Private Hunt for the Holowhatever

[Raphael Gallustrade]

Raphael sat on a dropship, rapidly approaching an unknown planetoid in the Outer Rim. His compatriots, the six men sitting with him, were all mercenaries hired by someone who was part of the "New Way" philosophical movement. As the gunship jumped into hyperspace, Raphael gave a light sigh, thinking about how he'd gotten into this. He'd begun spending some more time in mid and inner rim worlds, mostly in the bars, listening to people talk. The words were oftentimes vitriolic, and the people histrionic, but he couldn't entirely fault them; the Force gave him an advantage after all, even though he wasn't saying anything about his abilities with it to these guys.

He relaxed back as the man who'd brought him onboard, watched. "…first time on summin' like this? I brought you on cuzza yer slicin' skills, you'd better not choke on me now." Then he turned to the others and got to his feet. "Alright, ladies, listen up. Our man on the inside found something important: A holocron. It's apparently a cube of information that only those "lucky few" that can access the Force can even use." There were groans and looks of annoyance. "I know, my friends, I know. As if they didn't have enough advantages already, they can access entire computers of information that normal people can't even unlock! Now, that being said, we're about to drop out of hyperspace. When we do, we're going to be landing on top of a dig site. The moment that we do, we're going to take down anyone and everyone in the area. Then, once the site is secure, we're going to keep an eye out while our new friend here…" The man gestured to Raphael. "…goes in to retrieve it. Being the least known of us, I'd rather him be the fodder."

"Thanks," Raph muttered in reply. "Makes me feel real welcome. But don't worry. I can move lightly and quickly."

The man nodded. "That's all I ask. Now, there shouldn't be any combatants. If you see any Galactic Alliance soldiers, take them down quickly. Otherwise, stun the archaeologists. I don't want a single one of their scientists killed." He looked to the rest of his team. "Do I make myself clear?" The only response was nodding. "This goes without saying, but there aren't any jedi, right now. IF any do show up then I don't want ANYONE firing. Our sniper, Garrick, will take care of them with some nice stunbolts."

The ship suddenly lurched, a clear sign they'd just dropped out of hyperspace. "Helmets up, you lot. This is to be a clean op. And if our new boy, here, does well then I thought I'd bring him on. He seems like he'd work great for some jobs for our prospective new clients." Raphael watched him a moment and put on his helmet. Ironically, though, he had absolutely no intention of letting these people from the New Way have this…holowhatever. He was going to secure this thing and make sure it got back to the Galactic Alliance, at the very least, if not the New Jedi Order.

The ship touched down and immediately the men he was with moved out, spreading through the camp, either knocking the archaeologists unconscious or stunning them. Raphael, for his part, walked slowly and meticulously through the camp, and right up to the main ruin doors. His recruiter stopped him at the door with an arm. "…you know what to do, yeah?"

"Of course, chief. Head down through the ruins, secure the holocron and get back out." The man nodded. "What if jedi come and get past everyone?"

The man's face was grim. "…if that's the case, then we're probably gonna go to prison." Raphael nodded a moment, though he had an idea of his own and, as he started to descend, he pressed a button. To the Jedi Order, a distress signal would be sent:

'To the Jedi, this is NOI of the Outer Rim. Mercenaries hired by an unknown third party, have been hired to attack an archaeological expedition in the Outer Rim. I will be moving to intercept. Should you not get someone out there in time, then I will handle the situation itself. Otherwise, I will meet your representative out there.'

Then he began his descent into the ruins proper.
Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Outfit: Casual
Tag: Raphael Gallustrade

Dreidi was tapping away at a screen, chewing on her bottom lip as she was deep in thought, she was trying to figure out how things worked in the NJO since there seemed to be a lot of conflicting views on her style of approach to things. So, she was curious to understand why her views and understanding of things was not being welcomed or accepted while she was staying in the NJO. It was bringing a lot of feelings of frustration and resentment to people that she had wanted to get along with. So, she had hoped to understand more in learning about the NJO history, events that happened and perhaps even figure out what she needed to do to smooth things over but the history was so conflicting, so murky at times that she didn't think the supposed moral high ground that some took was entirely fair on her.

As she scrolled away, she heard a bleep on the comms, a distress signal was being sent out. It was curious but Dreidi listened in. NOI? That wasn't a term she had heard before and she was curious to know what it meant. The planet wasn't too fair from where she was, just hanging around in space on a fighter that she 'borrowed' from the temple hangar. Just meant that she had to figure out how to properly fly the thing and land. Landing was always the struggling part, especially because the last two fighters she had borrowed, she broke the landing gear by not properly landing. It had been the reason she was suppose to be doing a pilot class to avoid future incidents but who had time for more classes!

Tapping on the ship's comms, she replied to the signal that she would be on her way. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember where everything was and what she needed to tap in order to trigger ignition. Flipping a few switches and engaging the engines, Dreidi opened her eyes and smirked, the post-it notes she placed all over the cockpit were helping and she was finally getting a hang of this flying. Just gotta make sure they worked for when she landed now!

Arriving to the world, Dreidi entered the atmosphere and thought about why mercenaries would come to a world like this. It seemed to be nothing of note really to her and hitting a dig site seemed small reward for a group to be hitting. Adjusting controls, Dreidi awkwardly descended the ship, making it very clear she was no experienced flyer. The hard landing jolted her in her seat and Dreidi let out a few curse words but none of the screens were blaring alarms or warning signals. "Successful landing! Ha! Take that pilot classes!" Dreidi exclaimed happily. Hopping out of the cockpit, Dreidi looked around the area for the supposed other person she was meant to be working with today. Quickly adjusting her jacket and tying her hair into a loose ponytail.

 

[Raphael Gallustrade]

There it was... First the signal came through, the response that what he'd sent had been received and Raphael sighed as he heard the ship burst through the atmosphere. The touchdown, however, made him wince. It was rough and it wasn't something that he would've wanted to happen to any ship, but...that one just sounded TERRIBLE. The group of mercenaries looked up and Raphael sighed in his helmet. It wasn't good that they had called this much attention to themselves.

"...who's that?"

Raphael shrugged. "Dunno. I'll go check on it, though. Could be some extra team of researchers or something. You all make sure that you secure the entrance. I don't want this job to go on for a million years, yeah? I'll go check on this and then we can head into the ruins."

When he was far enough away from the dig site, and close enough to the transport, he sighed and approached, waving to Dreidi as he approached and hooked his rifle onto his back. "Hey there. Name's Raph, but you can call me NOI. You with the Order, I hope?" He gestured behind him. "Lemme give you a quick brief on the situation. I was at a bar, contacted by these guys wanting help to get into this ruined Temple just over the ridge. From what they were saying they were hired by someone in some...political movement called "the New Way" or something like that. Apparently these ruins have something called a...holo... Uhrm... Holoc...ron? I think is what they called it. The way that we were told about it, it seemed like a Force thing, so I thought that the Order should get it back."

<"What are you doing over there?! Who was it?">

Raphael reached up and light tapped on the side of his helmet, comms clicking to life. "Just some more from the archaeological team. When I approached they ran off. Might be some kind of radio outpost on the planet too."

<"Urgh, kriff... Alright. Get back here soon. We're gonna need to grab this thing and get out of here before Alliance command can catch any word of this. Volk out.">

"Sure thing. I'll be there in a bit." Then he turned back to Dreidi. "That's the basics. They've got a sniper on top of the ruins, just in case a jedi showed up. Tranquilizer darts. I can provide you some backup, if you'd like, and then we can get the holo... whatever thing from the ruins."
Dreidi Xeraic

 

[Dreidi Xeraic]

Outfit: Casual
Tag: Raphael Gallustrade

She was introduced to a strange man who seemed to dump a lot of information at her feet to unravel and unpack. Dreidi paused and held her hands on her hips. "You got told all this at a bar?" Dreidi felt sure this was odd to disclose such important information out in public where people get drunk and are likely to share crucial information. Like this one. "Tranquilizer dart is a unique way to handle a situation. But I got Magick and the Force if cases like those but we shall see what the situation is when I get closer." Dreidi stated as she looked at him, assessing whether he would be helpful or a hindrance to her on the mission.

"So, Raph/NIO?" The two names was confusing and she wasn't too sure why he gave her two names to work with. Why give your real name if you have an alias, why ask her to use the alias when you given your real name? "I'm Dreidi Xeraic. Not officially part of the Order but I work with them and I am a Jedi." She stated firmly as she watched him carefully.

"Why you lying to others? There some secret I need to know? I am not fantastic at lying when on missions, I tend to be blunt and straight to the truth." Dreidi sighed as she felt this was not as easy as simply rushing at a fortified position and taking people out. "So, lets get this straight, enemy is entrenched, sniper in position for Jedi and clearly a solid fortified position for them to be holed up in for some time. Have you tried the two prong approach? The sniper, if there is truly only one, can't be in two positions and gives us a chance to reach there. Take them out and fetch the holocron. Holo. Cron." Dreidi emphasised the last word so the guy could remember it