Heist of Millennia

[Kyyrk]

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SOMEWHERE NEAR THE OUTER RIM​

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Two special operations commandos stood side by side on the observation deck. Not much was said between them, but there didn't have to be. There was a somber mood in the air. Always was before a mission. The worst part was the waiting. Always waiting. From their perch aboard The Steadfast, the two had an excellent view of the destroyers milling about, punctuated by the occasional scream of starfighter engines as another patrol flew by.

"Think they'll come?"

"You kidding? Boss offered to pay off the ship. They'd be fools not to."

The younger of the two folded his arms over his chest. "Think boss would still go through with it if he found out who they owe the money to?"

"You say that like the boss doesn't already know."

"Good point."

The elder commando shrugged. "What's the worst he's gonna do, though? Nuke another city? Actually glass a planet? Mando's aint never gonna change, kid. Best just to live and let live. They'll get their dues soon enough."

The younger opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by a flash of light, and a scream of engines as fighters streaked towards the newcomers. The onboard IFF soon confirmed the presence of their guest. The Jaster's Sparrow. "Jaster's Sparrow, you are clear to land in the main hanger. All Nexu Squad personnel report to the hanger." The elder nodded at the younger, indicating it was time to go.

When the ship arrived, only the elder soldier was there to greet them. He was dressed in full armor, save for the helmet tucked under his arm. "Welcome to the Steadfast, Captain. Glad you made it out here in one piece. Lord Voph wishes to extend an apology for not overseeing this venture personally. I'm Captain Aklin, leader of Nexu squad. I'll be giving you the rundown on the mission, and providing whatever support you need to make it happen. We've got a briefing room set up just this way." He gestured to the door behind him at the back of the hanger. "If you'll all follow me..."

[member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Daiya"] [member="Gray Venasir"] [member="Zeke Tune"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

A mission. Despite Lori having some Jedi training to do, she couldn't pass off a mission. She was responsible for her ship and crew. She had a debt to pay as well. There was no way that she'd let everyone down. So many times people didn't take her seriously, didn't believe in her. But now that view was changing. And once Jaster's Sparrow was paid off, people might see her as a responsible young adult.

It wasn't that long ago that Lori had gathered her full crew to help. [member="Daiya"] and Tawrro were never out of reach, and even [member="Gray Venasir"] was displaying loyalty towards them. As for [member="Zeke Tune"] ...he was another story. Her first crush, her first love, and now he was on his maiden voyage as part of her crew. Given that he had a lot of piloting experience, she let him fly her while Lori sat in the co-pilot's chair. Any chance she got she had found some way to touch his hand, or his hair, or his shoulder, and each time their eyes met her cheeks would turn a shade of red. This wasn't a holiday, this was work. So they had to at least focus on being professional about it.

The Jaster's Sparrow dropped out of hyperspace, the lines of stars slowing until they reverted back to normal balls of light. The amount of Destroyers caught her by surprise and for a brief moment, she thought that they had gone into some kind of a trap as fighters headed towards them.

But then came the hail. Lori flicked the switch after putting on her headset. "Roger that.
Thank you for the escort." She then hit another switch for the ship's PA system. "As you guys can tell, we've reached our destination. Once we're docked, anyone that wants to stay can stay." Another flick of the switch and she took her headset off. "I can't wait to hear what this is all about, Zeke." Lori grinned as she watched The Steadfast come into view.

Minutes later the Jaster's Sparrow was docked in the hanger. The loading ramp lowered and Lori made sure that she was the first to walk onto the deck. Her eyes fell on the Captain and his armour straight away. As he spoke she bowed her head. "Thank you Captain Aklin.
I'm sure that Lord [member="Voph"] has a good reason to not be here. That's no problem. We'll not take it as an insult." Well she wouldn't at least. Lori looked back and nodded to her crew before following the Captain to the briefing room.

 

[Gray Venasir]

One could say that Gray wasn't the most fond of @Voph. They had had a rough start, with Gray wanting to throw him out of an airlock. They had met sometime later, on a different mission, but it had to be cancelled, and they hadn't talked any. And now, they would meet again. So one could say that Gray was not in the best mood right now. But he liked the crew of the Jaster's Sparrow, so he would follow captain [member="Loreena Arenais"], even if Voph still held a grudge.

While they were in hyperspace, Gray came up to the cockpit, where the captain, and the newest member, sat. [member="Zeke Tune"], Lori's boyfriend, were piloting the ship. Gray had come to feel like a sort of 'uncle' to Lori, and felt a bit protective of her now, With Zeke. But he had not yet spoken much With him, which would probably change. That was part of the reason Gray was up there now. "Hello, love-birds. Everything alright?" The question was mostly for normal curtesy. "I presume we'll soon arrive. And Zeke, after this mission, let's have a talk, shall we?" Then he left. He had said 'talk' a bit differently, but not hostile. Wether or not Zeke had met or talked With Lori's father, Gray didn't know. But it didn't matter.

He went Down to the cargo bay, where he thought he'd find @Daiya. Then came the announcment that they had arrived. Gray strapped himself up for the docking. When it was done, and Lori came Down, he stood up and walked after her. "I'll come With," he said. He doupted it was a trap, but he still wasn't completly sure about Voph. So at least he would come With to the Meeting.

 

[Daiya]

"If you don't hurry up, Tawrro, we're going to miss our airlock."

She stood in the doorway of the tiny crew compartment, watching the Wookiee fiddle with some kind of equipment or the other. The girl hadn't been paying close attention to his arsenal as of late, Tawrro had surprised her by using a couple new toys he had picked up in recent months. This seemed to be one of those, and the shaggy beast's normally dexterous fingers were fumbling clumsily inside the gadget's housing as she spoke. He looked up at the teen, and uttered a couple barks and a low warble before turning back to his work.

"No way! That's what you said last time, and he turned out fine." Daiya crossed her arms, unhooking them once to readjust the bag slung over her shoulder before resuming, glaring in the direction of her Wookie guardian. It was something she had been doing more and more recently. It didn't used to be this way, she remembered having a lot of fun with him, but ever since they had left Denon the girl noticed Tawrro becoming more protective of her and more intractable of letting her enter risky scenarios.

Like boarding the ship of the now-former Darth Voph.

Tawrro turned back to her with an expression on his face, one she didn't need words to read. "Well, if you're not coming along, can you do that in the cockpit? You know Lori doesn't like to leave the ship without a pilot if it can be helped."

Daiya turned to leave, and caught herself on Tawrro's hand before she managed to take a single step. She turned back to the Wookiee, who had so quickly crossed the gulf between them, looking up into his eyes. The girl had always admired him, had looked up to him, and she tried to model her behavior after what she thought he would do. Having his disapproval cut at her, but as she looked in the face of her guardian, Daiya searched for a glimpse of remorse, a change of mind, some indication that she wasn't letting him down.

All she got was a neutral-toned growl, short with little emotion inside of it.

Her heart sank, but the girl flipped open her jacket nonetheless to reveal the holstered blaster it hid. "And the other one for emergencies, too. I didn't forget."

The Wookiee grunted his consent and let her go. The girl turned quickly to avoid his face again, moving out to the cargo bay and the open ramp at its end. Daiya bit her lip as she went, this was not the time to start crying. She needed to be alert and ready, not introspective, right now. Despite her assurances to Tawrro, even Daiya was skeptical of Voph's supposed renunciation of the Sith. Meeting the personification of a boogeyman was not something she could quickly forget, and soon she was about to see the totally-not-boogeyman again. There was no chance he was going to catch her unaware.

As she joined Lori on the hangar deck and followed the ship's captain to the briefing room, Daiya couldn't help but wish that Tawrro was with them. The girl drew near to Lori, staying close beside her. The Commenori princess was no Wookiee, but Daiya still felt better in her captivating presence. Perhaps, not safe, but secure. For now, that was good enough.

[member="Voph"] | [member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Gray Venasir"] | [member="Zeke Tune"]​

 

[Zeke Tune]

Zeke had taken a lot of time recently learning about the Sparrow. She was a good ship, good speed, decent defenses, good maneuverability. It was a finicky mistress, but, with the right amount of time, he had learned how to to make the ship purr under his touch. Which was what Lori had literally done with him too. Each touch, each brush, every word, he turned a red color. He tried to work, but that slight floral scent kept going back to his nose. Stop being some love struck Teen, Zeke, get yourself together. Finger tips brush her cheek right before they exit hyperspace. “It will be okay. I promise.”

As they exited, without having skipped a single beat, reserve power went to the shields, and he began to calculate another hyperspace jump out of there, in case this was a trap. The weapons were not enough to take out of the fighters. However, it was maneuverable, and fast enough to be able to escape them just long enough to get back out if it came down to it: even if an interdiction field came up. Zeke does not speak his worries, he simply acts to protect the ship, and his woman, without any hint of worry. “Hello Gray. A little busy at the moment, but I am always up for a chat when this is done.”

One hand calculated a hyperspace route, the other was on the yoke. Once the calculations were complete, the free hand rested for a second on Lori's knee, and gave it a rub, before it moved to the yolk. “This is the Jaster's Sparrow, following flight path, and landing in main hanger.” Soon, the ship landed in the star destroyer with only the slightest of bumps. Dressed in a fancy suit, he had his ever present bone knife in a hidden compartment in his shoe. The paralyzing poison dry coated onto it, helped keep him safe if things went wrong.

He walked side by side with Lori, and looked around. So the master of the ship wasn't here. Strange. He lost count of how many Sith he had killed over the years, they were always so overconfident, that it was something small that ended up with their deaths. He quietly followed his lover to the briefing room. All the while, his eyes took in everything, location of doors, keycodes that were pressed in, location of troops, and cameras, anything else of note. If they had to make a break for it, he would have to drop his act, but, he would protect Lori, regardless of the cost. Though, he doubted they were in any danger. No, if they wanted them just dead, they would have been shot out of the sky once in tractor beam range.


He allowed Daiya to take the place right next to Captain Lori, and instead, he hung back a little, his eyes open. From this position, he would be the first to go if the people behind became hostile, and it would give Lori and Daiya time to escape. However, more importantly, it meant he would have the time to see everything the came at them and respond appropriately. He was not happy about this situation one bit.

[member="Daiya"]
[member="Gray Venasir"]
[member="Loreena Arenais"]
[member="Voph"]

 

[Kyyrk]

Aklin led the crew into a small briefing room, already filled with seven soldiers wearing identical uniforms to Aklin's. Those that were sitting jumped to their feet, and all conversation stopped as they saluted. "At ease, gentlemen, let's get this underway." Aklin gestured to the table as he took a position at the head of it. A couple soldiers in the back stayed where they were, content to watch the briefing standing. Aklin waited until the Sparrow's crew were seated, or had a comfortable perch on the wall, then began.

"Boys, this is Captain Arenais and her crew. While we're on this operation, they are both our guests, and our boss. Per the orders of Voph, we are to do whatever is necessary to see this mission through." Aklin glanced at Lori, and said, "I've been instructed to thank you for coming out here. And Voph has left strict instruction that if at any point you, or your crew, think this mission is too much, you're welcome to walk away. But once we launch, there's no going back."

Aklin tapped out a series of commands on the table. A holo image appeared in the center of the table. A Star Destroyer, Harrower Class. Mostly. "Before he retired from your crew, we were approached by an old associate of yours." Aklin nodded towards Lori. "Mister Wayke sends his regards." Aklin leaned over the table, resting by his knuckles with arms slightly bowed. "By Lord Voph's request, he provided us with the scans the Sparrow took of a certain ghost ship. Records on this ship go way back, Mostly out in the fringe systems. Ship shows up, obliterates a civilian village, and vanishes back into space, just like that."

"Most people consider it a...ghost story. But we've done enough digging to confirm there's more to it than rumor. We still don't have the data required to launch a full out assault, but Voph says we can't wait that long. What little we do know is that precisely twenty-four hours before the Sparrow's crew rescued Voph, a village on Arbra was attacked. And the boss thinks there's a correlation. We have, at our disposal, a device, designed to emulate a distress signal of an old war ship, the Desolation. Voph is fairly confident that's all we'll need to lure this ghost ship out of hyperspace. From there, we find a way aboard the ship. Our mission is to retrieve an item. I don't know what exactly, I was never told. Outside of the fact that it would be held in the captain's cabin, and the Force Sensitives would know it when they saw it."

Aklin paused to let this information sink in. "Voph is prepared to offer you all twenty million for this mission, should you chose to go through with it. Any additional items found aboard the ship are yours to keep, should you desire. You will, regardless of the success of the mission, be reimbursed for any damages to your ship or person." Aklin turned to Lori. "What say you, Captain?"

[member="Zeke Tune"] @Daiya @Gray Venasir [member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

As Lori followed Aklin to the briefing room, all that she could think about was[member="Gray Venasir"] calling herself and [member="Zeke Tune"] lovebirds. Were they being THAT obvious? She was trying to hide it somewhat, for she didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable. Especially while they were conducting important business. And the fact that Gray wanted to talk to Zeke later, she had a feeling that she knew what the topic would be. A part of her appreciated it, yet another part of her was worried. What if everyone was against this courtship? What would they do then?

She took note of [member="Daiya"] keeping close to her and gave her a reassuring smile. Surely [member="Voph"] wouldn't have called them for anything super bad. Right? Right??

Once inside the briefing room, Lori took a seat at the table and invited those of her crew that wanted to to do the same. She folded her hands on top of the table and listened to the proposal. An eyebrow rose as it was mentioned that she was to be the boss on this mission, as well as her crew. Really? Over all of these people? All of these ships? No doubt some of them would take issue with that.

"Orrico..." Lori whispered the name of her old pilot, her very first hire. He was a good man and very much like an uncle to her. But the two had parted ways a while ago. After their stint in Forst Order space, he thought that he brought too much danger to her, so he had left. Even if his concerns were true, it didn't mean that she didn't miss him. He'd always be special to her.

She looked to the holo-image and listened to the tale. So they were to somehow get into the ship, sneak into the Captain's quarters and find some item that neither of them knew what it was or what it looked like? Given that she was probably the only Force Sensitive on her crew, Lori knew that she had to be in the boarding party. No matter how much others might protest. It better not be some lamp with a genie inside to grant Voph wishes...

The offered payment was huge!
With that amount she could pay off her debt to [member="Kaine Australis"] and still have plenty leftover for any future missions. She could even buy herself her own estate! "I think that with proper planning, this could be doable.
We'll need to study that ghost ship, know nearly every inch of it so that we can have plenty of back up plans available in case anything goes wrong. I don't want to lose anyone if I can help it." But there was never any guarantees of that. Kaine had taught her as much. She just had to do the best she could in every situation.

 

[Gray Venasir]

It seemed everyone except Tawrro decided to join for the meeting, which was just fine. Gray walked behind Lori and Daiya, and to the left of Zeke. It was unlikely that it was a trap, but if it was, then he would be ready to protect the others. Even though he knew the others could take care of themselves, Gray felt protective of them. He was the oldest of the humans on the crew, With only Tawrro the wookiee being older, so he felt it was his responsibility.

As they entered the briefing room, Gray took a Chair at the side of Lori. But he didn't like to be too formal, so he say With crossed legs and leant a little back. The man who had led them there began telling what the reason why the Sparrow's crew had been called. And it was a wierd reason. A ghost ship, emerging at random to obliterate a village, then dissapear. And it was apparantly the same ship Voph had been on before they had rescued him some time before. It all seemed crazy.

Then came the mention of force sensitives. Gray usually didn't care for any of that, and this time was no different. It made him unsure if he would join on the mission, even if the rest of the crew did. The chances were that he would, just to make sure everyone got out unharmed. But the mention of the reward made his decision. Twenty millions was enouhg for all of them to, well he didn't know at the moment.

He leant forward as Lori spoke. It seemed she was very much agreeing to to it. But she tried to sound reasonable and calculating. "I'll be the first to say that, I'll help see this mission to the end. No matter what," he spoke as if he was doing it because he believed in it. But the two reasons he would do it was to help Lori and the crew. And of course the Money. "And we won't lose anybody."

[member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Voph"] | [member="Zeke Tune"] | [member="Daiya"]

 

[Daiya]

Suddenly, Daiya was disappointed that the enigmatic leader was not present today. His underling of Captain Aklin was rather underwhelming, and it was a little difficult for her to remain interested in the briefing. The girl perked up at the mention of Orrico, the departure of their main pilot and obligatory ship's uncle had made life onboard the Jaster's Sparrow a little less lively, and she was eager to hear any news about him, but Aklin glossed over his contribution without anything more than a cursory mention of the man.

The mission pitch seemed to revolve around the star destroyer that had deposited their totally-not-Darth Voph into the path of their ship, and given the crew a figurative and collective —or Tawrro at the very least— heart attack over the danger he represented. He had been somehow rendered too weak to put up any resistance and willingly surrendered, an action that made the girl seriously consider what events had transpired aboard this supposed ghost ship to make him so.

It also made her seriously consider the proposition at hand.

Breaking into a spooky ghost ship that may or may not have beaten the Darth out of Voph, to retrieve an item that couldn't be described, after having lured it out of its hiding in hyperspace? Daiya was glad Tawrro wasn't present at this briefing, there was no way he would agree to this. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to agree to this. She had been on dangerous missions before, and she had committed her fair share of risky acts, but this one was definitely at the extreme end of both.

Still, both Lori and Gray seemed confident. And twenty million credits was a lot to pass up. The girl closed her eyes, wishing not for the first time that she could summon her visions on command. She even pressed her hand to her downcast forehead as was customary, feeling a little silly doing it without the agony of an impending vision, but Daiya remained firmly stuck in the present day. She sighed, lifting her head at the others in the room, trying to ignore any looks that had come her way. There was really only one choice here.

"I'm in."

[member="Voph"] | [member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Gray Venasir"] | [member="Zeke Tune"]​

 

[Zeke Tune]

Zeke leaned forward, deep in thought. This was dangerous. Very dangerous. The assassin in him understood this was a mission that should take months of preparation. He looked over at Lori and Daiya. Daiya and Grey may not have liked him much. But that was understandable, he had stolen their princess. She gave him so much attention, and was always flirting, the way a teen does. She was young still, they were protective. To be fair, he was vastly more afraid of Daiya than he was Grey. He knew, even if she was coming at him to kill him, he wouldn't be able to harm Daiya. Grey, he would have no such qualms. Fingers drummed on the briefing room table, and his eyes landed on Lori.

Well, it was obvious what they wanted. So be it. He smiled and nodded. “Very well, I'm in.” He didn't need the money. His paintings usually sold for between four and nine million credits. The initial print. Some went much higher. Give him a few months and he could out do it. But, for Lori? This was a chance for her to pay off her debts, for her to justify herself. That was priceless, and he would support her with all his abilities, even if he had to expose himself.

The man's lips pursed together. It would be fine, he could keep them safe if everything fell apart. Though, he doubted if everything fell apart he could keep himself safe while protecting them. But that was a risk he was willing to take. “We are going to need a lot more information though. And from the sound of it, Voph seems to know everything about that ship. We need to talk to him.”

[member="Daiya"]
[member="Gray Venasir"]
[member="Loreena Arenais"]
[member="Voph"]

 

[Kyyrk]

Aklin nodded at Lori, opening his mouth to respond when Zeke asked to speak with Voph. He turned to the man, and arched a brow. "We can certainly hail him, but--"

"They deserve to know."

The soldiers had been murmuring among themselves as Aklin brought the newcomers up to speed, but a hush fell across the room as Voph spoke from the back. Strange that he had not been detected earlier. He moved, hands clasped behind his back, towards the front of the room. He was clad in black robes, almost appearing to be a threadbare cloak of sorts. His hood was drawn so that only his face was visible. Or would be, were it not covered by a simple mask.

"You make bold assumptions, young one. I do not know everything about this ship. That is part of why you are being sent." Voph took a position at the head of the table, gesturing to Aklin, who in turn adjusted the holo image of the ship, to bring a second image up. This was a much smaller ship, only the size of a cruiser, but fully detailed. From the outside, it appeared to be identical to the dreadnought, if smaller. "What you are looking at is one ship. Originally commissioned during the Zakuul War as a mobile intelligence platform, codename: Confessor. A standard Harrower-class vessel, save for a large decrease in weaponry in favor of...converting the ship into a mobile listening post."

Voph turned his mask to stare at Zeke, the room practically overflowing with the Force. It rolled from Voph like waves, almost as if he were made from the Force itself. "Its predecessor was merely a prototype the last I encountered it. It had not even begun production. It was, however, being overseen by on Darth Sovryn, Former Dark Councilor, and then-Minister of Sith Intelligence. Commander of the original Confessor. If our sources are to be believed, Sovryn is still aboard the ship. Alive and well."

Voph folded his arms over his chest. "This is all I have that can be confirmed at this time. I can theorize what the layout of the ship is, as you see before you, but the maker only knows what twisted designs went in to it. This is why I am sending you. I cannot reasonably determine the purpose of this ship myself. Sovryn will know I am coming. Our leading theory is that the ship has been attacking fringe colonies because it needs the fuel, and that is the only way it is able to collect it without raising undue attention."

Voph was quiet for a moment, letting the crew digest this information. "Project Confessor was agreed upon by the remaining members of the Dark Council during the onset of the Battle of Iokath. To ensure that the Empire would survive. A project of this secrecy, at this scale, required the full support of those well versed in keeping secrets. And so, the project was initiated upon the agreement of the Sphere of Mysteries to fund and shield the project from prying eyes. In the Three-thousand six hundred and twenty-ninth year before the Battle of Yavin, the prototype launched, mere months after the Skirmish of Ilum."

Voph gestured for Aklin to turn off the holoprojector. "Several thousand years have since passed, tweaking and perfecting the ship's purpose at the hands of Darth Sovryn: to bring back the lone casualty of the Skirmish of Ilum. This is why I do not intend to accompany you. Thousands of years spent, searching for a means to being me back from the dead, only to escape mere moments after my resurrection at the hands of that twisted being..." Voph let the implication hang. "With any luck, the holocron I am sending you for will have answers. If you will not seek it out, I'm sure others will." And as if he'd never even been there, Voph seemed to blink out of existence, the aura of the Force leaving with him...

[member="Zeke Tune"] [member="Gray Venasir"] [member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Daiya"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori did not expect to see [member="Voph"] here. So to have him appear all of a sudden was quite startling. Still, she kept most of her surprise tucked safely away. Most of it. The look in her eyes probably said enough.

She listened to his briefing and history behind the mission that both herself and her crew had decided to take. Her eyes studied the holo image, though at times her gaze would go distant. So they were to go onto an apparent ghost ship that held a powerful Sith that has been alive for thousands of years....in search of a holocron. As much as the idea of the mission and the adventure of it did sound fantastic; a part of her let her know that this was not going to be some simple smash and grab. This was going to be very dangerous. More than likely her Dad would refuse to let her go, most especially given that her Force training has been minimal. But she's had other training too that could be very helpful.

"A holocron...Well, at least we know what the needle is in that haystack." Her Dad had a holocron as well, one that her Mom looked after before she was locked away in prison. But Lori's seen it, so at least she had an idea of what to look for if they happened to reach the Captain's quarters.

Voph disappeared before she could ask him any questions. So she turned to Aklin instead. "How many Force users do you have among your officers? And you say that we can use your ships? So if we got this ghost ship to appear, could you prevent it from jumping? Your starfighters could disable the ship's guns, right?" Lori looked to her crew; [member="Gray Venasir"] , [member="Daiya"] and [member="Zeke Tune"] . "Help me brainstorm here..." There was so much that could easily go wrong. They had to think this through thoroughly.

 

[Gray Venasir]

Voph actually appearing was a bit of a shock. And Gray got scared, to say the least. The two of them weren't the best of friends, but hopefully they would take it proffesional. It seemed Voph and his crew at least had done that With the earlier member of [member="Loreena Arenais"] crew, Orrico.

Luckily, [member="Voph"] didn't seem to hold a grudge. It seemed he was only focused about the mission, which was good. But his disappearnace was as shocking as him appearing. Darn force, thought Gray. He didn't know it was the force, but what other axplenation could there be? And Gray liked to blame everything weird on the force.

Gray turned back to Lori, who seemed to be focusing on a memory for some time. The way she said holocron seemed kind of dreamy. Gray himself had never seen a real holocron up Close. Sure, he had seen Pictures, and once a jedi meditate With one in the distance on a planet where their influence was dominant, but never up Close. Which meant that he would be pretty useless in the searching.

Then Lori was back to asking questions an trying to find ideas, asking the rest of the vrew for help. Now it was time for Gray to speak up. "The idea of having Starfighters going after the guns can mean suicide for many of them. Besides, as Voph said, this is a mobile listening station, not a fighter." He took a pause, letting the others think for a moment. "If what I think is correct, this ship will not want others to know about it. Therefore, we might be able to lure it into a trap, prevent it from escaping. If we can use a small ship to get it's attention, we can make it follow that ship into a position where some of Voph's destroyers comes out of hyperspace, and prevents it from escaping. Then the Jaster's Sparrow flies on Board, and you search for this holocron."

He took another pause. "But we need a ship that is fast enough to lure thes ship into the trap. Coincidentially, I happen to own a ship that can be fast enough. But this is just a suggestion." Gray looked around at the others, Aklin, Lori, [member="Daiya"] and [member="Zeke Tune"] , waiting to see if they had any other ideas.

 

[Daiya]

With the last of the crew, those present anyway, signing on for the mission, there was only one thing left to do. And to her chagrin, it was Zeke who pointed it out. Daiya gave the man a sidelong glance, he was a complete newcomer to their crew, and yet he had charmed the pants off of their captain already. Literally. The nights that Lori and Zeke spent together, Daiya had taken to snuggling up in the cockpit. The lights and hum of the ship’s systems was surprisingly calming, not quite a lullaby, but close enough to get her to sleep pretty quickly in a drowsy state.

At the very least, he understood the importance of good intel. Intel that could only come from…

Daiya barely finished the thought when the object of the sentence appeared. And appear, he did! The girl could barely keep her eyes off the man, she had considered him an amusement before, but she had only seen him in his most vulnerable state. Now he appeared in all his splendor, and despite his plain appearance otherwise, the man seemed to radiate brilliance from his person. It took all of her concentration to focus on the words from his mouth, so entranced was Daiya upon the powerful figure before them.

He spoke of the ship as if he revered it rather than feared or detested it. This was different than how Tawrro spoke of any intelligence, his briefings were factual, to the point; the analysis of a veteran military commander. Voph’s explanation was different, there seemed to be something more beneath the surface of his words. A personal connection perhaps. Whatever it was, it only served to strengthen the fascination Daiya seemed to be experiencing for Voph. Whatever it was, it seemed to roll off him in waves, as if he were more than a simple being in the moment, but it was not something the girl could either identify nor be bothered to.

One thing she was certain of, it was definitely good that Tawrro wasn’t here.

When Voph was done with his briefing, Lori and Gray began to suggest options. It seemed like they preferred a frontal assault, an aggressive trap. In her years with Tawrro, the girl had learned one thing, that despite having enough muscle to charge straight in, sometimes the easiest way was through the back door. “Why don’t we just lure them somewhere and make it look like nothing’s there? Rig the ship to silent, slide in through the garbage vent or exhaust port or something. If we lure them into a trap, all their guards or soldiers or people are going to be ready for us. If we slip in quietly, maybe we can avoid fighting the entire ship on the way in.”

[member="Voph"] | [member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Gray Venasir"] | [member="Zeke Tune"]​

 

[Zeke Tune]

Zeke's mind ran wild, he smirked a bit. “I had a feeling you were listening. Hmmm.” He listened carefully, and let his mind run through the possibilities. At Lori's suggestion he just shook his head. “No, this operation requires us to be quiet. But to lure a ghost ship out of hiding.” His eyes close, and his mind painted a mental picture. Ingress and egress, one and the same. Quiet, shadows. “You need another ghost ship. We need a very old, barely running ship that can pose as a derelict. We place whatever bait that could draw them in onto the ship. We plant evidence that the ship is old, that the bait was a mistake, some type of glitch caused by decaying circuits. When they exit to check it out, we run in silent, dock above an airlock. Clamp on, under the sensor range, get in through the airlock by slicing into the main controls, and feeding a false loop of the security footage and sensors. However, there will be noticeable glitches if we do that. “

The man grinned wide at this, and leaned forward. “So we make that derelict ship, barely runnable, with signs of a traumatic fight. Spacers are a superstitious lot. There are always a few ghost tellers in any crew, no matter how well organized. And the others, oh it gets into their heads when they begin to tell the stories. The really tightly wound ones, will see the glitches, and refuse to believe its anything super natural, and so ignore it, simply because it can't possibly be real. The others will want to run the other way. We make a ghost ship, and they will be on alert, and not wanting to believe anything is wrong for a time. It won't give us a lot of time, but some. We use that, slip in, stay to the shadows, stay quiet, get what we are after, and get out. No fuss, no muss, no blood. It will be hard, slicers will be needed, and there is a grand room for error. However, it's the best choice. And with our ship clamped to the outer hull, unless they have a specific fighter flight path that takes them near it, they will never notice its there. It won't matter if they go into hyperspace after we are onboard or not either, we can still have a viable escape option.”

His eyes went wide a bit and he shook his head, ah well, nothing to do about it now. It was the best plan he could come up with at this short of notice and with such little information. Normally you slipped into a resupply ship and played a long waiting game when it came to this kind of thing, but, they didn't have that option.

[member="Daiya"] | [member="Gray Venasir"] | [member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Voph"] |

 

[Kyyrk]

Captain Aklin gestured to both Daiya and Zeke as they voiced their ideas. "Such was our line of thinking as well. The Confessor is a dreadnought, and according to the Sparrow's datalogs, armed to the teeth. What you see around you is the best ships we have to offer. We'll not be able to hold it off for long." Aklin looked around at the gathered people quietly. "Only problem I see with your plan, Mister Zeke, is that if we lure them out of hyperspace with a distress beacon, they'll be LOOKING for a ghost ship. Some of the crew might be on edge, but I can't imagine that alone would win the psychological war."

Aklin called up the image of the Confessor again. "So here's the best plan of attack, I think." Aklin enlarged the image, and pointed at the overhang of the port wing, between the wing and the main body of the vessel. "For whatever maker forsaken reason, the Sith Empire designed the Harrowers with this structure, and it seems the Confessor stuck with it. That, however, gives us the advantage of being able to stash the ship there, making it much harder to detect from passing patrols. If you think you can manage that, Captain, we'll land there. Now, the problem with that is the airlock. Closest one is here."

Aklin pointed at another spot. Close, but still a five minute space walk at best. "We can EVA there with minimal difficulty, if we time it right. And it has the benefit of being located on what we expect to be the command deck. According to Voph's intel on the Harrower Design, captain's quarters shouldn't be much further than 60 meters from there. In, out, Shouldn't take more than a half hour, max."

Aklin pulled up a map, and began honing in on a specific spot. "As for the ship jumping to hyperspace, Zeke is right. There are ways to force the ship out of Hyperspace while onboard if need be. But we can cross that bridge if we come to it. As for the location of our ambush, I expect this location will be best. I trust everyone is familiar with the Kessel Run?"

[member="Zeke Tune"] @Daiya @Gray Venasir [member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Everyone had good ideas, and it was clear that Lori didn't have too much experience in these sorts of missions, let alone leading an entire fleet. Why Lord [member="Voph"] had chosen her and her crew, she wasn't entirely sure. It had to be more than just the fact that they had rescued him a while back.

Her brows furrowed as Aklin showed them a good spot to hide Jaster's Sparrow. She squinted her eyes a bit as she studied the visuals. Of course the mission sounded easier than it was. There was so much that could go wrong, but also so much that could go right. It was her job as Captain to decide which was the best for her crew.

"So we fly to the armpit, lock on, get to the airlock, sneak our way to the Captain's quarters, steal the holocron, then try to get back undetected and fly free...." She smirked a little as she looked to [member="Gray Venasir"] , [member="Daiya"] and [member="Zeke Tune"] . "...Sounds like a piece of cake."

As Aklin mentioned the Kessel Run, she sat up straight like an eager child wanting dessert. "The Kessel Run???
That's legendary! Are you telling me that we're going to get to fly through it?!" Oh boy was she excited at the chance.

 

[Gray Venasir]

The ideas kept coming, all different. Which one that was best was hard to tell, but in the end the choice fell on the Captain, [member="Loreena Arenais"] . What she was thinking was hard to tell, but it looked like she was considering the possibilities. This wasn't like the other missions they had done: this one was harder, With much more on the line.

But the way she spoke was not what Gray had expected. By the looks of it, it seemed like she took it easy, light-hearted. It could just be that Gray had missunderstood the way she said it, but it made him annoyed. On the brink of anger, possibly. Why he felt that was a mystery, he was usually the one taking Things like this lightly. He had described Dangerous jobs as easy and 'a piece of cake' numerous times before. But he was the oldest on the crew now, feeling more responsible for them. And that feeling annoyed him too.

But the second mention of the Kessel Run lifted his mood a bit. Sure, the record held by Han Solo was legendary, and the Run in itself was of big fascination to many, but somewhat overrated. Gray had tried it a few times, but never coming Close to the record, always failing at 14,3 parsecs. "The Kessel Run sounds like a good Place for it, Yeah. But it is true that luring them out that way can make the crew be on edge, which will complicate Things." He leant back in his Chair, listening to what the others had to say.

[member="Voph"] | [member="Zeke Tune"] | [member="Daiya"]

 

[Daiya]

Of course Lori's new beau didn't even listen to her, he barely waited for her to finish to start saying the exact same thing she had. Flustered by the man's poor listening qualities, she initially listened simply to respond and point out flaws. If Tawrro were here, that was what he would do anyway, he often provided the tactical expertise for their plans together. Daiya liked to think she had picked up on a little of that, and had offered such in her suggestion earlier. So when she couldn't find many flaws in Zeke's plan, it just annoyed her even more.

He was right, why did he have to be right?

His plan was good, closing some of the gaping holes of hers, and it quickly got the approval of Captain Aklin who spoke again in Voph's absence. The naval officer set about enacting the idea into a serious plan, illuminating them on a weak point of the enemy's ship and how it could be exploited to carry out the plan. Daiya wasn't really following that much, her experience with the technical aspects of starships was minimal, but it seemed right to her. Despite her guardian's reservations, the girl had little reason not to trust the delivery of someone with military experience.

The others were decidedly not that experienced, but they at least knew something that she didn't. Lori's reaction to the mention of the Kessel Run made Daiya perk up, her earlier contempt vanished, now energized by her friend's excitement. She searched her brain, trying to remember what the Kessel Run was, but all it could come up with was something that spacers had referenced from time to time. When Gray mentioned it again, the girl knew it had to be significant, "What's the Kessel Run?"

[member="Voph"] | [member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Gray Venasir"] | [member="Zeke Tune"]​

 

[Zeke Tune]

He leaned forward, and pressed his fingers together, steepling them. Zeke shook his head, and pursed his lips. “The Kessel Run? Seriously? You want us to go through the Maw to trap this thing?” Soon, his fingers went to his cheek and the man's blue eyes narrowed. It wasn't a bad plan for destroying the vast majority of upsides to having a large ship. It was a place that would seriously hamper their ability to move, escape, and exist. Though, there wasn't even proof they would come into it, or that the signal could even get out. The black holes tended to eat everything, including beacon signals.

Eyes went to Daiya and he sighed. “It's a particularly dangerous run. Its a place surrounded by a lot of black holes, some of them larger than almost anywhere else in the galaxy. They form a nebula almost. The planets inside of it have very unique properties, and the spice of Kessel has long been sought after. Over all, maze like corridor, few ways in or out, lots of black holes, dangerous, hard the maneuver. Especially for a large ship. The Kessel run is basically the pathway between these monsters.”

Finally hands went onto the table. “It's safe enough, if you follow the winding path that's been charted. However, I doubt that is what he means.” This was dangerous. Eyes went to Lori, and then to the young Daiya. Had it been him, and he was still in the game, he would have jumped at this. It was strange what happened and what you felt when you had things to lose.

“How do you want this to go down?”

​

[member="Daiya"] | [member="Gray Venasir"] | [member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Voph"]​