.6667px]Hope.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=14.6667px]Merchant Fleet briefing room[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Kairon once again rubbed the palm of his hands into his eyes, hoping the three dimensional holo image would make sense to him again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“Look,” Jarrick said. “The little circles mean this is a wheeled unit, the dots above indicate its strength and….”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Once again Kairon zoned out. The map was covered in symbols indicating the location of local battling forces. The symbology was apparently some universal standard that Jarrick – as an ex marine from Eriadu – was perfectly at home understanding. To Kairon, however, it was a nonsense.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]“Look, we’re going to hole up in this settlement called ‘Janestown’. I don’t care which warlord’s forces are where in the hundred kilometres around the route of this shipment. So, does anyone have some ideas on how we’re going to set this ambush up?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=14.6667px]Any captains and crewmembers who heeded the call of the GA would be assembled in the wide auditorium. They had no formal organisation like the military, so their planning meetings tended to descend into anarchy.[/SIZE]

 

[Kairon Rees]

Spoiler

[member=Rusty]
[member="Dirks Hutchinson"]
[member="Eliza Steele"]
[member="Judah Dashiell"]
[member="Rawnie Tal'verda"]
[member="Rekha Kaarde"]
[member="Doctor Azure"]
[member="Evelyn Vanlyth"]
[member="Malia Afredane"]
[member="Kaia Starchaser"]
[member="Kad Tor"]
[member="Jamie El-Eison"]
[member="Robb Killian"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]
[member="Ebony Blackheart"]
[member="Kohai Drenn"]
[member="Davik Tren"]
[member="Robb Killian"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Robb Killian]

ANS Hope.
Merchant Fleet briefing room, second row seating.

Robb leaned back in his seat and covered his mouth to stifle a yawn. The spacer was tired, and slightly hung-over, but content overall. He had spent the night drinking with some GADF marines and vaguely remembered taking one of them back to his bunk. But for the life of him he could not remember her face, especially since she had been gone by the time he woke up, which made sense. Maybe it was a dream? Either way, recent events had left Robb feeling better than he had in months, hangover notwithstanding.

The spacer crossed his arms over his chest and put a boot up against the chair in front of him, rocking himself back and forth gently. Robb played his fingers against his forearm, tapping a simple rhythm as he listened to Kairon and Jarrick discuss details.

“Look, we’re going to hole up in this settlement called ‘Janestown’. I don’t care which warlord’s forces are where in the hundred kilometres around the route of this shipment. So, does anyone have some ideas on how we’re going to set this ambush up?”

Robb considered the holo-display map for a moment, then held up two fingers in an attempt to get the pair's attention. Realizing he needn't have raised his hand, Robb simply began speaking, "Do we know how the cargo is being transported?" The method of transportation was an important detail as far as Robb was concerned; a lone speeder would be easier to hijack than say a tram or caravan.

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Robb Killian"]

"Pair of air speeders," Kairon replied. "Nothing that stands out too much, but probably armoured against light arms fire and probably sporting a repeater."

He rubbed his goatee with his spare hand, the other flat on the edge of the holo projecting table. "The direct approach sounds risky. They should be stopped at Jadestown for a time."

There were enough experienced hands and ex soldiers around the table to work out a plan to pull this off, he reckoned. The last operation had been planned out by the military and they had simply executed - with great success.

 

[Damien Mercer]

Damien's hat was lowered enough to cover his face, and obscure his vision of the confusing hologram. He had no love for diagrams or plans, he usually just went with things. Now though it seemed a plan was needed, and so when he pushed the brim of his hat up, he suggested one. "We set up at Jadestown, hide around their stop point. Once they come in and stop for a refuel we attack, take them down while they're out of their ships and get the cargo for ourselves. The element of surprise should give us the upper hand, and some explosives. When we have the loot, we get it in a freighter and meet up with others in the skies. They'll escort the freighter out of orbit, and everyone goes home happy. " After offering his plan he leaned back, looking at each and every person in the room for a reaction. It was a plan from the top of his head, but that didn't mean it was a bad one.

[member="Kairon Rees"]
[member="Robb Killian"]

 

[Rusty]

Rusty and the Captain were sitting three rows back, just left of center.

As the Captain and Chief Exploder of the Grey Warden, they represented their crew, most of whom, save Kairon and Jarrick, were busy prepping the Wicked Grace. The Grey Warden was too large to fit in the Hope's hangar, and too large to be inconspicuous planetside. They'd take the Wicked Grace down to Janestown. The ship was too small to fit all of them for long, but a quick jaunt to the surface wouldn't stress it overmuch.

The Shard was taking in the briefing as well as he could, mostly paying attention to the parts where he could blow stuff up. The Captain was likewise paying attention, though he caught her stealing an occasional glance over to Kairon. Though there had initially been some friction among them on the new ship, they had quickly grown comfortable living in close proximity. Or at least that's how he read the situation. Honesty, it could be that she was glaring daggers at the man and he wouldn't know the difference.

Organics were strange like that.

[member="Kairon Rees"]
[member="Malia Afredane"]

 

[Robb Killian]

Robb liked the plan, it was straightforward and to-the-point. "If we can neutralize the guards quietly, or at least prevent them from signaling an alert, we could buy ourselves some time before the enemy even realized their goods were gone."

Robb uncrossed his arms and cracked his knuckles. "Hell, if we have a freighter big enough, we could always just jack the speeders. . . unless they're being tracked. In which case we would have to disable them. . ." The smuggler stared intently at the holo-map for a moment, imagining routes and possibilities. "Either way, we'll need to establish teams, delegate jobs, think of contingencies. . ." Robb trailed off and looked around the room, hoping for suggestions.

[member="Kairon Rees"] [member="Rusty"] [member="Damien Mercer"] [member="Corvetta Salvo"] [member="Kohai Drenn"] [member="Davik Tren"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

"They should be stopping off at Jadestown for a few hours at least," Kairon said, "possibly even the night. This isn't the first time they've done this run. Perhaps we should get down to the town, few enough of us to remain inconspicuous and get the lay of the land.

"Might be you're right Robb. If they do split up we could try and keep some of them busy and grab the cargo. My main concern is taking the speeders without blowing up the cargo, or getting shot full of holes. Any notions?"


[member="Robb Killian"]
[member="Rusty"]
[member="Damien Mercer"]

 

[Narasa Kelori]

[member="Kairon Rees"] [member="Robb Killian"]

There were lots of options for a girl of her skills. Narasa had opted to sit in the second row just ahead of [member="Malia Afredane"] and [member="Rusty"] in order to get a good view of what went on at the front. Her position meant some turning as people spoke up from the audience behind her, but ultimately it seemed to be the best option.

"What's the local populace?" Narasa asked, finally speaking up. She was still getting the lay of the land, but this "command crew", for lack of a better term, seemed much more relaxed than she had expected when Kairon had mentioned the operation to her. That communal attitude of friendly nonchalance suited her just fine. "I'm happy to play scouting party, but it won't work if the locals are all human." She grinned and gestured with one hand at her horns. "I'd be a bit conspicuous."

She turned to [member="Damien Mercer"] down the row from her and pointed non-threateningly at his hat. "Unless you'd like to let me borrow that."

 

[Robb Killian]

"Well, maybe. . . Hang on." Removing his boots from the seat before him, Robb rose to his feet. The spacer made his way to the map, climbing over the empty chair in front of him. Robb reached the map's controls and keyed it to zoom in on Jadestown, creating a relatively low-res image of the town's layout. He scanned it for a moment before continuing.

"If they stop for the night we could do it like he said, taking out the enemy while they refuel." Robb nodded his head to indicate Damien Mercer. "But if they're just passing through, the job will be easier if we can stop them, somehow. Maybe block the road with traffic, make 'em re-route through a narrower side street where we can better ambush them." Robb keyed the controls again, generating little icons along a few possible side streets to better illustrate his point.

"Or. . . another option would be stirring up some of the local color to our favor." Robb crossed his arms over his chest and faced Kairon. "Jadestown is pretty lawless, right? Should be easy to cause some trouble." He cleared his throat nervously, he wasn't used to talking this much. "Either way, I agree that we'd be better off heading planetside and planning onsite."

[member="Narasa Kelori"] [member="Kairon Rees"] [member="Rusty"] [member="Damien Mercer"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Robb Killian"]
[member="Rusty"]

"Alright, let's go see what we're dealing with," Kairon said. He turned around the room briefly meeting everyone's eye. "No stirring up trouble with any of the locals before we decide to do so deliberately," he warned. "Low profile."

Turning to the mechanical second of the Warden, he asked: "I ask with baited breath," he said, his tone making clear he wasn't being entirely serious. "But is there any chance you could bring something with enough oomph to do something about those speeder in case we end up in a sticky situation? Maybe some kind of ion weapon we could take in disassembled," he said. Weaponry wasn't really his thing. He had a favoured scatterblaster, but had never worked in the armed forces or developed an amateur enthusiasm.

 

[Narasa Kelori]

Narasa nodded at [member="Robb Killian"] 's suggestion. "If we can do it without arousing their suspicion, sure. We don't want 'em hunkering down and using the supply train as cover to lay low while they call in reinforcements. I like the idea of the narrower street, though; it gives us a chance to get people up high on the buildings, too. More angles mean more opportunities."

Narasa internally shrugged at Kairon's declaration. No one had directly answered her question about whether a Zabrak would blend with the locals, but [member="Kairon Rees"] wasn't saying no to her accompanying them; planetside it was then! It would be interesting to feel ground against her boots again, rather than the metal walks of a ship.

"Got it," she agreed, relaxing back into her seat again. She looked behind her at [member="Rusty"] and [member="Malia Afredane"] , addressing the latter while Kairon worked out details with Rusty. "Are we all going down on the Grace, or are we keeping someone in the air for the freight run?"

 

[Rusty]

"But is there any chance you could bring something with enough oomph to do something about those speeder in case we end up in a sticky situation? Maybe some kind of ion weapon we could take in disassembled," he said. Weaponry wasn't really his thing. He had a favoured scatterblaster, but had never worked in the armed forces or developed an amateur enthusiasm.

Rusty nodded thoughtfully.

That was his outward expression. Inwardly, he was cackling maniacally. He didn't have to worry about his body betraying the peals of laughter echoing through his skull, at least, because seriously.

Could he fry the speeders? Sure. It was just a matter of degrees.

And with plenty of patience and saliva, the bantha deflowered the flitnat.

"I think I can pull that off," he said slowly. "You want them rare, medium, well done, or ash on the wind?"

[member="Kairon Rees"]

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Rusty"]

"A grilling that leaves the cargo intact," was all that Kairon replied. And whilst other pending questions would perhaps be answered* it was not long before the meeting was brought to a halt. Not formally of course, no one was taking minutes. The smugglers just slowly drifted away.


Four days later


Everyone here had a sidearm. That was one of the first things that struck Kairon about the bar. The second thing was the amount of dark stains on the flagstones. Nice.

Still, the bar had two stories and overlooked the crossroads at the centre of Jadestown, which was one of the possible ambush points. It was also where they were meeting their contact. On the journey Kairon had the realisation that the best way to appear to be in the town on genuine business, was the be in the down doing genuine business.

Charty Reau had a few hundred tonnes of stolen weaponry to shift off world. Of course, unless the deal was too good to pass up, they'd make their excuses and back out. Just being seen in a public place talking to a known local trader would do much to avoid suspicion.


[member="Narasa Kelori"] [member="Rusty"] [member="Damien Mercer"] [member="Robb Killian"] [member="Malia Afredane"]



*feel free to RP any bits still needed at that meeting. I haven't placed anyone at Jadestown, feel free to be with Kairon or elsewhere.

 

[Narasa Kelori]

[member="Rusty"] [member="Malia Afredane"] [member="Robb Killian"] [member="Damien Mercer"]

Narasa couldn't say she felt right at home at the Jadestown tavern; the overall first impression of their meeting place didn't exactly fill her with warm and fuzzy memories. She did manage to stick close to [member="Kairon Rees"] without looking like she was doing it, though. It wasn't fear that drove her to stay close, but the unfamiliarity with the location and the distinct first message that she wanted to send to anyone looking: the group that had just come in was tight-knit and wouldn't tolerate any one of their number being waylaid or confronted. The vibe of this town was general lawlessness; whatever legitimate business Kairon had found for them to be doing here, Narasa would bet a week working in the engine room that it wouldn't be considered lawful legitimate business.

The heavy weight of her blasters at her hips helped remind her that they could protect themselves, whatever came. She just had to hope the heist went well and everyone made it off world with little to no injury.

 

[Rusty]

Like pretty much everyone else from the Merchant fleet, Rusty and [member="Malia Afredane"] were posted up in a bar, trying their best to look like locals. They had authentic looking clothes, authentic looking weapons, and even sported authentic hangovers.

The Captain had been weirded out by Rusty's HRD at first, but once she was sure it was him, things went smoothly enough. The usual barroom stares and whispers had eluded them entirely. They were just a youngish human female with a youngish human male rather than a youngish human female and her hulking robotic companion. Sure, Rusty was still the size of an Imperial Walker, but he didn't look like a droid, so he couldn't be, right?

So they had been able to go to the bar last night without any incidents. No one wanted to come near Mal, who was glowering over the fact that she and Kairon were on the same planet and still weren't able to meet up yet, and not even the most drunken and belligerent of the patrons wanted to try their luck against the shaved Wookiee she brought along as a companion. That meant they were left to their own devices. Conversation had ensued, followed by commiseration and, to the Captain's rather twisted delight, the discovery that Rusty could drink. She then proceeded to try to drink him under the table, in the hopes of paying him back for all the snide remarks that had inevitably accompanied her hangovers.

Half the plan had been a success. They had both gotten utterly smashed, and Rusty did have a hangover. But so did she, and that was no fun.

It wouldn't be time to go for another few hours. In the mean time, both were nursing coffee and painkillers in the hopes that the temptation to chew on a blaster bolt would go away before then.

 

[Kairon Rees]

[member="Narasa Kelori"]

“Look, I'm really sorry, but after my last run in with the Union I just don't think we can do this for a price you'd be happy with,” Kairon said.

Charty Reau scratched the back his his head and grunted. “Fair enough,” he said after a moment.

“I'm sure you'll be able to find someone who can make the run,” Kairon said plainly. “And I've got some good routes through Republic space, though I do charge a ‘chance of tortured into oblivion by a sadistic Sith’ tax for cutting through OS space,” Kairon said, getting up the shake the trader's hand.

Job done. No one was offended, they'd been seen with a known local on business and there was actually a chance of follow on work for approaching negotiations in a respectful manner.

Leaving the table, both figuratively and literally, Kairon headed up to the balcony on the first floor with Narasa and Jarrick. He looked out over the crossroads where the air speeders would pass through.

“See anything useful?” he asked Narasa, taking a swig of ale.

 

[Malia Afredane]

The jury was still out on Rusty's new body, she just couldn't get over the way he looked. He sounded like her first mate, but that squishy face and bulging muscles just threw her off. He looked too cut, too ...well, hot to be hanging out in a dive somewhere with someone who looked like Mal. She would need to have a word with their handler about toning him down a bit. But then again, he had come back from an op looking like this. Maybe this was what fit in where he was.

Mal's mind nearly committed ritual suicide trying to figure out where they had sent the Shard that the looks of a model were blending in and how Rusty's personality did not suit either that situation or the body he now occupied. She let her head fall forward onto her hand.

"I'm not ready for this. I need a damn nap. Or something greasy. Maybe something greasy and a nap."

She caught Kairon moving across the bar with Narasa and considered getting up, but being vertical only added to her nausea.

"Is it time yet? Maybe one of the guards can remove my head for me."

Hangovers were getting worse as she got older. This was not a welcome addition to her drinking routine but right now she would have welcomed an axe murdered to her booth if he could stop the headache and the spins.

[member="Kairon Rees"] [member="Rusty"] [member="Narasa Kelori"] [member="Robb Killian"] [member="Damien Mercer"]

 

[Rusty]

Rusty wearily raised a hand and flagged down a waiter.

"Something greasy, and preferably meat," he said. A place like this could make water greasy. The waiter looked at them both, noting the bloodshot eyes and the slight greenish tint around the gills. The Rodian nodded. He knew this song and dance far better than Rusty.

"By the Force, Captain, how do you do this every night?"

The Shard would like nothing more than to tell his pounding head and turbulent stomach to [bleep] off, but that was bound to raise suspicions. He wasn't that good of an actor, and if his hangover suddenly vanished, it was bound to raise some questions.

"I don't know about the guards, but I've got a lovely ion cannon I'm thinking about giving a suck start. Might take the edge off, you know?"

Kairon Rees Narasa Kelori Robb Killian Damien Mercer [member="Malia Afredane"]

 

[Narasa Kelori]

[member="Malia Afredane"] [member="Rusty"] [member="Robb Killian"] [member="Damien Mercer"]

Narasa watched [member="Kairon Rees"] stand and followed suit, giving Charty a smile and brief nod before she clomped up the stairs. Her eyes swept the main room of the bar as they passed through, making sure no one was paying them any particular attention, but, like the group she was part of, everyone seemed to belong. Appearances could be so deceiving.

The balcony wasn't exactly a roof post, but it was better than nothing. The view of the intersection was solid; no real obstructions between them and the direction the caravan should be arriving from. Narasa's back itched; either someone was watching them, or she was fidgety. Briefly, her green eyes took in the roofline, looking for the best post. "Yeah," Narasa responded to Kairon, "I see I should never sit opposite you at a trading table."

She grinned amicably and took a drink, gazing off over the distance, eyes sharp for movement. "Nothing." She glanced casually back into the room behind them, checking for those who were closest before she continued in a softer voice. "I still say we need someone high. Can't we get someone on those roofs without sending up red flags?"