Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Sky Sailing

Ah, here it was. A beautiful cruise ship, just made to be robbed! Zandra could practically feel the jewels in her hands, and around her neck, and on her fingers, and on her head, and- What was the point again? Oh, right. Beautiful cruise ship. Lots of rich weirdos. And not just that, but this cruise ship just happened to be displaying one of the most extensive rare gem collections in the Galaxy. They'd have everything from rubies, to loose diamonds, to entire jewelry sets on display for these rich weirdos to admire and bid on.
And Zandra wanted it. Not for herself, of course. What use did she have for pretty jewelry? Who was she going to wear it for? Her husband was probably dead, and she certainly wasn't lookin' to re-marry any time soon. Nah. Now that her husband was gone, she had all of clan Tal'verda to provide for. A jewel collection like this was more than enough to feed and clothe the clan for generations! Not to mention the rare furs and trinkets she could take from the passengers as well. Yes sir, this was certainly a job worth taking.

Now the only problem was the security. This was no ordinary cruise ship. This was a place where ya had to already be someone to even get in the front door. Zandra had looked at it from all angles. She couldn't use her normal trick of dressing up in the one nice dress she owned, wearing some (really good) fake jewels and calling herself Mrs. stuffy-pants the third. Nah. They'd know the instant she attempted to come by a ticket. That, of course, left only one option. Staff. If there was one thing Zandra knew from her years waitressing, it was that nobody ever noticed the help. In fact, people did everything they could to avoid noticing the help. Worked in Zandras advantage in this case.

It had taken some convincing, and many strings pulled, and some bribery, but she'd managed to get herself, most of her crew, and even Keter Mason hired for this voyage, under false names, of course.

The plan was simple. Once the vessel had entered hyperspace, Zandra would meet with her crew. Keter would pose as a guard, giving him access to the weapons vault. He'd sneak them in, they'd get what they need, and then the show would begin. Zandras first mate would lock down the bridge and make an announcement overhead for all passengers to meet in the ballroom so that bidding could start. Once they'd gathered, Zandras crew would work to distract staff with a few well timed 'disasters'. Flooding in the kitchens, a few small fires, etc. Zandra and a few others would go to the ballroom, lock it down, and take control.
While the cruise ship is in hyperspace, it's near impossible to send a distress call. Zandra and company will take the treasure, put it in escape pods and launch the instant they exit hyperspace. And once it finally reaches it's destination, Zandras ship, along with the rest of the crew, will be waiting to collect.

It was foolproof. As long as everything went perfectly according to plan and they timed everything exactly.

....
Yes. Just like everything always went. Well, even if Zandra's plans didn't always work, things often worked out for her in the end. Usually. She called it Lady Lucks Love. She said she was kissed by the goddess of luck. Things just happened, and Zandra usually always came out on top.

Today, Zandra was feeling lucky again. She pushed a cart down a long hall heading back towards the kitchens. Her black maid uniform was itchy and uncomfortable. Or was it just that she was missing that extra weight her knives usually gave her? Either way, she could not wait to be out of this dress and back into her normal clothes. Seriously, if the way to make an honest living was to dress like this every day, then Zandra was glad she wasn't honest.

[member="Keter"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"]
 
The Starbloom was quite an impressive vessel. Even the most basic fixtures were plated with precious metals, and liveried staff were available for the passengers' every whim. Speaking of the passengers, calling them filthy rich might be doing them a disservice: they were clearly much better off than that. Money was nothing to them, they might buy a ship full of rare goods with a wave of their hand, then sell it the next instant. They cared nothing of legalities here onboard, some of the glimpses Audren had seen when walking the corridors had caused him to thoroughly revise his idea of the idle rich.

The Sephi Jedi was here guarding one of those rich people. Unlike many of the others present, he seemed to be a legitimately nice person when away from the rest of the gentry. Even he had his quirks though: he'd insisted on purchasing the Sephi a new wardrobe for the journey. Some tripe about how even bodyguards were better dressed than he was. As a result, the Padawan's clothing was of a finer cut and material than anything he'd ever owned. Thankfully, it didn't come close to what the aristocrats were wearing. Some of their clothing looked downright painful, not to mention gaudy, revealing, and restricting. Still, the Sephi's clothing was loose enough for the two shivs concealed up his sleeves, and the two vibroknives at the small of his back under a tunic. Outwardly, he didn't look the part of a bodyguard, which he assumed was the point. Most of the other bruisers were easily identifiable as such, while he could have been an administrative aide.

Audren couldn't tell why he was here. Outside of the obvious - orders to protect his charge - it wasn't clear. There was nothing but polite niceties in the words the other rich spoke to his charge. Sometimes the words concealed verbal razors, but the elder human was an expert fencer in that regard. No, Audren had explicitly been told he was here to prevent physical harm. He followed unobtrusively behind the man, barely glanced at by the others but examined all the more closely for it. And yet something was off. The human wasn't what he seemed, and it wasn't just him. Maybe the Sephi was imagining things, maybe he'd seen something his conscious mind missed, maybe it was the fledgling touch of the Force that he'd just learned about days before leaving for the assignment. Whatever it was, it had him on edge.
 
Jewels and fancy clothes disgusted Kerri...

So why was she here?

In her thick, casual, working outfit, the terrelian jango jumper went across the ship researching. Researching what? Holding her data pad in her hand, filling in information, the young woman paused to push her sunglasses up. The caramel haired girl had gotten on board with the help of... and old... 'friend.' who had helped her out of what had been quite to predicament the last time they met, years ago. he was a rich and well known man, he had let miss Aislinn on board as his personal body guard, knowing her inner fighter quite well. She was a member of the Obisidian Order, but she didn't want to make it look like they were involved, so her armor and Obsidian lightsaber were locked away in her chambers. As of now, she had her main lightsaber hidden on her back, just in case harm came their way. The man was named Merry Deffth, an elder chap who was still looking after his physical fitness. The brown togruta was crazy about health and physical fitness, but considering what he went through, something he explained in a rainy ally so long ago, it all made sense to Kerri.

While caring for the elder togruta was a high concern for her, she did not forget the real reason she was here. She was curious on all the jewels and diamonds, their properties could be as of use as power, fuel, or even weapons. Aislinn was observing a red diamond type material and writing the properties she knew of down. Merry was right next to her, sipping punch while talking merrily to more people. He was probably the nicest person on this ship, not like the others obsessed with their beautiful fortunes. Aislinn chuckled, actually thankful that she was stuck with him again.
 
Usa'ar was in a love/hate relationship with this job. On the plus side, he was getting a ton of credits for piloting this cruise ship for all these rich snobs. On the other side, he had to put up with all these rich snobs. Unceasingly, some immaculately dressed citizen would demand to be let into the bridge and be given a tour or some other odd request. And time and time again, Usa'ar would send a technician to tell them politely to screw off. Not exactly the nicest way to put things, but he didn't need so many distractions. With so many credits on the line, he needed to focus on getting the ship from point A to point B as fast and as smoothly as possible.

Usa'ar didn't have the time nor patience for any other issues besides wealthy, entitled, pests. Grumbling to himself, Usa'ar ordered the techs to once more scan the ship for any anomalies. This cruise would go smoothly.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"][member="Kerri Aislinn"][member="Audren Sykes"]
 

Keter

The Renegade
Dressed in the fanciest clothing he had ever worn (better than his wedding tux - Feena would never forgive him that one), Keter Mason stood as still as a statue at his post. He was not obviously armed, politely ignoring all the guests as they walked past him. They paid him no mind either. He may as well have been part of the furniture. But then again, that was security's job - stand in an unobtrusive position, ready to intervene at a moment's notice. So far, this little "favor" was turning out to be a walk in the park. In fact, the renegade force user had taken to idly inspecting all the guests he could see, picking out little details. It was a good test of his observational skills.

Zandra ran a tight heist. This was certainly a lot cleaner and more efficient than his usual methods. Not that those were without merit. Still, he would keep to his post near the main hall until they were ready to move. Zandra had the message frequency for his optics, so she could ping him when she needed him to start. He just had to get the crew into the armory, sneaky like. After that...well, she hadn't specified, but he figured his part would be over. He would stay out of sight and mind unless called upon. Which, knowing Zandra, wouldn't happen. She knew him. She knew what would happen if she had to have him fight.

The ship would go down.

And that was far too high profile for her liking.

Biting back a sigh and flexing his calf muslces, he continued to stand and stare and wait.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"]
 
"Oh, excuse me," Zandra said peeking into the kitchen. Her accent had changed from the rough spacers slang, to nearly a corellian accent. In truth, it was actually a lot closer to the way she'd been raised to speak, so it came on quite naturally.

"Room 246 has requested the bantha steak with a side salad," she called, "Is it ready yet? I just got yelled at on my way back because he said it was taking too long."

One of the cooks snorted so loudly she could swear they would hear it on the third floor.

"What? Does he think we just have all this pre-cooked and ready to go? It takes time!" the cook snapped, throwing something on a plate. She watched him pause, stare down at it, and she knew he was contemplating spitting on it. Oh, she wished he would. Zandra was being reminded more and more by the second why she'd chosen pirating as her career of choice. People, especially privileged folk, were nasty.

Zandra crossed the kitchen to fetch the plate.
"And the salad?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at the fuming chef.

"Just throw some cold lettuce on the plate and say it came all the way from Kashyyyk or something," he shrugged, "All lettuce tastes the same."

And that was just what Zandra did. He had a valid point. People seemed to think automatically something tastes better if it sounds more exotic. If she just spiced it up with her words, they'd buy it in an instant.

She left, dropping off the covered tray to the angry mister shiny-head with a few flowery lies about the quality of his meal, then went off to make her final delivery.

Three chimes echoed throughout the ship, followed by a very plesant sounding female voice.

"Attention all passengers! Please make your way to the ballroom at this time. Bidding will begin in twenty minutes.

Zandra grinned and pushed her cart to the elevator. It was starting. Once she was inside and alone, she reached into the tiny pocket on her apron for her communicator to send the signal straight to Keters private frequency. He'd know where to meet her.

[member="Keter"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="Audren Sykes"]
 
There. Everything was proceeding nicely so far. No intrusions, no malfunctions, no pirates. The escort fighters reported clear radars. The auction was about to start, and it should be smooth sailing from then on. Usa'ar sighed with relief and stood up out of the captain's chair. Assigning his assistant to take over, Usa'ar stretched and decided to walk around the ship a bit. He always liked to get a feel for every ship he flew, and one as big as this certainly would have some interesting places and people.

Usa'ar reached over to sling his DC-18 rifle over his shoulder; then he remembered that the cruise's policy was against assault weapons on board, and he had to leave it behind with his droid and ship. Merde, he thought to himself. He never felt quite safe without it. It had come in handy many times before. Luckily, with his captain's privileges, he was able to sneak his pistol and knife aboard without any trouble. Usa'ar's travels had taught him to never travel unarmed.

Exiting the bridge, he took a stroll around the clean corridors, past rushing techs and astromechs. This ship really was huge. Usa'ar gave himself about a half hour to explore and then he would head back. Maybe he would check out the auction and see all the fancy items he would never be able to afford. Lots of fun.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Keter"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="Audren Sykes"]
 
Forces

Kerkov looked at the holoscreen that lay before him. On it were the entirety of the Open Circle Armada. Every base, trading post, fleet, and brigade. He was coordinating every movement that the Armada would be making. Currently the 1st and 2nd fleet were under his direct command, scouting out this route to see if it was safe from pirates for trade. The 4th fleet was spread thin, trading all over the galaxy. The 3rd fleet was using it's fleet elements protecting each ship from the 4th fleet during their trade missions. The 1st brigade was stationed on ships, in case of boarding attacks, 2nd brigade was stationed on Terminus, protecting the homebase, and the Terminisians. And finally the 3rd brigade was on Polis Massa, practicing operations.

It had begun to bore him, so many soldiers and sailors to command and order. It was a very stressful job. He turned up his commlink, contacting Captain Nublar, the captain of the lead ship of the Armada, The Onslaught.

"Captain, how goes the journey up on the bridge?"

​"Sir, there has been no interference between any of our, or ahead ships in the hyperlane. All clear on the bridge."

"Contact me the instant something is out of the ordinary."

"Yes sir."

Kerkov turned off the screen, giving his eyes a break. He was beginning to weary, on the job. Kerkov opened his front pocket on his uniform, in it was a selection of Cigarras. Without thought he took one, lighting it on the way to his lower lip. With a puff he breathed in some of the addicting smoke. Kerkov would soon be back to doing his way of Naval Warfare

[member="Usa'ar Obath"] [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] @Keter @Kerri Aislinn [member="Audren Sykes"]
 

Keter

The Renegade
Something flashed in the blond's vision.

Showtime!

Keter kept his face blank as he smoothly moved, abandoning his post and striding with purpose out of the hall, keeping as close to the wall as he could. The corridors were rapidly becoming busier and busier as people flocked to the ballroom. With some creativity, they could trap everyone there and have free reign of the ship. That would qualify as a hostage situation though, and probably bring down a whole heap of trouble onto their heads. Something Keter didn't mind, but he knew Zandra was a professional. As a fellow professional, he wouldn't mess up her little plan. Once something did go wrong however...

...well, he'd have some fun.

He would enter the armoury corridor five minutes ahead of Zandra, and open the vault. He estimated it to take five minutes, so the doors should be opening the minute the PIrate Queen arrived. Something about the timing appealed to his theatrical self. He bit back a grin, maintaining his calm facade as he wound his way through the tangled web of corridors, his eyes keeping track of his progress. The vault was guarded by a pair of outside hires - security not native to the ship. A pair of mercenaries known as Gary and Geoff. Calm and stoic, Gary wore something that may have once been stormtrooper armour lined with red, whilst Geoff wore the same lined with blue. Keter had wasted no time in assigning them suitably colourful nicknames and irking them at every opportunity.

The duo saw him walking towards them, almost sighing in unison. "What do you want?" Gary asked, the blaster rifle in his hands moving up to cover him. Keter just smiled as he leapt forwards, startling the guard. His hand lashed out, palm smacking into Gary's chin and snapping his head back and sneding him crashing into the wall behind. Geoff swung his elbow into Keter's head, and something cracked. The ex-Sith's grin grew wider as he delivered a thunderous punch to the other man's midsection, knocking the wind out of him. He then quickly grabbed Geoff's head and drove it down to meet a knee. The guard slumped to the floor unconscious, the helmet he wore cracked.

Gary staggered back onto his feet in time to recieve a kick to his groin. Keter felt some bones in his foot shatter as he drove the codpiece up into the man's body. Gary squealed as the edges of the armour plate cut into his flesh and sank to the floor in shock.

Well...he certainly hadn't lost his edge...now for the lock.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="William Kerkov"]
 
In all honesty, Audren was getting bored. Moving from one place to another required some focus, but all the socializing - none of it involving the Sephi - was inane. Even such an uncultured person as himself could discern that having a bodyguard or aides was a sign of status here. He could only check the members of the room so many times though, and staring at nothing was even worse than being caught looking at one of the other people. He couldn't even check his weapons to occupy himself, he had to be a wallflower. Fortunately, right around the time he was losing his cool, three chimes sounded and a female voice came over the intercom.

"Attention all passengers! Please make your way to the ballroom at this time. Bidding will begin in twenty minutes."

There was an immediate burst of energy in the room. This was one of the main reasons most of these people were here, and by extension those with them like Audren. The bodyguard for the other group was first out the door, followed by his charges. Audren preceded the old man, and then fell into place a step behind and to the side of his own charge as they made their way to the ballroom. On a ship this large, it would take them at least five minutes to arrive. More likely ten, given the place would soon hold 85% of the vessels' population.

For all his inexperience, Audren was good with details. When the two of them passed a station where there had always previously been a guard, he took note. Given that all the other security guards were on-location meant it wasn't so much a cause for worry, just something to take note of. And he wasn't the only one taking note, a few subtle glances revealed others also glancing from the guard post around to the surrounding people. Nothing came of it. The Padawan's timing prediction had been spot on though, as the two of them walked in about nine minutes after they'd left. It took another six to key the old man's datapad to the bidding computer and find themselves a spot to observe the items.

The anticipation here was almost palpable, but through it Audren managed to keep his head. He and the old man weren't far from one of the exits, which would eliminate the crowd as threat and collateral damage. However, they weren't far off from where the objects were displayed. Not the screens, the actual objects. That had been the old man's doing, his insistence. The reasoning, what the Sephi could hear of it, hadn't made all that much sense, so he'd shrugged and accepted it as one of the vagaries of the ultra-rich.



[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"] [member="Keter"] [member="William Kerkov"]​
 
[member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Keter"] [member="William Kerkov"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"] [member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

The crowd was so... crowded... Kerri was getting anxious.

No! No people! Please? None the less, she was still bumping into people. When her shades dropped, someone yapping that she had to watch where she was going, she realized she had even lost the person she came with! Oh no...

She called his name, but no one answered. Kerri was panicking now, heavy breaths escaping her lungs. She took a single step back in the crowd... just to run into someone.
 
The pirate pushed the cart and large, covered tray along down the hall, looking from room to room as she walked, as if looking for a specific room to make her delivery- until the crowd finally cleared and Zandra could make a dash for it. She hurried along, skidding to a halt right in front of two very unconscious (or dead. Zandra didn't care to check) guards.

"Ah, Mistah Mason," the Pirate grinned, kicking the foot of one of them out of the way, "Right on time. Enthusiastic as ever about your work, I see. Good. Good."

She wheeled the tray closer, lifting the lid to show him exactly where she'd be hiding the bulk of the weaponry. For a ship like this, she and her crew only needed a few good guns. They had the element of surprise on their side. And some clever planning never hurt either.

"A'right. Let's get to work."


[member="Keter"]
 

Keter

The Renegade
The rattling of wheels made Keter look up from the lock he was busy manipulating. Ah. Zandra. Slightly ahead of schedule. Dammit. The chip he had inserted into the electronic lock had done it's job well (Zandra knew her slicers), but the actual solid state lock had been a surprise. Not one he couldn't deal with of course. His eyes could see the gentle inner workings, and his brow furrowed as he concentrated again, moving the pins and tumblers with the force. Such precise construction. It was kind of beautiful. He ignored the woman for a minute until he was done staring at the lock, straightening up and reaching out to spin the wheel on the bulkhead open.

"I apologise for the delay. There was a double lock." He could have lightsabered it open of course, but that would have been to crass ("No sabers!" Zandra had snapped at him two days ago in response to his direct suggestion). He pulled the bulkhead open for her, wisely choosing not to comment on the ridiculous cliche she was playing into. Honestly. Weapons in a food cart? Why not just wear white and black striped shirts and carry bags with credit signs on them while they were at it?

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]
 
Usa'ar whistled as he strolled down the corridor. It felt good to be out of the bridge for a change. He had meant to go check out the auction, but upon seeing the dense crowd, packed into the room with little leftover space, Usa'ar decided to just walk around the ship and see how all the teams were doing. Everything was operating to its full potential. Engines were sound, hyperdrive was new, communications array was running. The last place Usa'ar had on his checklist was checking the guard posts. There weren't too many guards on the ship, but the few that were assigned had better be doing their jobs.

A couple guards were stationed outside the auction hall, a couple by the bridge, the engines, and the armory. Usa'ar had visited all the guards except for those at the armory. They were all geared up and reported no signs of intrusion. The armory was all that was left. He was headed there now.

@Keter @Zandra Tal'verda [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="William Kerkov"]
 
"What they got?" she asked, hoping that she could find some sort of blade to use.
Leaving her babies behind had been hard. She always carried her blades on her, even when she was just hitting up a cantina for a drink or two. But of course, the strict no weapons policy had made it impossible to smuggle them on board.

Ugh. If she had to use a blaster, she might honestly just slip into the kitchen and snatch one of the knives from under the chefs nose. He probably wouldn't care, even if he did notice. That man was so over this job she was half tempted to offer him a spot on her crew. It had been a long time since she'd had a decent meal out in space. Might not be a bad idea, actually...

[member="Keter"]
 

Keter

The Renegade
Keter looked from Zandra to the armoury and back again. "Eh?" he asked, somewhat taken aback. What, could she not see the racks of wepaons on dispaly? Swords, knives, guns, blasters...this ship seemed ready for anything. THe blond glanced back at the armory. Actually...that was enough to outfit a small mercenary army...

Hmm...

Keter shrugged. Not his problem. He was sure Zandra would have told him if something like that was a potential complication.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]
 
Ah! this was going to work. Zandra grinned and went to check the stock herself.

"Woah! They expectin' a war?" she snorted, picking up a long blade and running her fingers carefully down the edge. Sharp. Ready. Very odd, actually. Why would the armory be this stocked on a cruise ship. Made Zandra quite... suspicious.

"Well, Keke, grab what ya can," she said motioning for him to help her move the good stuff. She picked up two short blades and stuck both carefully inside each boot. Ah, that felt better. And perhaps a small blaster couldn't kill her either. And the long blade. It was nice. Not really all that useful in this situation, but... she couldn't really explain it. She just liked it. Reminded her of training with her sister...

[member="Keter"]
 
Usa'ar turned the corner to the armory hallway and stopped in his tracks. The two guards that should've been standing tall, blocking the entrance were instead sprawled on the floor, unconscious or possibly dead. Quickly crouching and pressing himself against the wall, Usa'ar fished his pistol out of his pack and clicked the safety off. What the heck happened here? Intruders? Pirates? How did we not know they came aboard? Usa'ar stared down the sights of the weapon, slowly moving along the wall to the door. He heard voices inside. It sounded like bantering.

Usa'ar reached the edge of the doorway. Alert the ship first. Then face the intruders. Usa'ar sent a quick explanation of what had occurred to the bridge and to the security teams on their respective comm channels. They would organize a security team that was much better equipped than he.His helmet should block the noise of his voice to the infiltrators. Usa'ar decided to take a few shots through the doorway, close the door itself, having it auto-lock in the process, and then run back to the bridge. Taking a deep breath, Usa'ar pointed the pistol through the door and squeezed the trigger seven times, spraying the armory. Not the safest tactic, but there were times when playing safe would actually wind up killing you. Quickly slamming his hand into the door controls to send the door down, Usa'ar took the time he created to sprint back down the hallway, past the bodies of the two guards.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Keter"]
 

Keter

The Renegade
"You would know," Keter shrugged, noting her apparent surprise. Either she didn't know, or she was trying to act as if she didn't. Why? To surprise him? To keep her crew calm? He could imagine everyone panicking if they realized they were hitting a smuggling operation and hijacking cargo. BUt then again, it would make sense for her to hire him for this. He twitched at the nickname she used. Just like Feena. How long had it been?

"So you doing this quiet or loud?" he double checked. Never hurt to make sure the plan hadn't changed. The blond stepped into the armoury, picking out a few blades for himself as well as a pistol and a rifle. Variety was always one of his favourite things.

And then shots came through the doorway. Keter yelped in surprise and dived for cover.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Usa'ar Obath"]
 
Oh great. A big damn hero! With a blaster. How the kriff did he get one? All weapons were confiscated at the door! Zandra cursed and ducked for cover.

"Keter! This is why I hired you! Go get him. I gatta book it if I'm gunna make this work!"

If there was anyone that could take down this wanna-be hero, it was Keter. Nice guy, but Zandra always knew that he was the kinda guy you wanted to be on your side and not the other way around. Boarderline suicidal, this one, crazy. That's what made him a great asset.

"Looks like we got ourselves a hero, fellas!" she called into her comms, firing a few shots out at [member="Usa'ar Obath"], "I'll meet ya guys at the doors. We're startin' a bit early."

[member="Keter"] [member="Audren Sykes"] [member="Kerri Aislinn"] [member="William Kerkov"]
 

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