Threading the Needle

[Alkor Centaris]

Location: Kessel Sector, deep space

It was not uncommon for ships to group up in the Kessel sector around the time of the Kessel run. Many eager spacers, smugglers, and thrill seekers enjoyed watching as the daring attempted to make the quickest drop of spice under the nose of galactic authorities. They all enjoyed a great distance from any spatial anomalies, so the only real threat was when law enforcement decided to show up. Even that was rare since the event was never broadcast openly, instead passed across the galaxy by word of mouth. It was the perfect place for criminal acts and misdeeds.

As one of the more unstable attractions of the sector, the Maw hosted a collection of deadly black holes that ripped unfortunate and unsuspecting ships apart. Beyond that, it was home to some of the most well protected installations in the galaxy. Without the necessary skills, it was nearly impossible to navigate the darkness safely. Capital ships could barely make the pinpoint jumps and traverse the unstable hyperlanes to make their way into its heart.

That suited Alkor's purposes just fine.

For centuries, the idea of a supermax prison on a planet was to house the deadliest criminals of that world. Kiffex and its guardians boasted the most renown holding facility in all of the galaxy, but in the Maw was a prison where criminals not only went to die but to be forgotten. A collection of the deadliest known Dark Jedi in recent history had found its way into the Jen'jidai's hands very recently, courtesy of the Bothan Spynet. Sith and Jedi alike sent their most unsavory enemies to the penitentiary that seemingly existed only in whispers. Notorious criminals that disappeared from the pages of history also rotted within its walls, which meant that there was so much possibility holed up in one place.

It gave the Dark Jedi Order the ability to make a considerable number of friends at once, and also the leverage to call in multiple favors. In order to stabilize the system Alkor envisioned, he would need all of that and more.

But a movement that massive started with only a few.

Objectives!

1: (Infiltration and liberation) Enter the Maw Prison and free the criminals there.

1.5: (Optional) Destroy the station or cause it to malfunction so that it is uninhabitable until maintenance is done.

2: (Fleet) Protect the garrison while the Dark Jedi infiltrate and free the prisoners. Since the Imperial Remnant held the Maw for so long, a contingent of their fleet remains and will cause trouble if left to their own devices.

3: (Data Retrieval) There is an Imperial Research facility in the maw, not so far from the prison. If you choose to pursue this objective, you will need to create a story in which you slice the computer's defenses and extract the information. This could be a number of things, which will be left to the discretion of the writers.

4: (Hyperspace Travel) Somehow, the Imperial Remnant was able to utilize a hyperlane that did not break down due to the unstable nature of the Maw. Find a means by which to enter and exit the area, which can in turn be sold to the highest bidder, or used in the event of future need.

5: (Covering fire!) The people inside the installations will require someone to defend them against infantry and droid fire. This is your generic "Fight, fight, fight!" objective.

 

[Aedan Miles]

Aedan Miles lounged in the command chair of his personal Shinigami-class Destroyer holding his hand up the ship immediately dropped out of hyperspace just outside of the range of yet another black hole. Grumbling darkly the young Dark Jedi Master lifted his hand pointing to the right. "Transmit orders all ships are to jump 15 Degrees to the right for a quarter parsec." Aedan hated this part of flying in the Maw but they were nearing their target the first ones in would be him and his forces they would clear lanes to both installations so that the Brotherhood ground forces could land. Finally they dropped out of hyperspace right between both complexes the forces in space and on them surely surprised by their appearance as Aedan had been sure to use the least likely path he could find. Standing he gestured calmly and smiled. "I believe it is time to spill some blood. All fighters and gunships disembark and prepare for imminent space combat. Tell the Krayt to get her gravity wells online I want no one to leave or get word out about our presence. Also take out that ugly cruiser it offends me. Also send word to landing forces to begin their approach by the time they get here we should have this cleared."

[member="Alkor Centaris"]

 

[Verona Chroi]

The set up for this job had taken months. Money had changed hands, favors had been promised and called in so that by the end of it, she was sent to the most wretched facility in the galaxy as a guard.

The Maw.

The whole station smelled of death. Perhaps it was partly due to the pallor of the region, so close to the unending appetite of the Maw, consuming everything, that light went there to die in obscurity. Perhaps it was the death the criminals wore like shrouds of their own deeds, the pain and suffering they had caused weighing them down until their own demise completed the fabric.

She had been there, working on staggered shifts for weeks now. If the inmates were brutal, the guards were just as much so. There was a pecking order to them, something she had to demonstrate her ability to operate within. The first day, it was a senior warden slamming her face first into a wall in an effort to overpower her into a somewhat uncomfortable position. Instincts and adrenaline carried her muscle out and the man found himself spitting blood on the floor with teeth, while Verona stood over him with bruises forming on her arms in thick stripes where he had grabbed her.

The next time, it was group of them. She had been under orders to not reveal her powers or her affiliation but outnumbered in that situation, she didn't have a chance without it. She moved quick, quicker than a human. She hit hard, harder than a human and when the four men were unconscious on the floor, word began to spread that perhaps she wasn't human. There were any number of species in the galaxy that were just a tad more robust than humanity and those who questioned her only got the shrug of shoulders. By her cover story, she was raised on Onderon but didn't know who or where her parents were from.

The video of her summarily knocking all of them out from the security footage became a favorite mess hall clip and with it, Verona had earn a begrudging respect from the other guards and a measure of distance from those who would normally have breathed down her back. She did her job, by the book, and without complaint or question from the wardens. This allowed her to pick her duty stations, to be in position for the onslaught she knew would eventually come.

She was sitting in tower 4 this morning, watching the feeds and making her checks as she watched the headcount go on.

The fact that the prison was less than sanctioned did impact their budget some what and some things were dealt with manually by guards that in nicer, funded prisons were handled by sensors and devices. No one was going to spend that much money on these people.

She looked at the calendar a moment, her eyes flicking back to the screens. Time was up.

The door to the station opened with a click from the security system. It was her relief.

"Anything good?"

"Nope," she replied as she signed off on the log and stood from the chair. It was her turn to patrol now, her hands opening up the weapons locker to retrieve her gear for the walk of the gangways.

"Pity, I've been bored as feth lately." The tall Zabrak slid into the empty chair and signed into the logs.

There was a chuckle tugging her mouth at the corners.

"Maybe today will be your lucky day." She clicked off the safety on her weapons as she headed out of the station room.

'In fact, I'm sure it is,' she thought to herself as she headed down the hall towards the wing of her patrol.

[member="Aedan Miles"] [member="Alkor Centaris"]