Public Dear Jedi Orders

[Velok Brokentusk]

A deep rumble ran over the system-wide comms. It was laughter.

"Rarr, dear boy, you're far from home. We're well past the Confederacy, let alone the Silver Jedi naval jurisdiction. But I bow to your fait accompli and accept your terms. Auteme , alas, the gauntlet will have to wait for another day."

The Whiphid Raider frigates broke away from the planet and leaped to hyperspace in various directions, as Rarr had invited. Assuming the escrow account cleared as promised, the 480,000,000 would be deposited in a Tion Trade Nexus private account, and immediately shuffled through various machinations and transactions. Within five minutes it would take the form of diversified goods and services, shipping containers, warehouse stock floors, and financial instruments in various markets. He'd made a lot of mistakes with Caedyn's billion; he'd learned from them.

 

[Aaran Tafo]

And with the Pirate's retreat. Aaran's own chase would begin. Waiting a moment for the Frigates to blast off into Hyperspace. The Padawan checked his tracking device. It would take some time for the coordinates to come back to him. But once it did, he'd be there and ready to jump into Hyperspace after Velok.

"Soon as I have his coordinates I'll pass them back to you then give chase. See who you can round up. We can finally nail this guy. Or at least stop him from pulling this stunt again." He called back to Auteme, careful to still use a secure line. Not knowing who might be listening in duing these kinds of events. His eyes remained locked on the patch of space where the pirate vessels once lay.

"I still owe him for FIgaro."

Auteme
Velok Brokentusk
Beltran Rarr

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran actually chuckled out loud at Velok Brokentusk 's words. "Jurisdiction doesn't mean much in neutral territory," He replied. "Out here, it's whose gun is biggest." And at the moment, Beltran believed that he was firmly in control of the "biggest" gun category for this particular interaction. "But I am a man of my word. Once your ships have entered hyperspace, the funds will be deposited as promised."

With that, Beltran cut his coms with the pirate. Moments later, the raider frigates began to pull away from the planet, making for hyperspace vectors. None of the Silver Naval ships in attendance did so much as a flyby of them as they moved away from the world. Assuming that Auteme and Aaran Tafo were content to allow them to withdraw, the credits would be sent in a timely manner following the withdraw.

Once they were more or less alone in the starfield, Beltran turned to the Captain of the Deliverer. "Sir, would it be possible to patch me in to the Jedi's ship ( Auteme 's)." The Mon Calamari Captain regarded Beltran a moment and then nodded, indicating that his communications officer should do so.

A moment later, Beltran's voice hailed Jedi Auteme 's ship. "Tell me you were able to get a tracker on him." He said. His decision to allow the ships to withdraw with the money had been based on that fact that the Jedi was already in the system when he'd arrived. It was a gamble, to be sure, and a costly one-as he was personally footing the bill for this one-but if she had been able to get a tracker on him then this could turn into a much larger victory down the road.

Aaran Tafo

 

[Silver Shield Group]

RAIDER-CLASS CORVETTE ENCORE
BRIDGE

They huddled together in one of the crew trenches, surrounding the comms station. Two Verpine hung on every transmitted word as if it were the most interesting series of transmissions they had heard in their active careers. Mostly because it was.​

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As it happened, one of the many additions to Encore was a powerful communications suite, the kind that liked to pick up all the surrounding comms chatter and decrypt it with the efficient brutality of a wampa cracking an egg.​

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"They had him surrounded, and he fled, and they paid him anyway." Ka'laf shook his head, "The Jedi of this decade shall be remembered for their deep pockets and empty heads."​

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He clicked his mandibles distinctly. Culturally, this was roughly the equivalent of spitting on the ground in abject disgust.​

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Ix'cha's antenna twitched, and he gracefully left the comms station for another. "You are too harsh. Credits come more easily than life. The Jedi did what they must."​

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"Do you watch? Do you listen?" Ka'laf hissed and followed him. "The hog-Sith fled. All they had to do was not send him money. Exercise cunning. Is it so immoral to betray the confidence of a would-be-exterminator?"​

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"I am no Jedi, and clearly neither are you. Do not ask me to explain their ways," Ix'cha snapped, tapping commands into another console and beginning the recall process for the probes. "If an enemy can be paid off, then perhaps they should be. More favorable footing must be sought, not seized at the expense of others. The credits will purchase the hog-Sith's complacency."​

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"You explain anyway. I thought you said you were not a Jedi."​

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"Perhaps I should become one. I even may start now," Ix'cha yanked a small switch into place and glared at his colleague, "How much money to make you stop stop talking to me?"​

 

[Auteme]

Aaran Tafo Beltran Rarr Silver Shield Group
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"We should probably... call a friend or two before pursuing," she told Aaran. Her eyes followed the four large (relatively) ships that had arrived around the planet. This was quite a ways away from even Confederate space, and it'd taken her ship a few hours to arrive in-system even from where they'd been in the Rim. Still, as Velok's ships began to depart, she didn't question their mysterious saviors. If Aaran were in charge there'd probably have been a similar show of force to ward off the raiders.

Auteme replied to the man who contacted them. "I'm, ah- well, first I should thank you for coming. Very timely, we're in your debt. I suppose scaring them off is better than paying them," she said. "As a... professional, I'm sure you'd accept if I asked who you are and where your allegiances lie before I answer your question?"

 

[Beltran Rarr]

"...I suppose scaring them off is better than paying them,"

If wincing had a sound, then Beltran was pretty sure that the bridge behind him would have been deafening. As it stood, the Lorrdian was sure that he could have heard a pin drop. Even the ship's captain, who outranked him, looked to him for a response. Another man might have tried to hide the fact that he'd paid them to leave, but Beltran wasn't that man.

"No, as a matter of fact I did pay them. Once they left. I have forensic accountants looking to see where the money went, but I don't suspect that will lead me to much. Hence my hope that you were able to get a tracker on him." He didn't bother explaining his reasoning. That would sound too much like he was admitting a mistake, and he wasn't at all convinced that he'd made one. The lives of innocents were far too important to worry about credits. He would make the money back in time, even if he wasn't able to recover it from Velok Brokentusk .

"As a... professional, I'm sure you'd accept if I asked who you are and where your allegiances lie before I answer your question?"

A fair question. "I am Captain Beltran Rarr, commanding officer of Paladin Company - attached to the 5th Antarian Rangers Special Operations Group. These ships are part of a Silver Concord Naval Taskforce, codenamed Dagger. We were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to get here. I had been attempting to negotiate over the holo-network but wasn't convinced that Mr. Brokentusk wouldn't bomb the planet anyway after he was paid. I figured it would be good to demonstrate the real world consequences that such an action would have on his health."

Auteme
Aaran Tafo
Silver Shield Group

 

[Auteme]

Beltran Rarr
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Auteme bit her lip, but knew that in the end it'd been something out of her control. Beltran had made a choice. One couldn't place a cost on sentient lives -- then again, she wondered if the people below had even noticed anything was wrong.

With that cleared up, Auteme replied over the comms. "I see, Captain. I am Auteme Denko-Durren, of the New Jedi Order. I happened to be traveling with a friend of mine a sector over and we rushed in, though we were... ill-prepared. I think you made the right choice, though; as much as I look for the best in people, and as business-oriented as he might seem, there wasn't anything stopping Velok from continuing his bombardment.

"As for tracking -- yes, we did manage to plant a tracker, but we won't have a location until they exit hyperspace." The Ranger was someone she knew had supported the Alliance before; Ryv had mentioned that Beltran had fought side-by-side with him on Kintan. No point in not sharing the information. "Thank you for your help, again. We'll share the coordinates when we have them, and hopefully come prepared when we find him."

 

[Velok Brokentusk]

With the tracking beacon secure on one of the scattered raider frigates, pursuit forces would have little trouble tracking it. Its course bounced around somewhat but wound up crossing the CIS border and terminating at Gertafuu VI, which had a moderately robust Whiphid population centred on the Temorzhai Ridge region. At least one raider ship would have landed on a glacier near the very small starport of Sak Sgurrh - the only sane entrance to the Temorzhai.

OOC/ Anyone who wants to track Velok, feel free to start up a thread, I'm down with whatever.

 

[Beltran Rarr]

Beltran nodded, far too disciplined to release a sigh of relief or anything of the like. But that didn't mean that the Ranger didn't feel a sense of satisfaction in knowing that the credits hadn't gone completely to waste. If they could track the pirate to his base, or whatever it was he was operating out of, then he might end up with more than just the planet inhabitants' safety to show for this ad hoc exercise.

"Understood, Jedi Denko-Durren. I would very much like to join whatever follow-up operation you plan. If for no reason than to perhaps get my money back." Beltran reached forward to cut the com before pausing as one last thought came to him. "Oh and by the way, I should probably tell you that my men quite enjoy your show. From what I gather, it has a very creative writing team."

With that, Beltran cut the channel. The Deliverer and the other ships would come about, returning to a patrol formation before jumping into hyperspace and back to their assigned routes.

Auteme
Aaran Tafo
Velok Brokentusk

OOC: I'm down for a follow-up thread if the rest of you guys are.

 

[Arcane Syn NPCs]

Shikkar
Avata-class Infiltrator

She watched as the flotilla arrived. She watched as Velok's frigates jumped away, and she continued to watch as the Jedi ships stayed for a little time before jumping away as well. Well, most of them. One corvette was still in system, although she was sure it would be leaving shortly itself. It was what had been picked up on her listening array that was reviewing and preparing to send to her Master back in Sith controlled space.

Names were listed, earmarked for crosschecking with other agents. Designations were noted, along with specific detail that the Silver Concord seemed to have small task forces operating in neutral space. She didn't spare much to the recordings that said the credits were sent, but she made special mention that the Jedi had somehow planted a tracker on the hull of one of Velok's frigates.

Her sensors were sweeping for the tracker's frequency, but it wasn't important to piggyback the signal. Her Master would likely have a way to contact the Whiphid if needed, well she believed so anyway, but... her console's indicator turned blue and she smiled.

"Gotcha," she muttered. Telemetry was being run by the computer, bouncing along the tracker's signal, but the direction of the jumps, even if she didn't have the final destination yet, showed the frigate heading into Confederate space.

"What will you do now, little Jedi," she questioned to herself, punching in her own jump coordinates. She would transmit her data and the recordings at her destination and then Lady Arcanix could decide on the best course of action. Unseen, the cloaked ship jumped away.