Private Dressing for the Maw

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

To say she was uncomfortable was putting it mildly. Mi'la hide her discomfort under a facade of annoyance, but the truth was this whole 'disguise' she had donned seemed like a badly placed joke. Firstly, red was not her color, and secondly she was almost entirely certain the paint hadn't finished drying when Inanna requested her to be set to move out, yet her she was. Twi'lek culture oddly enough had a practice for this sort of thing, changing one's skin pigment to appear more exotic was sadly....well, rather common; though typically only for dancers. She herself had hoped it would never come to that, purple was a rarity for her people after all, but given the nature of this assignment she needed ever bit of cover to stay hidden. Her lightsaber remained concealed within the hidden compartment of her cybernetic Lekku, with a vibro-blade and blaster secured to her belt. She attempted to look gruff, practicing her scowl in a reflective surface of the spaceport, and found it just didn't look natural.

How in the hell was this supposed to work exactly?

Feeling eyes on her, she turned, and found a small girl staring at her wide eyed. It took a great deal of effort not to smile, and she was forced to give a polite nod before moving away before the child coaxed a reaction out of her. This was going to be more challenging than she thought. "Right, so, where is this meet up point again?" She muttered quietly into her concealed comm, eyeing those that stared at her in a look of horror.

This was going to take some getting used to.

 

[Inanna Harth]

"The docks," came Inanna's reply. She was following Mi'la from a distance, disguised as an elderly businesswoman. "You should find a man waiting aboard a solar yacht."

Mi'la's disguise was very much needed. The real Mawite spy who was supposed to meet with the man, a Twi'lek woman with skin the color of fresh blood, was unconscious and restrained in a cell. The Shi'ido security team had captured her that morning, after months of monitoring her movements and learning all that they could about her and this upcoming meeting.

As far as they knew, the purpose of the meeting was to deliver new orders to the Mawite operatives on Erakhis. Mi'la had been outfitted with a tracking device so they could follow her wherever the yacht brought her - and hopefully take down this particular nest of vipers.

Mi'la Undari​

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw
​

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

Inanna’s voice came through, and Mi’la could only nod slowly as she moved as instructed. Right, so this was going to just be delightful wasn’t it. Making her way to the docks as informed, she tried to put up an air of indifference, walking in a more aggressive manner, trying to show her build off better; it seemed like something a Mawite would do, and she did rather look the part. Or was that a bad idea? Truth be told, she wasn’t sure, but she was almost certain the inside of her shirt was sticking to the still moist paint on her back. Or maybe it was perspiration. She really hoped it was perspiration. She had to wonder why she agreed to be the decoy, there were plenty of more qualified folk than her that should have been up for this. So why her? Probably didn’t help that she volunteered, and that thought helped her silence the questions that bounced around in her head.

Still keeping up her facade, she found the dock, and after a bit more snooping, found the only solar barge in port, but was unable to work out if there was anything she needed to be aware of. Frowning, she pushed her senses outward, detecting several life forms onboard, and figured that would be enough for her.

With little else to say, Mi’la began to board, keeping her eyes out for the contact, and whatever the hell was to come next.

 

[Inanna Harth]

A man was indeed waiting for Mi'la on the deck of the yacht. Dressed like an ordinary tourist, he didn't really stand out. Once the "red" Twi'lek was aboard, he strolled forward and approached her. "Unseasonably warm today," he remarked.

Better than the jungle's heat, was the correct response according to Inanna's sources. She'd told Mi'la about it this as part of her mission briefing. But on the off chance Mi'la had forgotten the phrase, the man's mind was quite weak and could probably be tricked with the Force... among other possible solutions.

Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw
​

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

Mi’la was confused by the man’s statement, as frankly she didn’t feel hot at all. Raising a slight brow, she eyed the man as she strode aboard, keeping a cool tone. “Is it now? Feels about normal to me.” She started, before something clicked in the back of her mind.

Right. The phrase. She needed to say the phase! Trying to be smooth, Mi’la flicked back a head tail and winced as she had accidentally hurt her Lekku in the process. Swallowing the pain, she managed a rough smile, her fleshly head tail throbbing from the awkward motion; why the hell did she do that to herself? Lekku tossing never worked out well. “I mean, it is better than the jungles heat, no?”

She really hoped that wasn’t botched.

 

[Inanna Harth]

The man blinked at her response, his brow starting to furrow. His hand went to his blaster, but she corrected herself before he could draw it from its holster. He still eyed her with suspicion, but pointed in the direction of the captain's cabin. "They're waiting for you in there."

Inside the cabin were two more people: a woman, and what appeared to be a little boy, effectively completing the illusion of a nuclear family visiting Erakhis in their yacht. Both of them stared at Mi'la as she entered, rising to their feet and bowing simultaneously.

"Greetings, mistress," the boy said. "Despite a few setbacks, we have made excellent progress. The camp will soon be under our control." Though he smiled, in the Force his nervousness and fear could be detected.

"We eagerly await our new orders," the woman added.

Inanna hadn't given Mi'la any instructions beyond this point for what she should tell them, only that she needed to avoid hurting or killing anyone. These people were Shi'ido who had been brainwashed by the Maw into becoming double agents. Their minds could be fixed, but not if they were dead.

Mi'la Undari​

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw
​

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

Mi'la kept her expression flat as the man went for his blaster, but she didn't try and stop him. She was very much relieved when he stopped, and she took a small breath, steadying herself. As she was told where to go, she smiled and nodded. "Appreciate it." She really wasn't cut out for this spy work. Walking towards what was indicated, she slipped inside, and was a bit taken aback by them bowing to her. This really was a weird cult.

What did trouble her, was them being told for new orders, something she didn't really have to give to begin with, but the fact they were taking over a camp was alarming to her. Smiling with a tinge of sinister energy she had to force out, she spoke calmly. "Excellent, though I must ask, what are these setbacks? I was informed there was to be no opposition to our movements. You weren't detected, were you?" She added, an air of a threat to her tone, as she looked to the two, hand clenching as if she was going to use her power against them.

She wasn't, but, she just wanted to try and make them think she would. Maybe if she knew the setbacks, she could work out what they were really doing.

 

[Inanna Harth]

"No, not detected," the boy blurted out. "Well, except for—"

"One of our agents was planted in the ranks of the Crown Liaison of Alderaan's guards when he visited the camp," the woman interrupted. "He was intended to create a situation in which the Shi'ido would appear guilty of an assassination attempt upon the Liaison, who is a relative of Queen Faith Organa. Unfortunately our man was discovered and executed without trial by the heathen dogs."

"Even in the face of this barbarism, the Alderaanians have continued to pursue negotiations with the Shi'ido." The boy clenched his fists at his sides, his nose rankling with disgust. "Such hypocrisy."

"If the negotiations are successful, the Alderaanians will establish a new refugee settlement for the Shi'ido at a secret location," the woman continued. "Once that happens, it will be difficult for us to continue our sabotage operations."

The boy inclined his head. "Our window of time is shrinking. We must not allow these refugees to slip through our fingers. They will join the Brotherhood, or they must die."

Mi'la Undari​

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw
​

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

The information the pair offered was more than Mi'la had accounted for, as they spoke of their plots and how they sought to make it into a reality. Concerned, Mi'la nodded patiently, already forming a plan of how to counter this; but she wasn't sure where this would be ongoing. "You have done well, soon this planet will be liberated." She praised, trying to keep her tone as cold as she could manage. "In-spite of their efforts, we will see victory in the end. Your agents, are they using comm frequencies? I want to ensure there is no slip up in communication, and they need to use the right weapons, otherwise they may grow suspicious. We can't allow for any snags now, not when we are so close."

Mi'la felt strange saying these things, unsure if they were even going to bear fruit, but if she could just get more details, maybe she could track these guys down and stop them.

 

[Inanna Harth]

"In-spite of their efforts, we will see victory in the end. Your agents, are they using comm frequencies? I want to ensure there is no slip up in communication, and they need to use the right weapons, otherwise they may grow suspicious. We can't allow for any snags now, not when we are so close."

"Coded frequencies, of course," the woman replied. "And we change our weaponry regularly to keep our enemies guessing, but it is always of excellent quality."

It seemed she may have caught on that there was something suspicious going on, or perhaps she thought Mi'la was testing them to see if they would reveal important information. Either way, she wasn't very specific about their comms or their weapons. But in her eagerness to progress the mission, she did let slip one other piece of information.

"We have half a dozen Fleshtakers left, all eagerly awaiting your orders."

Mi'la Undari​

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw
​

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

This was starting to trouble Mi'la. Part of her wanted to just pry into the pairs minds for the info, but she knew better than to do that. Not to mention it'd blow her cover. "Excellent, well done. Everything seems to be well in hand." If only, Mi'la didn't have a ton to go off of. Least she knew the comlinks were encoded, and several pairs of weapons had been swapped around. Perhaps there would be a way to track those signatures, but without exact details there probably wouldn't be much time. "That's good, we might need the backup for when it all goes south. You should be prepared to not come out of this unscathed. I doubt any of us walk out of this unharmed." She said, her tone dropping, as Mi'la could feel that her veil was starting to slip.

She could at least get this info back to Inanna, maybe then they could resolve this all before it got too far out of hand. She could only hope.

 

[Inanna Harth]

An awkward silence descended upon the room. The woman and boy were still awaiting their new orders, but were too terrified of angering Mi'la to ask for them. They could only assume that their mistress would give them the orders when she was ready...

Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw
​

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

Seeing her mistake, Mi'la nodded slowly, as if she had concluded her thoughts. "Tell them to await my arrival, they are nearby, yes? I will need to them assist me in setting up further operations on the planet, assuming we survive past this next ploy." She muttered, unsure how convincing she was being, and wondering why the hell Inanna hadn't come in here instead.

She stilled needed to work out where the hell this coup was going down at. Hopefully she could work that out here in a little bit.

 

[Inanna Harth]

"It will be done, mistress."

The two immediately went to work on the comms, contacting the remaining Fleshtakers. They were scattered throughout the camp, but were easily summoned.

"They will meet you at our secret underwater location," the boy told Mi'la.

There was just one problem. Inanna didn't know where this "secret underwater location" was - and that meant neither did Mi'la.

Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw
​

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

Hearing that, Mi'la closed her eyes, and let out a breath. Great, now what the hell were they going to do?

Well, Mi'la had an idea, but she was concerned it might compromise the entire operation. She really didn't want to skirt this line, but given how bad things were getting, she felt she needed to do something. She initially planned to try and intimidate the information out of them, but realized very quickly that wasn't going to work.

But there were alternatives to fighting.

"Do you have a vessel that can escort me there? I had to ditch my original transport due to security." She made her tone sounding tired, after all, a member of the MAW would probably start assaulting these folk by now if they were being kept from their mission, but Mi'la felt that something was about to go south and quick.

 

[Inanna Harth]

"But of course, mistress," the boy replied. "You may ride with us."

Saved. Or was she?

"Do you wish to leave now, or later?"

Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw
​

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

Feeling like she now had something, Mi’la straightened, pointing to the woman who had asked her that question. “We should depart now. We have little time, and much to do.” She insisted, already thinking of how she could signal Inanna on the way there, this all should have been something they could work out.

She really just wanted this to be done and over with. This whole paint thing made her more uncomfortable the longer she thought on it.

 

[Inanna Harth]

The pair nodded, then led the way out of the cabin and onto the deck. The man from earlier was still standing watch.

Mi'la was led to a small pod-like vehicle, a shuttle which would take them underwater. It was at that point that Inanna decided to move.

<<I will be following you,>> she quietly informed Mi'la via her comm. <<Be careful.>>

Once the woman and boy and Mi'la had boarded the shuttle, the doors closed, sealing them inside, and they began their descent into the Erakhian sea. The shuttle was on autopilot, the coordinates already set. Mi'la's two companions were in a vulnerable position. It was possible to put them out of commission now and still make it to the meeting.

Mi'la Undari

 

[Mi'la Undari]

Dressing for the Maw
​

Location: Erakhis
Tags: Inanna Harth

Mi'la was happy to follow the pair into the vehicle eyeing the two carefully as they began to move. She was relived to find that Inanna was following her, that kept her from having to try and open her comm.

That was one problem she didn't need to stress on. She could just do what felt right.

As the vessel moved forward, Mi'la smiled at the autopilot too another problem out of her hands, as the Knight firmly grabbed the shoulders of the pair. "You both have done well." She said, as she tapped into the force, bringing the idea of slumber into their minds, aiming to send them both into a deep sleep.

 

[Inanna Harth]

The woman and boy suddenly felt an intense drowsiness settle over them. They slumped in their sleeps, driven to unconsciousness as the shuttlecraft kept moving.

Murky water soon gave way to the sight of a deep sea rig built on the sea floor. The shuttle rose up into a pressure-controlled room, appearing from an opening in the floor. It was dry enough to exit the shuttle without a suit.

Inanna likewise arrived, albeit in another chamber next door. Upon leaving her shuttle, she found the facility much too quiet.

<<Something's wrong,>> she told Mi'la over comms. <<How are things on your end?>>

Mi'la Undari