Know thy enemy

[Micah Talith]

Twin dark brows rose high to hide under the inky brown forelocks over Micah’s brow.

So [member="Loske Matson"] required a stealth job?

Those ember lights of his eyes would regard the young blonde woman with a hint of humor. [member="Vexen"] was the first to answer in regards to piloting, and the Talith tossed in his own two credits worth with an ounce of facetiousness.

“Oh aye, I can fly,” Micah began, speaking over the rim of his glass as he shut the door to the fridge. There came that twitch at the corner of his mouth again. “It is the landing that might come troublesome to all.” Bare feet took a few steps towards Loske, mirth and mischief glimmering in his eyes.

“If you’ve a need to wreck something for salvage, I am your man in that. Maybe if you need to claim insurance monies.” A throaty chuckle rumbled as he took another sip of water. He made it to the small makeshift desk that pulled out from the wall. There, he sprawled himself upon the acceleration couch next to it. Legs spread wide, relaxed, no sense of inclination to slip on a shirt. It was, after all, his cabin that he shared with Vex.

At the elaboration on just what was required, he gave a slight frown. A finger pulled from his glass, gesturing to the woman.

“So," he began, gesturing to Vexen and himself with a finger, "...you want us to be your cover, while you, " that finger shot over to her, "...go gallivanting in Coporo’s shipyards, somehow manage to walk into their hanger or research labs, and then get away scott free at nabbing intel on these starfighters?” The right corner of his mouth drew upward in growing amusement.

“Just how many are we talking about here? That will be in this actionable solution of yours?” He asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows upon his thighs. That inky black tattoo which held his father’s crest over his chest and along the half sleeve of his shoulder would flex. This was getting more and more amusing for the Tracker, enough for the Defel to feel the growing incredulity at that through their Force Bond.

“Or are you the only one I’ll have to keep an eye on?” The scoundrel grin that followed that suggested that the young man wasn’t too troubled by having to follow that.

Yup. For any who had met his other siblings, Micah Talith was an altogether different strain of the breed.

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Loske literally had this idea like two hours ago. The fine details were not considered just yet. She was a two-feet first kind of person, with the hyperactive excitement of a go-getter puppy dog. When [member="Micah Talith"] started asking more questions, her lips sucked into themselves and she blew her cheeks out in thought. [member="Vexen"] seemed supportive enough, if she could fly just fine - that’d be cool.

“Alright, that’s one task off your plate.” Loske murmured, not warm to the idea that a ship out in her name might returned back severely damaged. If it returned back at all. Her grip tightened on the water bottle, making sure her gaze remained absolute on tangerine - and darting back equally to the Defel when appropriate.

The way he spoke made it sound like she was going to need a babysitter while she ran rampant around the playground. Slightly off’d by that, she stiffened. She may not be a fancy-shmancy Force User, but she could hold her own in most situations. Granted, she’d never personally confronted a Sith before - and it wasn’t a goal of hers - but so far, she was just fine with her blasters and limbs for protection.

“So, it depends just how covert this is to be. Could be a potential buyer, a supervisor, or try to slip in during the night.

I’ve never ventured into Sith territory.” She admitted, opening up to suggestions by relaxing the tension in her muscles; though it had been an involuntary withdraw at the suggestion this could possibly not work and be entirely reckless. “So far it’s just me running amuck, yes."

 

[Vexen]

[member="Loske Matson"] [member="Micah Talith"]

Vexen was thinking now. Far easier to sit on the sidelines and chime in than to be the centre of attention. She had been around humans long enough to see that Micah's attempt at humour had irked Loske just a touch. So rather than join in Vexen decided to try and act professionally.

"Is this shipyard on the groun' or up in space. Ain't no night on a space station...not unless we make it dark..."

 

[Micah Talith]

When Micah picked up on [member="Loske Matson"]'s ruffled feathers, he couldn't help but flash that little boy grin. There was always a gauge for the Talith to follow; he meant only to tease not to insult. He was harmless in that. The majority of the time, his jokes were intended for others to relax, or as he had in the past, ensure that everyone felt invited into the conversation and wasn't left behind. Which is why he periodically panned his attention to [member="Vexen"] and drew her in. It was easier for the Defel to glean his intentions through their Force bond, but that didn't spare him from her quips.

"Coporo's shipyards," he began, taking another sip of water as he swallowed," Are orbital shipyards." He told her, his citrine remaining locked on oceanic blue. "The last I scouted them, were jut after they were violently claimed by One Sith mercenaries from Titan Industries during the Yuuzhan Vong Rebellion." Word said that eight thousand souls had been wiped that night.

"That isn't to say what has come up since then," for the first time that night, his jovial voice took on a serious edge. "One Sith doesn't merely accept outside buyers for their wares; their industry is internal. You are setting yourself up for a stealth mission."

He tossed back the rest of the water, setting down the glass upon the small desk. A wag of his finger came at the blonde in inquiry, "If it's one, it is easier to slip past with a stealth ship or go undercover as Apex employees. " a smirk drew wider and he grinned, "How is your Cheunh?"

Well, it wasn't like they could simply paint her blue - no matter how intriguing that might be.

"And have you done any undercover work before?"

 

[Loske Treicolt]

It was as if each syllable from [member="Micah Talith"]’s explanation of the Sith on Corporo caused almond eyes to widen that much more. Her assets were directly tied to the stars. Stealth ships - sure. Stealth anything else? Snort.

Her memory strained to recall a time she’d done any sort of infiltration. It felt as if she’d spent her entire life in a simulator, nothing real beyond the odd aerial scrap here and there.

Dare she betray that? Lie, say “Yes” and make it up as she goes? For the sake of pride, she’d be putting more than herself in jeopardy - and she had just admitted to not having any sneaky training. The fact that these shipyards sounded outright demonized was not the time, nor the place, to preach falsehoods about her capabilities.

Undercover work? She hardly knew who she was, let alone adopting the mindset of somebody else. Or rather - that might make it that much easier. Considering she couldn’t remember much about her own history, it would make remembering somebody else’s more afforded.

Lips drew together once more, chewing on the bottom in consideration before she shook her head ‘No’.

As for her adoption of the language? Not many languages had been injected into her for creation, however, she’d been forced to stick her nose in several books and holos for the most commonly used languages that she’d be exposed to - directly relational to mechanics, pilots, and top touchdown points around the galaxy she’d be expected to scout.

A shrug of her shoulder was offered “Nah to to ttam bun.”* Some people thought Cheunh was a beautiful language.

She thought it sounded ridiculous.
And it didn’t help that her accent was terrible.

[member="Vexen]



*Not the best

 

[Micah Talith]

Her accent was terrible.

It none the less evoked a grin. Her attempt won her that much. That and the fact she was honest. Even better. The last thing Micah needed was to find out in the middle of a mission that things were not all as it seemed. That wasn't to say he would do this little shing-dig, but he would like to know all aspects and skills of those he would be working with.

Vexen and he already knew each other well, understood how the other worked. They have been together for years, practically grew up together after that eventful day on Ithor when he found her. Micah could trust Vexen and knew her capabilities. Loske on the other hand, was a new variable. A joker he might be, and yes perhaps a smartass, but he was his father's and mum's son. They taught him well about diving into trouble without proper intel and information.

Rearing back, he flopped against the couch with notable amusement. "So, no real undercover work and a passable understanding of the language." a thick brow rose and he gave a slight cant of his head, as if to say.. well better than nothing.

"Alright..." A finger would gesture over the the woman. "How is your slicing?" if they were going to sneak inside, there was a need to make sure they had the skills to be able to hack through security and any unexpected surprises.



[member="Loske Matson"] [member="Vexen"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

More and more Loske was realizing just how useless she was. She’d really only been trained to fly.

And to fight.

That was it. She was like a lithe, blonde, battering ram.

They’d been wanting to give her more skills, but the training had come to a complete halt when she’d destroyed the facility with her raw, uncontrolled Force energy. It had been too much for the scientists, and going grovelling to Masters Grayson and Matteo was not in their scope. They would not do it. They simply erased the memories and prayed to the galaxies that it didn’t happen again.

“Nothing beyond basic static peppering, and jamming communications — but Frank can.” Light eyes glittered with the joy that she actually had a solution for this one. “The astromech your sister built and my number one flying buddy.”

Why was he actively not bumping into her calf as she spoke? Sticking with her star fighter, of course!

[member="Micah Talith"] | [member="Vexen"]

 

[Micah Talith]

The twin chestnut slashes of his brows rose only to disappear under the mop of dark forelocks. He couldn't help himself then. Especially when any droid built by his little sister came up in conversation.

"Oh, well if it is Frank then, we will surely be set," he'd say with notable humor, his lips twisting into a wide, toothy grin at [member="Loske Matson"]. It wasn't to say he had any doubt on Nohei's capabilities or her genius; out of all four of them, she managed to pick up on the skillset their father specialized in. If it was Nohei's design, much like Alex or Henry, Micah was sure they would be more than capable of doing the job.

His concern, however, was on the mission at hand.

Both shoulders rolled as he went leaning forward again, bracing his forearms upon his thighs. Looking up at her through the tousled mop of his hair, the Talith grinned out, "So then this will be... you, Frank, Vex and me?" a finger would gesture to the little ensemble they hand.

"What do you have on the current set up of Coporo's shipyards so far?" was his subsequent query. He pulled back on the teasing a bit, giving a half grin over to the Defel. Even Vex could only take so much.

"Idea where we have to go exactly to get these schematics for your starfighter you're trying to pilfer?"


[member="Vexen"]

 

[Vexen]

[member="Loske Matson"][member="Micah Talith"]

Schematics
Pilfer
Communications

Vexen had learned to read the flow of a conversation as much as pay attention to each individual word. She still had a notion of what they were gabbling on about, but some of the specifics had been lost to her. What did occur to her was that two humans and a wraith were going to stick out like a sore thumb in a station full of sith. Sure, she could go quiet like. But that only really worked at night. Turning the lights off on a ship or station tended to draw attention.

"These Titan people, they humans or chiss?" she asked. "I'm not seeing a way that I'm gonna get in without gettin' full of 'oles," she grumled.

 

[Loske Treicolt]

This was going to happen, and this was going to happen right. She couldn’t accept another Karfeddion mishap where the planning to go in had been so poorly done that a retreat had been forced. And one of her friends had been damaged. She’d made a miscall in getting involved, when she really should have just hung out with the transport she’d taken down and made sure she fulfilled her role — this was not going to go the same way.

Pilfer? Was she that easy to read? Maybe she just wanted to pick up some blueprints and scan them over, hand them over to the Galactic Alliance’s engineers and call it a day - hey [member="Micah Talith"] - ever thought of that?

Yeah, no. He was right.

Her lips pursed, feigning neutrality when she really had a grin that was trying to poke through. The idea of the excitement thrilled her, and she had to keep some sort of calm.

“Yes, the smaller the group - the less variables. I’ll have someone here who knows what’s going on, in case something….” she paused, not wanting to finish the sentence but inevitably having to: “Goes wrong.”

“That, actually, I do have.” Loske nodded, pulling out the little data pad once more and moseying over to clunk down on the sofa as well - no longer wanting to stand around like a sore thumb. The pillows oofed at the intrusion of her bum, but she disregarded it and activated the holo image of the orbital shipyards. “Problem though, this might be out of date. We may have to do some scouting before moving in.” How could she have been so naive. She scouted all the time!

There was hesitation in the wraith’s voice, and Loske looked up, doe-eyed and searching. Her lips remained shut though, and she dropped her ocean gaze once more without saying anything for a handful of seconds. She was digesting the reality that [member="Vexen"] offered, her dismal approach not encouraging the enthusiasm Loske had when she’d skipped out of the meeting.

Reality sucked.

“Titans are mostly human.” She finally answered, still holding out the map of the latest intel the Alliance had on the shipyard. Recovered shortly after the takeover of the Sith. It could have changed since then. “Some Chiss - mostly business sorts.” She wrinkled her nose.

 

[Micah Talith]

Bright copper eyes would follow [member="Loske Matson"] ‘s trajectory until she sat down upon the acceleration couch. That rascal smirk ever did linger upon his swarthy visage, as if good humor was never too far off from the Talith. He was certainly one of the more lively Talith siblings, and if Aela was here with them, the difference would be startling.

“Right,” he extended his hand out, taking the extended datapad for his review. His fingers brushed Loske’s, and a twinkle shone in his eyes that was notably mischievous. “Well, I guess we can always paint you blue, Brighteyes.”

His jesting was never far behind.

A bit more serious, he brought the datapad up to inspect the intel. A slight disappointing fact was that it indeed was rather out of date. Likely by six months. Maybe a year. Especially if they were still calling it Titan Industries.

“Yeah,” he began, using a finger to skim and swipe at the information, bringing up different screens. Another holographic map drew up. “Orbital shipyards. These aren’t owned by Titan anymore. They were reclaimed by the One Sith.”

Cadmiumous eyes swiveled over to the young blonde pilot. “If you want to do this right, we’ll need to scout and refresh this intel… that way we don’t go in blind.”

[member="Vexen"]

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Slightly alarmed by the connection, Loske flinched unnoticeably when [member="Micah Talith"] purged the pad from her grip. Her alertness peaked and she shifted her weight in her feet to push her energy out somewhere. Might as well be through her toes and ankles.

Well. Blue was her favourite colour. Nevertheless, her expression was less-than-impressed at the suggestion. “I’d have to be seeing red, too.” She quipped, offering a smirk of her own. She could do this! She could banter! Go team!

His comment about the Titans and the One Sith was met with a shrug. Ignorance was often squashed with a good question here and there, and they were about to seek the answers for themselves.

“So we do a drive-by.” Chin bobbed heartily in agreement with her own comment and what Micah was directing as the solution. She slapped her palms on her thighs as a book-end to the conversation.

“So, are we in?” Light eyes sparked with renewed confidence as she leaned forward into her query; a physical representation at her attempt to coerce “Just a l’il scouting mission.”

She was an impatient sort; ready and raring to go. That was her injected “mother’s” side of her. Perhaps her “father’s” logic would cue in soon enough. Maybe in the preparations.

“Not too much harm can come from some innocent scout.” This was directed more toward [member="Vexen"] — who seemed all too wary of the situation. “Take some photos, see some exits and entrances,” she was gesturing now, weighing one palm against the other before rolling her wrist to indicate all the other stuff they could possibly do on this little outing.

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Loske Matson"]

Vexen had learned that sitting in contemplative silence was often the better route to take than asking many questions. Particularly when she wasn't really following the conversation very well.

"So you jus' mean fly past? Take a look then ge' ou'a there?" she asked quietly. That wouldn't be so bad. She had confidence in her own abilities, thanks to Micah. But she needed her feet on the ground and the sun down.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Loske Matson"] [member="Vexen"]


Micah’s grin turned into a mild chuckle. It was easy to see that the blonde woman was rather excited about the prospect, really by any sort of prospect against the One Sith. Her enthusiasm would have to be commended, but it was evident that for the most part, it had been more gumption than actual planning.

“Aye, we can do a fly by.” He said, flexing his legs as he brought himself to his feet. A yawn and a lazy stretch followed after, still holding onto Loske’s datapad. Muscles flexed and that tattoo seem to shift over his chest and upper arm.

“But it is very likely this also will mean some internal scoping.” He told them both, flashing that copper gaze to Loske after nodding to the Defel. With a flex of his wrist, he tossed her datapad back at her with a light upward swing.

“You can scout all you want of the outside, but I bet that the inside is where we’d need to know the ins and outs.” Which meant…

Someone would have to do it.

As one hand threaded through messy mop of his hair, the Talith quickly realized that out of the three of them, that would likely end up being me.

 

[Loske Treicolt]

It made sense to fly by -- scout the exits, entrances, the types of ships that were stationed about the orbital yard collection information, etcetera. She was fine with making that timely sacrifice.

It also made sense to do an internal sweep.

What didn't make sense, and this is where she produced a thoughtful frown - was to risk the entrance twice for what could be accomplished once. Their ship would not be a One Sith manufactured item. She didn't have access to that kind of name. Fair and square, that was that. The workings of her mind began, like asynchronous clogs that churned and ticked into place as she weighed the options.
Evaluating this internally, Loske’s phalanges tented against her chin, leaning forward with elbows on her knees.

“Okay,” she drawled slowly - buying herself time to think this through a little bit more.

Her concern was time. The One Sith have been somewhat quiet for a stretch of months; which is why we could use this to our advantage. They make an entrance once, that vehicle is keyed up on their radars if they’re getting close enough to get inside. They can fly as stealth as they wanted, but there’s still a certain amount of precautions any shipyard has that would be triggered. "This is going to take too much time - a luxury we can't afford."


That’s fine for the first time.

If anything goes awry on this first visit - The One Sith will be expecting something afterwords, which puts their second intrusion where they actually act, in jeopardy.
So, ideally, they’d be back to square one. Where they did everything in one go. Outside scans, collect the visuals — and inside.

“The information we have may be stale, but..” she paused, thumbing the data pad which balanced on her thigh now “— it’s not the worst foundation. Not as bad as going completely blind.”

She was thinking too small. She was thinking a single ship, with a single team. Who’s to say there couldn’t be more distractions? [member="Micah Talith"] couldn’t fly, and [member="Vexen"] said she was somewhat comfortable with it — but StealthX ships didn’t demand good pilots. That’s what Astromechs were for. Instead of them all piling into one, big target, they could go separately — and use a single StealthX piloted only by an astromech as a potential distraction as they did what they needed inside.

"Hear me out." She remained sitting, avoiding eye contact in her thought process and chewing through the words as they expelled "We don't go twice. We do this one time, and one time only -- but we do it in canons. Not all piled together as a single resource. That's where we're getting hung up.

StealthX star fighters are the ultimate shadow ship. What say we take four, maybe three of them - depending how cozy y'all want to be." she gestured loosely between Vexen and Micah before continuing "Ours focus on getting inside and docked - we collect intel on the inside," Loske rose to stand now, a slight pacing to her step as she continued "meanwhile, the other Stealth fighter - piloted only by an astromech - collects information on the outside and provides the distraction if necessary while we do business breaking in!"

​

She stopped, triumphant, standing with a single hand resting on the arm of the couch, other on her hip with a final flick of victory.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Loske Matson"] [member="Vexen"]

Well, look at that. Now that was a plan if he ever heard one.

A mischievous glance was shot towards the Defel, and through their bond, she would be able to tell that Micah was going to be a bit silly again. It bode no surprise when that rascal crooked grin drew closer to the young blonde woman. His slow stride would draw him near, the vibrant twin suns of his eyes watching her with notable amusement.

"Well now that sounds a bit more like it," he would drawl out, a half chuckle in his voice as two meters separated them. "Then who would you suggest would take the role of the pilots for the Stealth X run?" One meter.

"Any names pop out, Brighteyes?" he came to a stop barely half a meter away, the rascal well aware of what he was doing to see a bit of the flustered state return again.

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Ignore.

 

[Vexen]

[member="Loske Matson"]

"Oh, okay," Vexen replied, visibly relieved. She could pilot a ship, but a top of the range snubfighter? That didn't really appeal to her. Anything appealed more to her than a short sharp stop as she splattered herself across the hull of a space station.

"So like, once we land...ain't they gonna be shooting at us plenty?"

 

[Loske Treicolt]

Features knit together in slight frustration and apprehension as [member="Micah Talith"] drew closer. Like a plea, she peered over his shoulder toward the Defel. Maybe [member="Vexen"] had heard her correctly?

Still with a hip cocked, Loske flexed the arm that was supporting her weight before straightening - though much more rigid than if she had her own space bubble left without intrusion.

"Vexen," she pointed - speaking slowly as if hearing was a handicap. "Micah." This time, the point swivelled to the Talith. Then her wrist rotated in her own direction "And Loske."

She tilted her head again, satisfied grin stretching with a sway of her hips and folding her arms.

"But I know how nervous you seem to fly -- don't worry. The actual pilots for you two will be astromechs who know what they're doing. I'll even lend you Frank."

Eyes glittered with her own hint of humour, mirth tickling her tongue "That's the beauty of Stealth Xs - you can get away with droid dependency." And in response to [member="Vexen"]'s concerns: "I can't promise no but that's where the rogue Stealth X comes in - empty of our presence, and only having the ship and an astromech as a liability. That'll be the only thing to show up on their radars - if it shows up at all. With the natural shielding from the StealthX's plus the additional shadows from Sneakerdoodle over here," A gesture at Micah manifested once more -- he wasn't the only one with pet names! She just liked food."We should be just fine."

 

[Micah Talith]

@Kiskla Matson [member="Vexen"]

“She means that a few of the automated Stealth X’s with us will be the distraction Vex.” Micah explained to the Defel, crossing his arms across his chest. Both feet spread about a foot apart, surveying Vexen and then the blonde anew.

“You realize this won’t allow you the ability of getting away with any souvenirs larger than what you may carry?” If they all went in Stealth X’s then it wouldn’t allow them the opportunity to try and steal one of the One Sith’s. They would all have to be cautious.

“We won’t know if they have some sort of overdrive installed either. That might become an issue.” He would add, one finger rising from his arm to emphasis his thought.

“But over all…” he would drawl, bringing his hand up to rub his scruffy chin thoughtfully.

“Not too bad of a plan.” He said.

“Just when are you thinking of having this kicked off?”