White Lies

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][member="Dakita Calfur"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They had been on Byss for a long while now, checking out the joint and what they saw was interesting to say the least. Titan was busy pulling out of there, the Sith were busy taking over things and there were already conflicts brewing up between the two giants.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But ya always could get in and snipe things, if ya knew how.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Point was, these two were really busy with comparing hydrospanners, posturing and trying to get the better deal outta everything. But that ain’t how you go along with these things, or at least that’s not how it’s supposed to go.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Those Titan personnel… they cared more about their lives than they cared about their company though, so instead of wiping everything and destroying things like lunatics, they were hoping to use it as a bargaining chip.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Try to buy safe passage off the world from the Sith.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Would it work?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Maybe, but Khal didn’t really care, he was here for more important things.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“You ready for this?” he would mumble over to Dak.[/SIZE]

 

[Armand Temi]

“Sure, Bossman. Bring it on. Whatever you say. I’m here to help." Dak rattled these lines off without much enthusiasm. She was examining her datapad as she stood next to her employer, doing some pretty intense holonet shopping right now which required all of her focus.

And as usual the light-pink zeltron had no idea exactly what was going on or what she needed to be doing in all of it. But luckily, she knew all of Malvern’s favorite platitudes and used them often enough that he could probably tell when she wasn’t paying attention. She would be able to help him, but he would need to give her very specific, dumbed-down instructions so she wouldn’t be able to kark it up.

She knew they were on Byss. And Dakita being quite provincial and more familiar with the Outer Rim planets or Wild Space had never visited such a heavily guarded planet. A fortress-world, this rock resembled one giant prison, one where you could get locked up for looking at someone the wrong way and never see the light of day again. She grimaced at that thought.

The petite Raven also knew that they were at some kind of abandoned Titan company. “Am I going to get to do some slicing today?” she asked Malvern. It was about the only thing she was really good at, although she was fairly handy with a blaster after all of that combat training she had when she first joined the criminal organization.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Dakita Calfur"] [member="Tsavong Kraal"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal blinked.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Of course she didn’t know what the feth was going on.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]At some point he would definitely need to replace the girl with someone more [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]competent[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], his business was only expanding, operations increasing by the moment and billions of credits flooding his bank account. But ya need some kind of good aide if you wanted all that to continue going on.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Yes, Calfur. Slicing.” the Underlord would finally reply, dropping his cigarette and grinding it into the dirt beneath his boot. “They are currently busy on the front-side, trying to negotiate their lives with the Sith, backdoor got a single guard and a state-of-the-art security system.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A shrug.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I will handle the guard, you handle getting us in.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khaleel then gestured for her to follow him, his movements keeping them in the shadows and sure enough there was the lone guard. Blue skeleton helmet that reminded them of the Sons of Titans, but this one seemed a little bit green behind the ears.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Probably a quick recruit or maybe one of the kids wearing a suit.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Kinetic energy collected itself between his hands and then it slammed into the guard, ramming him against the wall and dropping him unconscious on the spot. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Your turn.”[/SIZE]

 

[Armand Temi]

Malvern’s sudden attack on the guard and the promise of more violence to come whipped the little zeltron into gear. Since she was already connected to the holonet she used it to relay information to a nearby radio system and open up a connection to it. The system appeared to be abandoned and it just sat there unused and clogging up the airways. The building security system itself was likely hooked up to its own outgoing connection to alert not only the inhabitants of the facility to threats but to also send a discrete signal to other networks or local authorities.

Dakita stopped to light her own cigarette, and as it dangled out of her mouth, her fingers flew on the keypad, sending signal after signal, instructing the Titan security software to re-route its main connection to the nearby radio system. After five minutes she was able to successfully complete the re-routing, and not only that she made sure to jam the signal, which would make certain that no security personnel - either human or droid – would be alerted. Likewise any local police forces. The final touch was opening the door, which she was able to do now that she had command of the system. It opened with a quiet hiss.

“Done,” she said, taking a long drag off her cigarette as though it were oxygen.

Despite her constant laziness, this little feat of expert slicing would hopefully make Malvern rethink kicking Dakita to the curb.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Dakita Calfur"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]While Dakita was busy showing off her slicing skills, Khal had been busy switching his regular attire into the Titan Son Guard Armor.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Couldn’t be too careful and maybe this way they will first ask questions before shooting both of them in the face. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khaleel actually had about two and a half slicer working under them, so her apparent skill in that wouldn’t necessarily save her from being axed if she didn’t get her shet together at least a little bit more. He could ignore a lot of things from his [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]family[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], but sometimes you needed to be tough to your loved ones.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Tough love.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Good job.” the Underlord would say, before brushing past her. “Let’s go, we got a few more jobs to finish, before those Sith are done here.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They needed to get their hands on at least a few pieces of equipment that his organization could use, whispers and rumours were plenty when it came to Titan’s infamous development techniques. They had the stuff that people [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]needed[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], when they wanted an edge.[/SIZE]

 

[Armand Temi]

Once Dakita was done, she flicked her cigarette away, not really caring where it went. With furrowed eyebrows she glanced over at Malvern as he was doing a quick-change into a fancy suit of armor. The praise from him barely registered with this new development. Where was her armor!?!? Was he just going to fly in front of her like some superhero in a holoshow and take all of the blaster bolts for them? Or when they ran into trouble, did he plan to push her in front of him like piece of disposable Bantha meat?

“What the kark, Khal!” she hissed as he walked into the building. “Where is my armor? It’s like you want me to die here today,” she whispered. Maybe he did after all, she thought somewhat paranoid. At times he acted like she was such a liability. Dakita felt her temper rising and really wanted to unload a fething piece of her mind on him, but even the intellectually-challenged Zeltron had survival instincts. To have a meltdown right here in this Titan facility after Malvern had wounded the guard - perhaps mortally - and she had just broken into the security system… there was a time and a place later for a tantrum. She would make a note to have a word with him when they were en route back to Nar Shaddaa.

She took her blaster out and kept it close to her side as she followed her employer deeper into the building. The gruff blonde Jedi appeared to be looking around for something, blueprints, patents, credits, anything valuable she supposed. The Zeltron slicer channeled her anger into nervous energy and stayed on high alert for any signs of danger.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Dakita Calfur"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Dak… the feth are you smoking?” Khal would say over his shoulder, his eyes taking in the sights through his new holographic view. Points of interests were popping up to his screen and showing him the exit ways and they were telling him exactly where he was supposed to go for his own interest.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I told ya to put armorweave on before we left.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal halted in his tracks.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“...you did put armorweave on before we left, didn’t you?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A shake of the head and he continued walking, they didn’t have time for this. Any moment now those Sith and the Titans would work out some kind of deal, or the Titans would suddenly decide to go kamikaze for some corporation they only worked for as a day job. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Point was they had to move fast.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She better have that armorweave on.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They had to stay hushed for the rest of the trip, sticking to the corners and the shadows. But most of the facility wasn’t occupied right now, skeleton-crew with most of their folks busy in front of the building, making sure that a Sith assault wouldn’t knock ‘em all dead.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Didn’t count on quiet extraction.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Eventually they reached the mainframe.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Aight, see if you can work your magic on that thing, will probably take longer than the door. We want any schematics and other crap they might have, download it all.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He looked around.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I will keep ‘em off your back, if they decide to come.”[/SIZE]

 

[Armand Temi]

"Sure, Chief," she said, stopping abruptly when he stopped. "That's right... the armorweave. It's under here," she said, patting her top. But Malvern would notice she was wearing only a tee-shirt, leather pants and boots. The material of her tee-shirt was very thin and Dakita's chest... well, let's just say it was chilly in the facility. Her employer could easily tell here was no armorweave behind her shirt.

Once they reached the mainframe, Dakita pulled up a chair next to a nearby terminal. She plugged her datapad into a port in the console and opened the network. Next she ran a script that she had written awhile ago to break the password. Incidentally, this particular script was also handy in changing the high score to her name on Swoop Bike Battle. "Keep your eyes peeled, Khal," she said. "This will take about five minutes."

And sure enough after those five minutes were over, she was in. She tapped a few keys but the next hurdle would be to break through the AES. Dak ran her fingers through her hair momentarily stumped. But as she looked around the room it appeared the employees had left in a hurry. The Zeltron rifled through a nearby desk like a raccoon through a garbage can. She pulled out a flimsiplast business card, entered the employee's credentials, and with a few more keypad clicks, she appeared to be inside the network.

"I knew that someone close to this mainframe would have authentication. Name authentication is extremely unsafe, but fairly common when big companies want to cut corners with security measures," she said. If only Dakita was this smart when it came to... everything else.

She began to download whatever was in the Titan facility's digital storage, although it was going to take another couple minutes.

"What does this company make anyway?" she asked Malvern.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Dakita Calfur"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Was Khaleel at least a little bit impressed with her?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Most definitely. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]She usually didn’t show this level of competence, which meant either of two things. Dakita was either smarter than she pretended to be, which would be a problem, or she was just one of those [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]special[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] people whose mind worked in ‘mysterious’ ways.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The Underlord wasn’t really sure which one he would prefer, but it mattered little in the grand scheme of things. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Everything.” he would reply to her question, as he half-listened to the feed inside of the helmet. It seemed that the personnel were going to be giving up further resistance and accept being put under custody, perhaps some kind of hope that they would be treated fairly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A few times the mention of one Carach passed by, apparently one of the more reasonable Voices was involved in this one. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Curious.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Ships, weapons, armor, they dabble in agriculture and terraforming. They can do anything, is the public mindset at least.”[/SIZE]

 

[Armand Temi]

Dakita was only half listening but nodding at her boss to make him think he had her full attention. She checked the storage of her datapad which was continuing to download the information. The Zeltron rested her leather-sheathed legs up on the desk. "Cybernetics? Do they manufacture those? That is one thing I would love to get," said the slicer. "It would be really cool to have, like a hand that shoots knives. Or one of those crazy brain implants that made you smarter."

Was she a little insecure about her intelligence? At times, yes. The Zeltron knew that being the adopted daughter of gypsies had not given her the best access to schools or academies or even three proper meals a day. Being smarter was certainly an aspiration, but she just wasn't sure how to go about that. Her laziness and procrastination would most likely need to be handled before any actual learning could take place. She looked up at her employer momentarily distracted by his rugged good looks. She wouldn't admit it to him, but attracting his praise was more important to her than holonet shopping or video games or spice. Well, maybe not spice. Certainly not spice.

Dakita checked the download percentage. Annnnnd... 100% complete.

"Okay, Khal," she said, holding up the device. "It's all on here." The blonde-haired Zeltron tucked it into her handbag.

"Is that it or do we need to get anything else while we're here?"

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Dakita Calfur"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal was half-immersed into the feed himself, so he wasn’t exactly paying all that much attention to her either, which was why he probably didn’t even realize his answer hadn’t been exactly taken in with strides as expected. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Which was fine.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Carach had apparently been able to negotiate a complete surrender from the Titan people, it seemed that at the end of the day they valued their lives more than the loyalty they held to their dayjob. Would it be a stupid move to make?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Maybe.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He didn’t know the Sith Lord and wasn’t aware if he would hold himself to the promises he made, but that all didn’t matter to Khal either. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]It just meant that they had to hurry out as soon as possible.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Let’s go, yeah.” Khal would say, before getting an idea. Calibrating his HUD to point him to a route that would lead through the backroom storage, might be they could find something of use. “Follow me, this helmet’s got a feth ton of options, GPS is one of ‘em apparently.”[/SIZE]

 

[Armand Temi]

“Oh frack! Give me one more minute,” she said, forgetting something she had planned on doing. Dak pulled the datapad back out and began slicing again ignoring the impatient sigh from Malvern. With her pink fingers, she tapped out a few more commands, entering the building network system the way she had before. It was really two to three minutes, but she finally said, “Okay that’s it, boss. I just disabled all of the security cameras and erased the last twenty-four hours of footage. We were never here,” she said, smirking.

Dak wasn’t as nervous now as when they first broke into and entered the building like the cat-burglars they were. She had been concentrating so much on the hacking that she really had no other mental capacity for fear or apprehension. So when Malvern indicated there was GPS on his helmet and they were going to wander around the facility more, it felt a little more like an adventure than sabotaging Titan Industries right under their noses.

The blonde Zeltron packed her datapad away again, fairly unconcerned that it held millions of credits of valuable information. She slung her bag over her shoulder as though it were a tote bag and she was going out for a joyride, not carting around another company's closest guarded secrets.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Dakita Calfur"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]When Khal realized what she was doing he simply nodded, his eyes running across the storage boxes until the HUD pointed him towards the specific crate that held his interest. There was a reason why they had come here and the schematics wasn’t the only thing of interest, there was so much more to gain from this specific meeting and as Dakita was busy with her slicing, the Underlord would approach the crate and remove the lid with some TK nonsense.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Ah… there it was.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Asheran Armorweave was a fething beauty, the thing was hailed across the Galaxy as one of the finest and best protection ya could get for yourself. With the schematics they would probably be able to produce a few for themselves, but one that was already made?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]That’s one that can be used immediately or used as a starting point to produce more.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Gotta figure that one out though.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Good job, Dak.” he would say, turning around with the armorweave slung over his shoulder. “Proud having ya around, now let’s go.”[/SIZE]

 

[Armand Temi]

Dakita watched Malvern pull an intricate-looking suit of armor from one of the storage boxes and drape it over his shoulder. The first thing she thought was, even if it didn't fit, the armor may come in handy later on, especially since she had forgotten to wear hers. Then she acknowledged her boss's praise with a sly smile.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving him off. "Maybe you'll give me back Club Frenzee then."

Dakita desperately wanted to take control of her nightclub again. At the height of her ownership, she had hosted numerous Zeltronesque parties with day-glo paint, DJs, foam, dry ice, dancers, bands... you name it she had thrown a party for it. The trouble was she was a terrible business manager. She spent more time hanging around with the patrons, drinking and sometimes skimming credits off of the top.

At first this gig with Malvern felt like a punishment. The first week she had worked as his assistant, she was surly and uncooperative. She supposed she hadn't really given him a chance to see that she was capable of more than fetching his stimcaf, cigs or whiskey. But they had eventually worked their way into a tolerable symbiosis. One that was growing a little stronger based on mutual trust and respect. Sure Malvern could be blunt, crude and a touch impolite, but Dakita appreciated that. She always felt he would tell her exactly how it was, even if it hurt to hear the truth.

Sometimes just knowing where you stood with someone you admired was enough.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]