The key to infiltration, Jaa had learned, was to act like you belonged. Simple as. Look the part and act like you know what you're doing. Everything else was dressing and was one more thing to trip over.
So far so good on Jaa’s theory of not being noticed.
This was the first true test. Everything had up until this point been child’s play, just one foot in front of the other until he made it here to a closed door. Jaa looked at the keypad on the wall. He punched in the code that had been provided to him. Every tap on the keypad was timed to the ever-louder beating of his heart. With a faint pop and woosh the door to the comms room slid open and Jaa remembered to breathe.
The dimness of the corridor was thrown into sharp contrast with the overly bright white light emanating from the comms room. The scent of way too strong cleaning solution and way too burned caf assaulted the senses. It was like stepping into a whole new world, not just a different room. Sitting in a wheeled chair surrounded by monitors and control panels full of blinking lights was one lone guard who seemed far more interested in the data pad in his lap than the monitors around him.
The guard was dressed in the same regulation uniform as Jaa was. A drab gray number with too many pockets. The uniform Jaa had on belonged to a guard of the lowest rank. Meaning, he didn’t get to have a blaster on him lest he rouse suspicion and alert any observant faculty that he was an imposter. He did however have a thick baton made from duraplast.
Even though the man was seated, Jaa could tell the man was short. The guard was clean-shaven, pockmarked, bald on the top of his head with thin brown hair worn around the bald spot like a crown, and a gut. This guard
did have a sidearm but he had left it lying on the edge of one of the control panels unconcerned with having to use it.
That’s probably a no-no.
“Who the hell are you?” The guard asked Jaa.
“Right,” Jaa said clumsily,
“I’m supposed to relieve you, you know, give you a break.” Jaa gave the man a comforting half-smile.
The guard did not return the smile nor did he seem comforted.
“What the kark are you talking about?” The guard’s confusion was quickly turning to anger.
“Who the hell are you?” He demanded again.
Shiraya’s breath, say something!
The voice in his head demanded.
“Look, C.O. Sent me down here mate. Take it up with them.” Jaa said, putting on a voice of exasperation.
“C.O.?” The guard asked with a tone of bewilderment that made Jaa incredibly uneasy.
“C.O.?” He asked again,
“I’m the kriffing C.O.!”
Well, chit,
The voice in his mind sounded equal parts shocked and defeated.
That explains the blaster then.
Time to think of something now, Ardan.
“You’re the C.O.? Who the hell was that guy then?”
Thinking was not Jaa’s strong suit.
“Stay right there.” The balding guard said. He turned his head and pushed a button on the com console. Jaa’s stomach sank to his ass and his heart leapt to his throat. Jaa could hear a faint click from the console as a line of communication was opened.
Before Baldy could say a word, Jaa pulled the heavy duraplast baton from his belt and smashed it hard right onto the guard’s bald spot. A deeply sighed-grunt and a trickle of blood emanated from the man who was apparently made of far sterner stuff than Jaa ever would’ve guessed. The guard tried to say something but the words came out slurred and slow like the guy had a mouth full of honey.
What followed next was a brief but embarrassing struggle when Jaa literally dove onto the guard who had not been brained too hard to remember his blaster. The whole struggle lasted less than a minute and in that time Jaa managed to earn a swollen eye from an errant elbow, a bloody lip from a very purposeful fist, and a knot on his head from his own baton. In the end, however, Jaa was able to wrestle the blaster away from the guard. Two regretful pulls of the trigger later and Jaa was for the moment safe.
A crackling reminded him that the comms were still open. Jaa tossed the limp body of Baldy out of the way and knelt in front of the console. He buzzed the line and did his best to calm the situation.
"Everything's under control, situation normal!" Jaa said, trying to sound like he was telling the truth.
“What happened?” A tinny voice on the other end asked.
"Uh, had a slight weapons malfunction... but, uh, everything's perfectly alright now, we're fine, we're all... fine... here... now. Thank you. How are you?"
Jaa cringed. The voice on the other end offered to send a squad of guards down to see what was going on.
“Negative, negative…” Jaa said,
“There is a reactor leak. A minor one but everyone should stay clear.”
“Wait, who is this?” The tinny voice asked.
“What’s your badge number?”
Jaa picked up the blaster and fired at the console twice, leaving it a smoking ruin.
“Boring conversation anyway,” Jaa said to himself while rummaging through Baldy’s pockets looking for his key card. Once he found it Jaa scooped it up along with Baldy’s blaser, baton, and the baton Jaa brought on his own, stooped over the console, and using Baldy’s key card, Jaa deactivated the force field that kept the prisoner secure and rushed from the room.
Quickly Jaa was face to face with the man he’d come to see.
“Oy, mate, Not much time for a heartfelt, we’re gonna have company.” Jaa tossed one of the batons to Brandyn. Jaa kept the blaster for himself.
“Figured as a Jedi you’d be more comfortable with the non-lethal option. Although…” Jaa made a show of looking around the jail cell to make his point.
“...Maybe that don’t trouble you so much, anymore.”
Brandyn Sal-Soren
Jaa Ardan
, had come to kill Brandyn. 
