Operation Grey Dawn: Spynet Training Mission

[Ahra Martrey]

The Umbra always felt like a strange mix of home and prison to Ahra. On one hand, he felt like he could relax, but on the other he always felt he was being watched. Which is appropriate, I suppose. I almost certainly am. He turned down a hallway from his visit to the labs and entered a conference room with a pair of agents sitting at a long table. It was a strange feeling, to outrank them, but this was his mission to command - and run. “Gentlemen,” he greeted them as he walked to the head of the room. “Welcome to Operation Grey Dawn.”
He walked over to the holoprojector and activated it, a blue space station appearing in the air over the center of the table and slowly rotating. “Your mission for today is to infiltrate this station. It is a medium-security installation, where one of our agents was attempting to retrieve some intel before she was captured. Your primary goal is to extract this agent. If possible, we would like to get the intel she was after in the first place, as well as knowledge on what they were able to get out of her; however, this is secondary to the agent herself.
“Now, we do not know exactly where in the station the agent is being held. However, heat signatures indicate that she is likely in this general area.” The holo boxed then zoomed in on an area just off the center spire of the station, on the top ring. “This is by no means waterproof intel, just a good place to start.
“In addition to the enemy and the intel, we have reports that a high-ranking enemy commander is on the station, and there is speculation that this commander was the cause of the initial agent’s failure. If you come across this commander, be wary, but know that he is by no means invulnerable.”
“I will be acting as your Hawkeye.” He pulled a pair of small boxes from his jacket and slid one to each agent. Inside each were a pair of contacts and an earpiece. “If you would be so kind as to put these in, I’ll be able to see and hear everything you do. I’ll also have access to certain systems of the station itself. I’ll be able to give you early warnings of incoming patrols, basic directives on nearby objectives, and warnings of what the system does and doesn’t know about your operations.”
He zoomed the holo back out, then focused on an airlock on the main center ring. “This will be both your entry and primary extraction point. I’ll bring you in, drop you off, and fall back to a safe monitoring distance. Once you have completed the objective, return and I’ll pick you up. If that exit is unavailable the secondary is here,” the focus changed to an airlock on the other side of the ring, “and the tertiary is here.” The holo scrolled to a small cargo hatch on the bottom of the station.
“Now, this is a training mission. As such, all occupants of the station will be droids armed with stun weapons. With that in mind, we would prefer if you caused as little permanent damage as possible. Feel free to shoot droids, and cameras if necessary, but don’t blast a computer or door control just because it’s convenient. We’d like to reuse this facility, and remember, the best missions are the ones the enemy never finds out about.” A smile twisted the corner of his lip. “On a related note, ion weapons of various types are available upon request.”
He zoomed the holo back out to the space station, four small boxes highlighting the areas he’d mentioned. “Any questions?”

Spoiler: Holo

Primary Goal: Extract a captured agent
Secondary goals (in order of importance):
Retrieve intelligence (primary skill: slicing)
Neutralize enemy commander (primary skill: assassination)
Avoid detection (primary skill: stealth)
--- if failed: Disable alarms/security (primary skills: combat/slicing)

[member="Phade"] [member="Vi'kas Mirtis"]

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Vi'kas thought over the objectives, considering each one. "I've got a couple of questions, if you don't mind. What are the IDs of the commander and captured agent. Also, what information was the agent originally after?" He was planning on killing the commander and taking the intel, but wasn't going to commit to either until he first got all of the necessary information.

[member="Ahra Martrey"]

 

[H3xle]

Phase waited for the other agent to speak before raising a finger to note he had a question as well. His gaze was locked on to the station.

"What kind of internal and external sensors do they have? Are there any defenses on the exterior of the station?" He thought a moment, "Are we working together? Also, do we have a timeframe?"

 

[Ahra Martrey]

"This commander is an HK model droid. We do not know its exact name, merely that it is extremely capable and appears to have a high level of skill in both combat and command." Ahra knew the droid, of course - he had built it - but intelligence in the field could be shaky at best. "The intelligence the first agent was after is actually two things: a design for a new blockade runner and plans on where it will be operating. Before contact was cut, the agent was able to determine that these were stored in the station's mainframe - you won't be able to access them from the first terminal you come across. As for the agent herself..." A smirk crept across Ahra's face. "You'll know her when you see her."

He turned to Phade. "External has your basic, everyday ship-to-ship sensors. The station itself will remain on passive as long as the alarm isn't raised. Internally, there will be standard motion and heat sensors in important places, but nothing over the top. As I said, medium-security. However, if the alarm is tripped, localized motion and heat sensors will activate everywhere. If that isn't taken care of, the whole station goes on alert, and you'll have to deal with motion and heat sensors throughout, as well as any defense systems. The external sensors will also go on high alert, and there will be several laser batteries that activate. Most of these will be in hanger areas, though the tertiary exit has a slightly lower threat from these. This can all be shut down from the main security hub."
"You WILL be working together, but you don't have to stay together. Feel free to split up, if you choose. There is no set time frame, though if you want to avoid detection you'll have to act quickly. Additionally, the localized alarms must be disabled relatively quickly if you want to avoid activating the whole station. If the whole station does activate, you'll need to finish whatever you're doing and leave. I don't care how many spy movies you've seen, the bad guys have a whole lot better aim than Stormtroopers."

"Anything else?"


[member="Phade"] [member="Vi'kas Mirtis"]

 

[H3xle]

Dair stared at the station in the holo.

'No use scaling the outside of the station, cutting in will likely cause alarms.' he thought to himself as he turned to look at Ahra. 'We'll have to slice our way through until someone gets to the security center...hmmm'

"Do we know anything about standard patrolling routes and how many of what man the security station?" He asked, meeting the Senior Agents gaze.

 

[Armand Temi]

Khloe Sparrow stood outside the door to the conference room and took a deep breath. It was her first assignment and she was late.

The Lorrdian agent opened the door to the conference room softly and slipped into a chair. She was normally catlike and quick but her powers of stealth weren't to be apparent today as the minute she sat down, a bunch of flimsiplast files fell out of her handbag and clattered onto the floor. "Whoops," she said. But after the fumble she furtively gathered up the files, tucked them away and clasped her hands on the table in front of her. To apologize now would call even more attention to herself so she inspected the holoimage of the blue space station with the four points outlined.

Luckily she had caught the question posed by another agent when she first entered the room: "Do we know anything about standard patrolling routes and how many of what man the security station?"

[member="Phade"]

[member="Ahra Martrey"]

[member="[URL="http://starwarsrp.net/user/7177-lord-ajihad/"]Lord Ajihad[/URL]"]

 

[Ahra Martrey]

"We're not entirely sure on routes, though that information can likely be sliced fairly easily. We do know that there are at least two guards in each patrol, and possibly more. We don't even know for certain where the security station is, let alone its crew."

Ahra watched with mild bemusement as the newcomer slipped ungracefully into her seat. "Gentlemen, perhaps you would like to explain the situation to your teammate?" It would be a good way to make sure that Sparrow got the information and that Phade and Vi'kas had an understanding of it.

[member="Lord Ajihad"] [member="Phade"] [member="Khloe Sparrow"]

 

[H3xle]

Phade nodded, then turned to Sparrow.

"Our mission is to covertly infiltrate this station to extract an agent of ours who got caught while gathering data on a new blockade runner and the area where it might be operating. Our entry point is here, marked primary. Primary is also our main exfiltration point. We have secondary and tertiary exit points as well." Dair spoke at a medum pace, pointing out the different points as he covered them. "There is an enemy commander on board, he can be considered a secondary objective. Primary objective is to recover the agent, then to find the information she was after, then what information she may have given up. We will be monitored from here and given insight into the systems by our instructor here."

He then turned to Sparrow. "Finally, we are working together, but do not have to remain in company. It is advised that we do this stealthily as raising the alarm would seriously hamper our ability to accomplish any of our goals."

[member="Ahra Martrey"] [member="Khloe Sparrow"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Vi'kas chimed in, as well. "There is no timeframe, though speed would be ideal. I recommend we each go for a separate objective. This will get it all done quicker, and ensure all objectives are completed. I volunteer for taking down the commander."

@Phade @Ahra Martrey [member="Khloe Sparrow"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Khloe listened to her fellow agents recount their mission. She inspected their faces, trying to assess with her Lorrdian senses if they were afraid, anxious or even bored. But neither of them gave nothing up. Most spies didn't, she supposed. The instructor was amused she could tell that but she wasn't sure if it was because of her lateness or just that he enjoyed his job.

Khloe inserted both the earpiece and contacts and put them on. "Do we need a cover?" she asked. "Or is it up to our discretion? For example would the station have routine maintenance workers moving around the facility? Or do we need to stay completely in the shadows?

[member="Phade"] [member="Ahra Martrey"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[H3xle]

"The station is run and crewed by droids. So far as we know, the only living subject will be us and our agent." he likewise put in the contacts and earbud. He then took a moment to appraise his compatriots. He turned to Vi'kas and nodded.

"You want the kill, it's yours. After we recover the agent. She is our primary concern."

[member="Lord Ajihad"] [member="Khloe Sparrow"] [member="Ahra Martrey"]

 

[Ahra Martrey]

Ahra stood back and listened as the agents explained and planned. It seemed like they had a decent grasp of the mission. The trick would be using that information, and adapting to new intelligence on the fly. "To further clarify, there will almost certainly be a few maintenance droids - automated cleaners, mouse droids, the like. They won't report your position, but they may be attracted to your area if you make too much of a mess." He glanced at each of the three agents in turn. "Any more questions? If not, meet me in Docking Bay 4 at 0800. Again, ion weapons are available at the armory, as well as other equipment you may find useful." Fifteen minutes should be plenty of time for them to prepare to leave. They'll have time on the journey to further strategize.

[member="Phade"] [member="Khloe Sparrow"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Armand Temi]

After their superior agent finished giving them the assignment, she stood and gathered her belongings. Khloe made her way to the Umbra armory to see what she may use on this mission. She had some supplies on order from InnoteQ but currently she didn't have anything but her wits. After a good inspection of the gear made available she chose the Stiletto Weapons Platform for it's versatility.

Without waiting for the others, she made her way to the Docking Bay. She sat against a wall and pulled out her datapad. Khloe decided to spend the additional time brushing up on her slicing skills, executing some practice commands with a computer simulator.

[member="Phade"] [member="Ahra Martrey"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Ahra Martrey]

Ahra cocked an eyebrow as Sparrow left the room. Last one in and first one out. I'll have to keep an eye on her. The other two seemed to be staring rather intently at the holo. After waiting a minute for any questions and getting nothing, he left the room. They would have an hour an a half in hyperspace if they needed anything else.
After a brief stop at the weapon labs to talk to an engineer about an idea he'd had, Ahra headed toward Docking Bay 3, where his own ship was docked. He boarded the Comet and gathered a few tools he hadn't grabbed earlier. He paused at the top of the exit ramp. Not today, old friend.
Docking Bay 4 wasn't far away, and Ahra arrived five minutes before the time he had told them to meet. One of the agents was already there, fiddling with a datapad. "Sparrow," he acknowledged as he passed her. The other two didn't seem to be there yet.

He stopped at a handprint scanner and activated it, unlocking the Espada transport he'd been authorized to use for this mission. The Varjo's ramp opened slowly in front of him. He boarded and shut the door behind him. He'd let the others in in a few minutes, but for now he had a few preparations to make.
His first stop was the lounge. He pulled out his datapad and uploaded the holo from the conference room to the display, then made sure to activate the room's surveillance. Unbeknownst to the agents, every second from the moment they stepped onto the transport until they returned to the Umbra would be recorded for examination. He went to the cockpit and warmed up the engines, preparing the ship for takeoff, and returned to the docking bay. Let's get this show on the road.

[member="Khloe Sparrow"] [member="Phade"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[H3xle]

Phade took his time studying the holo image of the station, running scenarios in his head involving the various route he could see in the holo. He wanted to have as much of the stations layout in his head as he could. Finally, he turned away and made his way to the armory.

In the armory he picked out a stiletto weapons platform and a pair of stick on security appliances. He already had his own variety of knives and slicing gear, but none of that was as cutting edge as the InnoTeq stuff. He grabbed a backpack and slid in some extra standard tools like wire cutters and manual screw drivers and a pair of small pry bars in the main pocket. The side pocket was where he attached the stiletto platform and pair of sticky firewalls. He cinched the shoulder straps so they were snug, then secured the chest strap across his chest. With a final look over of himself, he moved through the door and to docking bay 4 and boarded the Espada. He noted that Ahra was in the cockpit warming up, Phade probably wouldn't be called upon to fly the ship, so he instead turned to Sparrow and offered a small smile.

"I'm Phade." He offered his hand to her, "How are you feeling about this training mission?"

[member="Ahra Martrey"] [member="Khloe Sparrow"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Khloe heard her name in the periphery of the docking bay but continued to look down, focusing on her slicing practice. Only when the other agent offered his hand was her concentration broken. She gently took his hand and shook it back. "I'm Khloe Sparrow," she said. She looked down at her datapad which held the message "denied," a sign that she had yet again failed the trial hack she had attempted. "I'm glad it's a training mission," she said with an amused laugh showing him the message. "I have to admit that I'm a fairly new recruit. How about you, Phade?" she asked.

Just then a service droid came up behind them and said, "Ms. Sparrow, you have a package."

Oh good, her supplies from InnoteQ had come in. She signed for the box, set it down on the floor and then unpacked it. It held all of the gear she would need for the mission. Out of the box she selected the R.E.D.S, the knives and the Q Laser Microphone. She would leave the pistol and use the one obtained from the armory. Instead of a bag, Khloe strapped everything in conveniently hidden pockets, belts and harnesses of her black, form-fitting suit of light armor.

As she buckled in the last of her gear, she turned to Phade and said, "You were saying?"

[member="Phade"] [member="Ahra Martrey"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[H3xle]

Phade looked over the gear she had received with a very approving nod. He looked her in the eye as she was buckling on her gear, partially as proof that he wasn't lasciviously looking her over, and also as a sign of respect for a fellow agent. This was business, and so he did his best to treat it as such.

Under the backpack he was wearing grey and black, black pants tucked into boots, grey shirt tucked into the pants and a thin black sweatshirt over the shirt, partially zipped up. Not the most professional looking of agents, though he held himself with quiet confidence.

"I have been slicing since I was a kid, piloting small ships since around the same time, but I'm fairly new." He grinned slightly, "The way I put it is that I'm just out of the box."

[member="Khloe Sparrow"] [member="Ahra Martrey"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Ahra Martrey]

Ahra observed the pair from the top of the boarding ramp and checked his chrono. Well, two of them are here anyway. He watched as Sparrow's equipment arrived and nodded approvingly as she pulled each piece from the container. He looked at the chrono again. Time to go. Hopefully our other member arrives soon.
"Gentlemen," he addressed the pair as he walked down the ramp to the docking bay, "This is the Varjo. She's an Espada-class stealth transport, and is worth more than the combined internal organs of everyone on this mission." The corner of his mouth pulled into a faint smile. "She will be our ride for today." He gestured toward the waiting ramp. "Make yourself at home, but don't mess anything up." He looked pointedly from one to the other. "I highly doubt you'd be able to slice any the systems, but be warned that attempting to do so will result in immediate termination." He didn't elaborate if termination meant their employment with the Spynet or their life. Perhaps both.
He gestured again for them to board, but stayed outside waiting for their Ajihad. He'll need direction on which ship is ours, if and when he arrives.

[member="Phade"] [member="Khloe Sparrow"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[H3xle]

When Ahra came down and told them to board, Phade flashed what he hoped was a supportive smile to Khloe and motioned for her to precede him into the ship.

Once inside, he would make sure to sit somewhere near enough to Khloe to continue their conversation if she wanted, but not close enough to essentially demand it. He slipped the stilletto system from his pack and went over it one more time, then pulled out a datapad and checked on both of the sticky firewalls. Once certain that his newer technical gear was working properly he would sit back and wait. If no conversation happens, then he would zone out and try to focus on the force around and in him, letting himself sink down into it and focus on the signature suppression system that Raziel had been showing him in training.

[member="Ahra Martrey"] [member="Khloe Sparrow"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Khloe had never seen anything like the Espada-class stealth transport ship. After all, she was used to the docks of Bartyn's Landing on Lammerad, the dry, sandy Swoop Bike arena on Tatooine, even the Rogue Squadron lounge where card games and rounds of drunken pilot songs mingled raucously. Espionage in space was somewhat of a new concept to her but again, she tried her best remain collected and not let her inexperience show.

"It's a beautiful vessel," the Lorrdian Agent remarked to her instructor.

She sat next to Phade who was fine tuning his gear. And where was the other agent anyway? Had he gotten lost on the Umbra? Inside she was slightly glad it wasn't her under scrutiny this time. Perhaps the missing agent would make their Superior Agent forget that Khloe had been so clumsy and so late.

[member="Phade"] [member="Ahra Martrey"] [member="Lord Ajihad"]