Private Edge of the Abyss

[Mistral]

Ana Rix

Mistral stepped on the boat and looked at the other two with a bow of his head as he spoke. "We have no idea what is out there but we can make it work... hopefully. Worse case scenario I can be a little more useful and shoot a few people." He said it more as a joke as the twi'lek looked at him and nodded with her head. The seat opening up with a small remote and showing a bunch of guns. "We'll have what we need for that." She said it but the boat was heading out as a map came up and a security bubble formed around the area of the boat. "So where are we headed?" She asked it as Mistral gave a nod of his head and showed the island that had started it all.

"Here is where we'll investigate first, since they seem to have come in a small force hopefully there won't be a lot of them on the island and Kono will keep them busy." He said it and hoped it worked while he was checking the weapons and they had the destination. Aya looked at it as she spoke. "Well it isn't the dark waters but it isn't a place we like to go. Gun runners and contraband like to avoid the larger islands." She smirked though setting the course as the shark woman came over and looked at it. "There are caves under the island, if I was setting anything up I would use them. I would also avoid places that far off the fishing lanes. It screams suspicious."

That got a small laugh though when she was looking at it all and Mistral spoke. "WHen I approached it was from the south and I snuck to the cliff face... that was about as far as I got before encountering people. I was only able to observe instead of being able to get close enough to listen or do better recon."

 

[Ana Rix]

Ana stepped fully onto the deck after Mistral, the subtle hum of the security bubble settling around them like a held breath. She didn't go for the weapons immediately. Instead, she studied the holo-map as it stabilized, eyes tracking the island's contours, the caves, the blind approaches—already overlaying probability and movement in her head.

When Mistral finished, she nodded once, thoughtful rather than reassuring.

"That fits," she said quietly. "Small force, temporary footprint, enough presence to control access but not enough to hold ground if they're challenged directly."

Her gaze shifted to the cave markers, lingering there.

"If they're using the island as a relay point instead of a base, the caves make sense. Easy concealment, quick extraction, and plausible deniability if something goes wrong."

She glanced briefly at the shark woman, acknowledging the insight with a faint tilt of her head, then back to Aya at the controls.

"Avoiding fishing lanes means fewer witnesses, but it also means fewer excuses for being there," Ana continued. "Anyone we see will be intentional. No tourists. No accidents."

Her attention returned to Mistral, expression steady. "Coming from the south again won't work. They'll be watching that approach now, even if it's only out of habit." A brief pause. "We should come in quietly, from an angle that looks inconvenient rather than clever." She rested one hand lightly on the edge of the console, feeling the vibration of the engines beneath her palm. "We observe first. Confirm numbers, routes, and timing. No engagement unless we're forced."

Then, softer—dry enough to match his earlier humor without undercutting the seriousness: "If it turns into shooting, we'll treat that as a failure state, but we'll survive it." Her eyes lifted to the map once more, already moving ahead of the boat as it cut into the darkening water.

"Let's see what they're hiding."

Mistral