Spy Versus Spy Among the Rocks

[Peyton Steele]

It never failed, right? Something always needed to be done. And that was why Peyton Steele had been pulled from her posting on Coruscant, so quickly after being put there. The Alliance needed her elsewhere, and that meant she was getting a new ship as well. It was a nice ship, from what she had seen, but it didn’t really matter. No, what mattered was where she was being sent.

A location called ‘The Jaunt.’ She’d heard of it in passing, a few reports here another few there. It was a mining facility, but more than that, it was a whole damned processing center. Mining asteroids, people living in and around it, and stuck way between two worlds. The Jaunt wasn’t on any major hyperspace trail, but the asteroids were, for all reports she had been handed, very full of a lot of different materials.

When she was given the assignment, she jumped to claim it. But that was before she looked at the map. Where was this place? Right, yeah, see that big gap of nothing in the Mid Rim between Yag’Dhul, Delta IV, and Kooriva? The place where sane person would chose to explore? That was where she was going.

And what was she going for? Reports had come in that the Final Order, or some Imperial group had been located there. And the Alliance knew the resources could go to a very good use within their own ranks. Alliance personnel, from Intel, to the Jedi, all walks, were being sent and a Rebel fleet was being massed near SullustYag’dhul. She was supposed to meet with beings at this complex, and scout out, find and stop any and all Imperial presence.


OOC: This is open for any version of people who consider themselves involved in the Alliance, or some version of those Imperium new kids on the block. The premise is simple. Asteroid base, like “The Expanse” show is set up, corporate owned, poor, and very gritty. Trying a spy-versus-spy kind of idea, with the world being open to interpretation. So jump on in, lets have some fun.

 

[Peyton Steele]

As we said, Peyton Steele was being given a ship, one of the first off the line. There was an attempt made to take Coren Starchaser’s ShortFin and produce it for select beings. Intelligence agents, ambassadors and the like who need to get in and out somewhere quickly, quietly and cleanly. The Shadow Transport was something of a lightweight compared to the systems on the ShortFin and she was looking through the specs.

She wasn’t going to arrive in the Jaunt for another hour and that gave her plenty of time to use for her own ship orientation. Now when she got aboard, it was really very simple, your run of the mill ship, one that didn’t cloak, but instead relied on archaic technology to frak with sensors.

The paint itself was a matte black and gunmetal, something that wouldn’t reflect search lights, but if they did see it, well, they’d see the ship. Modified engines were put on board in order to make sure the ship remained stealth and she had seen the holo of one of the others being tested.

It meant she was going to be flying slower, but she never needed to be in a hurry, and if she did? Well, she wasn’t doing her job right.

The manual was pretty good, she’d have to continue reading it for another few posts, but she was getting the ship’s telltale warning of real space reversion. And she was finding herself in the cockpit shortly after, greeting the star scape and asteroids of the Jaunt.

What was that area with the bright lights? Doesn’t look like a work zone. She’d have to check it out, see who was living there.

And figure out what other Alliance folk were being sent out to this scrap of nowhere. She smiled as she pulled her ship, so far not given a name aside from Shadow 1 and probably going to be called something like Ghost Runner, once it was fully hers.

As the ship touched down, the blonde stepped from the boarding ramp, dressed as a space, crossed with an agent’s. Black hood, light body armor, for blasters and the like, under a tunic. She looked around, blue eyes tracking the halls. Right, this place was a dump. Bright lights, tall buildings but down here? On the streets? Below the airspeeder? That was a mess, it was her kind of mess, the people who knew who were in charge, and from there, she could get to work. She patted her chest to make sure her blaster was underneath, her stun baton obvious on her hip.

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino was here. Or rather, his alter ego was here. Criminal slicer and dubious bounty hunter Vaal Nost. Short cut hair. Tattoos. Completely different appearance and walk. Hidden Force signature. Just another traveler coming through and passing by in the near future. Nobody to bother paying attention to or getting to know. Clothes too poor and rough to bother trying to sell to. So most he passed in these corridors ignored him. But he certainly didn't ignore them. No, he was feeling their emotions and thoughts as he passed. He was searching for two things. Allusions to the Imperium and anything relating to Thyria's kidnapping from Vandelhelm. The Imperium was just from a briefing he had gotten from the Underground of an Alliance intelligence operation that dabbled in their territory.

He had a lead on Thyria though. Someone of her description had been seen in the company of three humans in this location. It had been a while ago, but it was all he had. Hopefully there would be new leads or maybe even she'd be here. If she was, those kidnappers would regret having ever seen her. But not for long, because they'd be dead. No torture or gloating the way a Sith would do it. No. it'd be quick and efficient and then they'd move on. Back to Sullust perhaps, or more likely Susefvi. It was time to go home, see how negotiations between the Jensaarai and Alliance had gone. Hopefully he wouldn't walk into a civil war.

He paused at the corner of an intersection. He sensed something in the Force. Someone was trying to hide something. Which one was it though? That one, the Trandoshan lurking in the alley opposite of him. That was worth investigating.

 

[Odelia Starchaser]

She was the calm one so intelligence gathering could be the other skill she developed to work for the Alliance. there was little danger here and Coren in his infinite wisdom advised that this place would help her with acclimating her eyesight to normal rather than to that of the ships.

She could not argue the point, here she stood with dark glasses covering her eyes the brightness of the sun blaring down on her. For a brief moment she took the glasses off it was painful she tilted her head down to avoid the penetrating rays, then with a deep breath she replaced them and began to walk. there were several points of contact that had bee developed here and she was going to meet with a group that might have something to provide, or they'd be providing her with exercise which she also needed.

She carried one blaster, displayed prominently to help deter anyone who might think her an easy target. She smiled and could smell the wares of vendors all along the street, this would also put to the test her ability to say no to foods that she should avoid. But that savory aroma made her stomach growl.

[member="Veino Garn"] [member="Peyton Steele"]

 

[Peyton Steele]

She was going to need to start getting ears on the ground, really. The blonde did a few things really well, and one of them was listening. She ran a hand through her long blonde hair and slowly tied it back in a ponytail. The hood of her tunic was pulled up over her head as she needed to blend in a bit. Blonde hair and bright blue eyes weren’t exactly the best way to blend into anywhere.

That was why she liked the ship she was given, it was inconspicuous. Sure, it had a sleek look, but she was in intelligence, of course a ship was going to have a 007 feel to it. It was inspired by one o Coren Starchaser’s ships, and a ship used nearly 5000 years ago. That meant the Shadow Transport was designed to sneak into worlds, and give the agent in command a bit of a luxury ship to fly. But she was designed for so much more.

The blonde looked back at the ship, and that matte paint it had. Sure, it was gray and black, but it was also very flat. That meant even in the lights of the corporate buildings, there was very little in the way of reflection. Even the transparisteel was modified. Search lights could see the thing, but they’d be hard pressed to see it in any obvious fashion.

She was listening to the people coming and going as she walked through the market, looking to find the right kind of trading posts. These flea markets always had that one person who looked a bit more rough and tumble, sometimes they sold knives but actually had guns, others sold tee-shirts with wolves on it, but also sold guns.

She was looking for the person who openly sold guns and information.

[member="Odelia Starchaser"]
[member="Veino Garn"]

 

[Raziel]

This wood grain was intimately familiar to these fingers. His hand ran a few inches down the thick beam at the centre of the door until it reached the cold rough metal of the old handle. A surprisingly gentle push and huge oak door swung outwards. He walked out into the long flagstone corridor outside his chambers. The ancient mansion had been in his family for millennia, kept as close to the original fixtures and fittings as possible.

One of the changes, enforced by the current left wing government he so despised, was the sensor controlled lighting. He could afford the energy, why should he be forced to fit such ridiculous measures?

That the lights on the corridor stay off irked him. There was also a silence that hung in the air, tangible in its depth. The big old house almost always kept up a quiet hubbub of background noise from the large staff on site. He paused for a moment, feeling a shift in the air. Turning back over his shoulder he saw nothing in the shadows. Someone must have opened a window, he decided.

As he turned around he sensed, rather than saw, the pair of pale, slender hands that appeared on either side of his head. They moved in a blur and then there was a sharp sudden pain across his neck and his head was yanked backwards. His fingers clawed at his own neck as he tried to cry out in desperation. A hollow sort of terror settled in his gut as he realised what was happening. His fingers found no purchase on the garrotte that was already lodged deep in his throat. They came away slick with his own blood. Some part of his mind felt the warmth running down his chest, but he fixated on the dark patches appearing across his vision. He was dying. Dying. That hollow dread turned icy cold. His throat convulsed quickly as he went into shock and his body tried and failed to gulp down air quickly. Just a gurgle and a throaty rattle. This was actually it… this was the…

Emerald eyes snapped open suddenly. Raziel looked around as he tried to reorient himself in the present and to recall who he was. Not that there was much left to recall. A blank canvas onto which he painted the expectations of those around him. He was the perfect infiltrator, the ultimate chameleon. But it came at cost. He integrated those thoughts and emotions so instinctively into his own behaviour that they burrowed themselves deep into his psyche. Every night he was haunted by memories that were not his own. The powerful ones always percolated to the surface. And what was more powerful that the realisation of one's own impending death? And Raziel had killed many, many people. Perhaps it was some solace for the dead that they haunted him still. Did they sit there in netherworld watching him toss in his sleep, he wondered.

His desk job at Bothawui could not be maintained. He knew that now. He had to get back out into the field, keep himself occupied with increasingly challenging tasks. Recently on Coruscant he had nearly met his end at the hands of [member="Ashin Varanin"] and [member="Spencer Jacobs"]. It had been… thrilling. He craved new challenges, new risks to be analysed, weighed up and defeated. Maybe perhaps find the one that ended his pitiful existence? He had developed something of an obsession with the godlike pair. Could he pull them into his Web, tie them up in strings and make them dance? Could he make them a part of his games? Perhaps. But for now he had other challenges.

Fledging intelligence agencies had the advantage of being small, tight knit groups. Cracks were hard to find and easily noticed if exploited. On the other hand they lacked the mathematical genius and massive resources deployed by spynet to break cryptographic conundrums. Vibrations had started to read the centre of his web. A conflict brewing between two diametrically opposed forces on the Techno Union border. Old fashioned ground work. Just what he needed. He would have both sides dancing to his tune in short order.



[member="Peyton Steele"]
[member="Odelia Starchaser"]
[member="Veino Garn"]
[member="Kira Corsai"]

 

[Peyton Steele]

The ship had a few more bells and whistles, she was starting to understand. The special engines, the stealth systems, but beyond that? The weapons were mounted like they were on Commander Starchaser’s ship. Yeah, maybe most weren’t supposed to know about that prototype, but Peyton knew it existed. It was her job, being part of the intelligence department.

But the ship carried its weapons internally. It helped decrease the cross-section on the radar as it allowed the ship’s shell to carry the shape it needed to start breaking down the radar reflection. It was far from perfect, and when push came to shove, the ship needed to boost its way out of a situation typically by going full throttle and opening the weapon’s package.

She was hoping that the location was as secure as it was advertised. She made her way through the flea market, pretending to shop for wares, and watching for any tails she might pick up. So far, it was fine, but one never knew, especially if that [member="Raziel"] man was around.

Not that Peyton knew the name, just that they weren’t far from TU space, and they did employ the SpyNet.

 

[Veino Garn]

Veino ambled through the intersection, pausing to study the wares at the various booths, circling around and examining each item. The Trandoshan remained in the alley, watching for something. Very odd, as they were hardly known for their subtlety. A tool more likely, or perhaps a pawn. Unless he was bait for something or someone. There was, according to some people, only one way to find out. That was hardly true. Observation was sometimes just as effective. So he took a seat at a table, gesturing to the droid to come for his order, which he did.

Now that was accomplished, it was time for the most interesting part of espionage. Waiting and patience. He lounged in his chair, studying a datapad and taking small drinks. Crowds milled around and flowed back and forth, but his target remained lingering. Veino could sense the impatience from here. Something appeared to have either not gone as planned or someone had chosen a poor operative. Either was possible.

But he would continue to wait, for now. He noticed a woman wearing dark glasses and with a blaster pistol. There was something oddly familiar about her, but he couldn't place her for some reason.

[member="Peyton Steele"] @Raziel @Odelia Starchaser