Private Housekeeping on Fennesa

[Isabeau]

Fennesa​

The constant hum of the hyperdrive had died down after a long journey. The young Mandalorian leaned at the wall to her side with her eyes staring out the small circular window. It was a beautiful sight to behold as the vessel made a quiet descent down to a medium sized spaceport below. The landscape ranged from deep valleys with small creeks running through to pointy snow covered mountaintops or large wide plateaus. While Isabeau did appreciate the view, the true reason behind why she was plastered to the window was that the large Besalisk who was seated next to her took up more than his fair share of space. She had not cared enough to make a fuss about it during the journey - what mattered to her was peace and a calm trip, not trying to out-wrestle her four-armed neighbour for a little elbow space.

Eventually, the ship came to a stop at a large plateau, half natural and half man-made, proving to be a good middle ground between the deep running valley and the grassy but sparse fields below and the colder mountain tops above. Although the T-visor kept her face utterly hard to read, the Mandalorian did give the Besalisk a nod as he rose from his seat - both of them knew that she had received the short end of the stick in regards to seating arrangements and at least the guy seemed to be grateful for her lack of complaining. Finally leaving the spacecraft, Isabeau slowly made her way through the space port whilst absorbing her surroundings. The girl had not travelled much in the past - at least not outside the sector - and relished the opportunity of exploring the larger galaxy. Not only did the slower pace allow her to absorb the new experiences, but it also allowed her to get a good idea of her surroundings. Still, eager to explore, she soon set a higher pace.

Already wearing her rather light armour, only covering the parts she felt were the most likely to get hit in a fight or that were the most vulnerable, Isabeau didn't have any luggage to pick up as nobody had even tried to make her relinquish her arms - but then, she did sit next to a massive Besalisk which might have put some minds to ease.

A smirk spread across her face: The young Mandalorian was here to meet Shuklaar Kyrdol , the guy she had met during a rowdy night out. While she was a little surprised to have been given the opportunity to do a job with him, she was grateful. Not only would it bring a chance to earn some money and learn from someone more experienced, it would also give her the opportunity to fight new foes. What she knew of the task at hand was limited - whether it was because she was too drunk when she told her of it or because he never did was not very clear to her. But then, she did know that bringing her weapons would suffice; and there she was.

She didn't have to wander for too long before finding him, just where she had been instructed. Raising her right arm in a wave, she let out a light-hearted "Su cuy'gar!" Once closer, she took of her helmet and clipped it to her belt, revealing a smile, obviously happy to see her fellow Mandalorian. Almost a little awkwardly, she reintroduced herself in case she had managed to slip his mind "I'm Isabeau, uh, from Waypoint.. you know, the bar, uhhm... yeah" For a moment, she felt like a baby deer taking her first steps on the ice and scrambled to recompose herself "So, are we good to go?"

 

[Shuklaar Kyrdol]

AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE​

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Tag: Isabeau​

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It seemed that with everything the way it was, the galaxy never stopped dropping things on his plate. In the time since he'd met the man claiming to be Mand'alor, in the time since he'd been in that bar with the bar fight that only served to make it easier to keep drinking, things had gotten a lot more complicated. He'd gone from 'that Mando shabuir that showed up one day' to CDF contractor. All that didn't mean that any of their other clients took, "we're a little preoccupied running for our lives" as a particularly valid excuse. Fennessa, a world he knew the CIS had their sights set on, was also a world that his client, one Stejax Stosay of Fenessan Repulsor Works was based out of. The problem was that Stejax Stosay had become the victim of a band of pirates who were extorting him to hand over the company's new prototype racer.​

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He'd contracted out a security team to Stosay a long time ago, but Stosay felt their prices were a little high, and he decided that hiring his own muscle was cheaper. He'd transitioned to a larger internal security division, and in fact it was members of his company's security team who the pirates were holding hostage, along with the raw material and parts held at the warehouse the brigands had taken over. Stosay had contacted him and had offered obscene amounts of money to take his facility back, which meant that his company could likely not afford the negative PR right now, or even more likely, that the pirates were in possession of something far more valuable than they realized.​

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Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to descend on this place with several commando squads and be done with this before the pirates even knew what was happening, they were still extremely short staffed. All he had was Ragar and two members of Saram's Davaab squad that she could spare, Ran Netra and Viraen Kyrdol. They'd taken a Vuhyrgalaar gunship to Fenessa, not wanting to panic the locals or tip off the pirates by dropping a capital ship into orbit. However, four Mandalorians was still a tall order to take out a low estimate of about twenty heavily armed, well equipped, dug in pirates without letting harm come to the hostages. It was for that reason that he'd contacted the young woman he'd ran into at the Waypoint bar.​

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Ragar, Ran and Viraen were waiting back at the landing pad they'd rented for the gunship with the crew, pouring over the schematics to come up with a plan, if they didn't have one already. He was waiting for Isabeau at the pre-arranged meeting location alone. People tended to give him a wide berth, and the space port security ignored him given that he was flagged in their systems as on the job for a local company. She found him before too long, and waved at him with an enthusiastic, "Su cuy'gar."​

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On seeing her remove her helmet, he decided to extend the same courtesy and removed his own, popping the seal and mag clamping it to his belt with his left hand, while holding out his right in traditional greeting, "Su cuy'gar, ad'ika." He let out a chuckle when she reminded him where it was that they'd met, "I'm not that old, yet, ad'ika! I remember." He nodded in response to her question, "Just about, I've got a ship waiting to take us closer to the objective. We'll talk about the plan there. Were you followed?" ​

 

[Isabeau]

Smiling back at him as he chuckled, Isabeau's eyes went to his greying temples. Producing a little chuckle herself, the younger Mandalorian quickly countered "Well, one can never be too sure" Looking at him with a mischievous smile she added a last blow "And, you know... it's so hard to tell once the person you're talking to is over 35" Was it bold of her to converse so aggressively with an influential person she had just met for the first time? Maybe. But in the end, she was Mandalorian and the worst thing she could imagine him doing was initiating a scuffle - and that would be welcomed with open arms.

The meeting soon took a more serious turn as he proceeded with introducing her to the plan. Starting to walk, she looked to him using a slightly lower speaking voice, much more discrete than the jovial one she had used a few moments earlier "Not as far as I can tell." Shrugging lightly as she scanned the area behind him, she added "I do recognise the three by the kiosk from the shuttle" Letting her eyebrows furrow empathetically, Isabeau then noted "But one of them is just a wee babe"

Shaking her head whilst displaying a slight smile, the young Mandalorian shrugged "But I suppose you can never be too careful, eh?" and with that, she pointed at a nearby kiosk which she guessed was in direct competition with the one that the family of three was in. Walking over to it, the girl gravitated towards a round souvenir stand with kitchen magnets and methodically made her way over to the other side of it which allowed her to discretely view the people around them under the pretense of looking for something to buy.

After having spent a few minutes at the shop, she looked to him and shook her head "I think I'll save my credits for something nicer" she said, letting a playful glint in her eye flash by as she maintained the facade for just a little longer. "But first, I want to see that ship of yours" It had been fun, playing spy for a bit - but truth to be told, Isabeau was thirsting for action.

Shuklaar Kyrdol

 

[Shuklaar Kyrdol]

THE TEAM​

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Tag: Isabeau​

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Shuklaar opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. Partly because he empathized, and partly because he knew better than to try and say anything in response. Ah the confidence of youth. Instead he chose to do what would be typically expected and muttered something about only being forty. He was getting older, that was for sure, but at least he wasn't Strider Garon old, that was for sure. Strider may be a kadtape ruug'la shabuir, but he was an atin'la ori'beskaryc kadtape ruug'la shabuir. Part of him hoped he'd age as well, if not better.​

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He nodded in acceptance of her assessment regarding the lack of a tail. He didn't expect she'd be followed, but one couldn't be too careful, after all. "Good," he nodded. Isabeau mirrored the same sentiments it seemed, and so he nodded again, "No, especially not on a job like this." Shuklaar followed where she was pointing at and caught on pretty quickly to what she was planning. The slightest hint of a smile flickered across his face in response.​

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"Bargaining helps," he added in jest. "Right this way, the other three are waiting there for us." Shuklaar led Isabeau along a series of corridors to the private landing pits till he reached the door at the one they'd parked at. Jare'la, was waiting at the door like a loyal Strill. "That's my droid, Jare'la, he'll be helping us open any locked doors that we can't open the old fashioned way." The droid beeped snarkily at him for taking too long, and then opened the door with one of its many limbs. Shuklaar waved him off as the door began to groan open, revealing the private landing pad and the G-02H Vuhyr'galaar Heavy Gunship perched on the pad.​

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It wasn't his. Beroya squadron, and the pilot of Beroya 1-1, Mereel Kote in particular, tended to fly him wherever he needed. Mereel and crew were nowhere to be seen, likely still aboard making last minute checks. His theory was confirmed when he caught sight of one of the gunship's Gar'gotabor droids performing checks on the gunship's thrust manifolds.​

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Ran and Viraen, were checking their gear, but quickly dropped what they were doing and turned to face them as they entered. Aran and Viraen were fairly 'normal' as far as Mandos went, even if their armor and weapons weren't quite. It was Ragar Nihut'tyr, who he was sure would actually make an impression, given that even by Mandalorian standards he was an absolute mountain of a man at 6'10" and heavily muscled. With the heavy plating of his armor, he looked all the more impressive. "So that's our number five?" asked Ragar in Mando'a, nodding in Isabeau's direction.​

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"Ragar, Ran, Viraen, this is Isabeau. She's the one I mentioned was going to be joining us. Isabeau, this is Ragar Nihut'tyr, my second and our heavy weapons specialist on this operation. Ran Netra and Viraen Kyrdol, our infiltration specialists. Viraen's also a sniper, if the Verp he's refusing to put down didn't give that away," introduced Shuklaar, gesturing to each and every one of them as he spoke.​

 

[Isabeau]

From what little she had seen so far, the man did not seem boring to work with. Unwillingly going along with her jab at his age and being quick to see what her intents with going to the shop was, he had certainly worked to giver her a good impression of him so far. And it soon became even better as he gave her a tip on how to improve her game. The younger Mandalorian's eyes sharply darted to the side to find him after a slight tilt of the head. The girl was keen on finding a retort, something snappy which would show that she could hold her own. But then, her features softened. Sometimes, humility and openness to learn worked way better than whatever her first instinct told her to do and with that, a smile grew on her lips. Doing her best to hide any form of impressed nuance in her tone, Isabeau turned her head to face him more fully "Thanks" she said, making a mental note to follow his advice next time she came across the same situation.

In a way - all spaceports were the same. At least that is how it seemed to Isabeau as she followed Shuklaar through the labyrinth of corridors that would lead them to his ship. But then, she had often been given the task of scouting out an area and relay information back to the main group, giving her a good routine in the field and the inherent need for some sort of system in spaceport often helped too. With her head making wide, almost elaborate, sweeps, the girl looked around as the moved, often allowing her eyes to linger on the small fire emergency maps that could be found from time to time.

A slight chuckle escaped her as she heard the name of his droid. Oftentimes, droids had a somewhat cute and innocent look to them by designed, but the many 'tentacles' and 'eyes' it carried gave it a very different vibe. What truly made it amusing, however, was the its Mandalorian owner had still given it a name which would've suited a more normal droid. Looking up at him, Isabeau repeated its name "Jare'la?" with a jestful and questioning tone. While she would have normally patted a droid on the head this one made it hard to know where to put the hand and with that, she simply nodded at it and letting out a low "Useful"

Taking a few excited steps forth, Isabeau's eyebrows rose as she let out an impressed whistle. "You fly in style. Maybe I should have asked for a ride with you instead of taking the shuttle" she commented whilst increasing her pace a bit to allow for some sideways movement to see it better without falling behind. The two kept moving forwards, however and it would not be long before she fell back into a more normal state - it was appropriate, seeing as she was going to make a few new acquaintances. Extending her arm in a wave, she let out a casual "Su'cuy" accompanied by a nod as she was introduced. Her gaze stayed with the large one for a few more moments, deeply impressed by what she saw. But then, she probably had much to learn from them all - the two others more so than the large one who she was to taken by.

Whether they stayed to chat for a bit or if the moved onto the ship, Isabeau would remain by Shuklaar's side when she could, seeing as he was the one she had gotten to know first among them. Waiting for a brief respite in the conversation, she carefully asked "So, I know we are supposed to in the shadows on this one to keep the soft ones alive. What do we know of where they are holed up?"

Shuklaar Kyrdol

 

[Shuklaar Kyrdol]

THE JOB​

Tag: Isabeau ​

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"We've got schematics of the facility, but given that Ran and Viraen have had a chance to take a closer look, I thought I'd let them tell us what's in store. Ran?" Shuklaar asked, glancing at the Vuhyr'yalilyr rammikade, prompting the other man to take over. Ran and Viraen had only just about gotten back when he'd heard that Isabeau's transport was coming in and had gone into the space port, so without sending in any additional recon, this was probably the most up to date information that they were going to get. ​

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Ran pulled up the warehouse's external schematics, showing the perimeter death fence, gate and the paved loading/unloading docks, landing pads and parking spots for other vehicles. "The shabuire in question have an old beat up Galaar-class Shuttle which they came in on. It took a helluva lot of ground fire dropping off it's complement of troops, but shabla thing's intact. Still, it probably won't take 'em far, but if they're desperate enough...They've got three two man teams on patrol, we counted two shifts so far. Not sure if they use the standard watch system, but from what we could tell, they've had some formal training. Their sniper spotter teams on the roofs have the north and south approaches watched. Viraen and I couldn't get a good look inside, but given we've got ten on the outside, there's at least another ten inside." ​

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Shuklaar looked at the projected image of the exterior as markers popped into place to signify the opposition that Ran had detailed. "I'm of the mind that we hit this from three directions. Ran and Viraen, you hit the roof, remove those marksman. Isabeau will approach from the north, Ragar'll take the east and I'll take the west." He glanced at Isabeau and then said, "North's where their shuttle's down on the pads, ad'ika. Shouldn't be any patrols, but you will have to watch for the crew if they're on board." He then swept aside the external view, bringing up a view of the interior. It was no different from most other warehouses. Catwalk going around, crane to move cargo attached to a roof mounted gantry, couple officers on the top floor, and a main security control center. ​

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He highlighted the security control center. "If it was me running the operation, I'd be holding my hostages there. Safest place in the entire warehouse. Can be locked down if it needs to be. Means we're going to need someone to get in there and secure those hostages. Best bet from there's for two or three of us to hit the main floor while the others get to the roof to get the hostages out," said Shuklaar. "Volunteers? Last minute ideas?" he asked, looking around at all present. ​