Jabiim Outer Rim Territories 40 ABY
Sylvian Blaine watched as the settlers of New Terris moved about their little village. Mostly Humans, there was a few mixed-breeds and odd-breeds in the bunch. Their eyes were downcast, postures slumped. Good.
The homes around them were simple but practical. Just like its people. It had been easy to slip in, take control of a few key leaders, and then insert himself into a position of control.
The leader of the Empty Eyes gang had learned from the best when it came to using the Force to subtly get what you want. Never making too much noise, of course, and flying under the radar.
But Rodrigue was gone. His ambition had, of course, been his undoing. They had tried to seize Clan Arcona’s capital city and failed. Rodrigue was captured and locked away in a place where not even the most prolific of Force wielders could ever reach.
That had left his protege, Sylvian, to pick up the pieces of their once quietly influential mercenary group.
Their base was only a short speeder-hop away from the abandoned base that Sylvian and his crew had set up shop in. They had figured that the Brotherhood (and more specifically its Clans) would be too wound up in their own politics and fighting with rivals that they’d never think to look at a remote, forgotten world. The New Republic was rebuilding, again, and the First Order had started to fade into memory like the Imperial Order before it.
What better place to start rebuilding? These people were now part of his operation- wether they liked it or not was not his concern- and he would milk every last drop of use out of them.
The icing on the cake, however, had been what they found underground inside the base. That, he knew, would prove to be the real treasure of this operation.
And the best part of the situation? No one could stand in his way…
---
Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle: Vexillarius I
It was the maiden mission for the Envoy Corps new flight of transports. The shuttle, bearing the Brotherhood and Envoy Corps markings, rocketed confidently towards the planet Jabiim.
In the holding area, five members of the Brotherhood had volunteered for this mission: Korvis, Ruka Tenbriss Ya-ir, Cole Farrow, Adem Bol'era, and Nicfer.
While part of the party knew one another, some were still strangers. But the Proconsul of Clan Arcona (Ruka) and the Consul of Clan Vizsla (Korvis) exchanged non-verbal nods of recognition. The others were saved from awkward conversation as a holographic screen displayed a somewhat familiar face.
Marick Tyris Arconae- Exarch of the Brotherhood, appeared. His eyes were sharp, even as a hologram, but looked tired, while the rest of his demeanor seemed professional and confident.
“You’ll be making contact with the people of Jabiim. We don’t have much to go on, but the people have fallen under the thumb of a mercenary gang going by the "Empty Eyes”. The Arconans, save for Adem, have clashed with them once before. Their former leader removed, this group is a remnant, but should be considered dangerous. Your mission is to drive out the Empty Eyes.“
His eyes shifted to the Mandalorian. "Credits will be provided wether anyone is brought in dead, or alive. Though alive would be preferred.”
Marick’s eyes turned back to the group. “The new leader of the Empty Eyes goes by ‘Sylvian Blaine.’ He is a Techweaver, and illusionist with a penchant for using the Force to bend people’s minds to his whim. He prefers to work with droids instead of organics, but we have little additional information otherwise.”
He paused.
“Any questions? Good luck, Envoy’s.” And with that, the transmission cut out.
The five Arconan’s turned Envoys were left with the sound of the shuttle, as they fast approached their destination…
---
Dossier Information
Name: Sylvian Blaine Race: Human(?) Age: Unknown Discipline: Techweaver Specialty: Illusion, Mind Trick, Whips
---
“It will be alive unless absolutely necessary otherwise,” the Mirialan Proconsul ordered, tattooed, violet eyes lingering on each of his Clanmates and then snapping left to pin onto the visor of the Vizslan Consul’s helmet, making clear it was a directive for him as well, regardless of rank. “Conscious or unconscious is fine, and better with Force-Users. I shouldn’t need to tell anybody as much, but I know better, so let’s be clear: nothing illegal, not by Tatooine law and not by Dajorran either. That means no stealing, no setting anything on fire, no harassing, assaulting, or mentally manipulating the local civilians we are going to help, no torture of the enemy, minimal property damage in the course of the mission,” because it was absolutely, always, never none, “and minimal enemy casualties. Is that clear?”
Again, his stare leveled to each person, starting on Farrow.
Cole met the gaze, resisting an eye roll at the lecture.
“Minimal, sure.”
Ruka’s eyes narrowed at the returned stare, almost as if he could sense that repressed eyeroll as only a father of two teenagers could, before he nodded and turned his look onto the next person.
Behind his visor Korvis rolled his eyes at the statement. Most of that was an excellent statement until they were getting shot at. Instead of responding verbally Korvis removed a small datapad typed something into it and handed it to Ruka.
“I do what I want and what is necessary.” Was all that was written. He didn’t like ruffling feathers, but he was not accustomed to being given orders like a common soldier either.
Adem shifted in his seat, focusing mostly on the hum of the ship’s engine and tuning out the chatter around him. DT-3 sat in his lap, chittering quietly, the little explorer droid’s head swiveling around the room. Adem gently patted its head and ran another check on his weapons to busy himself.
“It’s rude to stare, Deetee,” Adem chided the inquisitive droid, as it had focused a little too long on Korvis. The gene-locks on Adem’s lightsaber and blaster gave him an affirming vibration as he took both in his hands.
Marick’s briefing left Adem with mixed feelings. It was a comfort to hear a familiar voice, but nothing that would shake off the quiet anticipation of Adem’s first deployment in quite some time. The notion of a Techweaver was disquieting as well, their effect on droids as uncanny as it was unknown. Having missed out on prior skirmishes with the Empty Eyes, Adem figured it was best to take his cues from the others, or at least his Proconsul.
Ruka looked to the datapad that had been offered him, wondering initially if the man was non-verbal. His expression has shifted to something more open, but in the few seconds it took him to read the single line, it flattened right down into a tight, stern scowl.
He passed it back.
“If what you want is to go slaughtering people left and right, I am going to stop you,” he informed the man. “As long as ‘necessary’ is kept to actually necessary use of force, then we won’t have any problems.”
With that he turned to the young Umbaran who’d hushed his droid. He debated briefly.
“Bol'era, or you prefer Adem? You might leave that thing behind. Last we dealt with these people, we had ships dive-bombing targets all over Estle just by hacking the pilots. Me and my family were in one of ‘em.”
The somber advice hung heavy in the air, and it gave Adem pause. He and DT-3 didn’t split up often, but the way “these people” were described suggested there was no exaggeration in Ruka’s words. They indeed posed a threat to the little droid’s mind. DT’s photoreceptor shifted back and forth, inward and outward, looking pensively at Adem’s face. His jaw set, and he spoke firmly.
“Deetee carries stims, not weapons. I’d prefer to have him along for medical support.” The droid trilled with pride at being reminded of one of its many utilities. “Besides, if I leave him here? He’ll just sneak off the shuttle. If we do this right, they won’t touch him.”
He leaned forward, DT-3 moving to sit atop his shoulders as he fixed his weapons in place. “How soon are we landing?”
Ruka considered the pair, then sighed and inclined his head. He’d seen enough people just as attached to their tech as their pets as their partners, and the logic was sound enough.
“Alright, if you don’t think it’s– he’s capable of harming anyone. And that includes injecting them stims in anybody at the wrong place wrong time.” The Mirialan’s tone turned dark, but he glanced as if to check his chrono nonetheless. It wasn’t actually there; instead only his padded glove and bracer, armored robes emblazoned with a lotus on the chest and cape. He huffed at himself. “Pilot will tell us when we’re on approach, ay? Anybody got questions? Farrow, Nicfer, Consulor? Can’t tell you too much about ‘em but I’ve fought their new leader here.”
Ruka’s angry expression was enough to give the Consul a further positive note in Cole’s book.
The Human did muse the question however, and answered it seriously, “Any weakness of the leader? He’s who we’re after, if there’s a phobia he has, a previous injury, anything like that. Could be the difference between one of us being one of their necessary deaths or not if he can fuck with our heads.”
The Proconsul caught the jab but didn’t mind it. Instead his brow scrunched, as if he was thinking on something that gave him a headache.
“He was…showy,” Ruka began. “I mean, cape tricks, posing, all that. This was– two years ago. Might’ve learned better by now, after their former leader’s death. Seemed really attached.” He paused, chewing on memories for relevance. “Attacked with lightning. Worked good with his battle droid; he acts flashy, keeps away, and those things get you close. He used mind tricks to make us attack each other. And…one of his hands is cybernetic. Can’t tell you which though.”
Anyone that knew Nicfer was already well aware that the word volunteer was not in her vocabulary. More than likely for this mission she was ‘Strongly Encouraged’ to apply. Something about continuing to prove her worth/value to The Brotherhood. The Zeltron has been trying to keep to herself. She wouldn’t admit it, even to herself, but she was trying to see how well she could suppress her presence as she was taught and go unnoticed by her betters in the shuttle. But she was unfocused, too busy looking around in the T-Aa interior.
“You think they could have picked something that either screams sleek and dangerous or goes completely unnoticed…” She murmurs as she runs a finger across one of the shuttle’s surfaces as if she was inspecting it for dust or imperfections. “T-4a just anemically answers ‘We’re here to investigate…’ Taylander would have blended in better.”
She fought to roll her eyes at the talk of rules and conscious vs unconsious. Partly because she was still trying to go unnoticed and her eye rolls could be heard at 15 meters they as they were so powerful, partly because she was trying to ‘do better’ and ‘be a team player’. She still didn’t agree with the Mirialan. Not about the no killing, but sometimes rules needed to be broken to make sure a plan goes off without a hitch. A fight is a fight, and if one side is playing by rules and the other isn’t, you’re asking for a bad time.
"Pilot will tell us when we're on approach, ay? Anybody got questions? Farrow, Nicfer, Consulor? Can't tell you too much about 'em but I've fought their new leader here."
And there it was. Not as forgotten or unnoticed as she liked. She lets out a sigh and gives up her half-assed attempt at self-training that she totally was already not doing.
“You said they prefer droids to organics, but are they trying to actively recruit any local civilians? Could be a way to get eyes on. Plus I got the rep for being on the other side of the law.”
If they’ve even head of you…
The Mirialan’s brow went up, and it wasn’t an approving look.
“Do you now?” he asked coolly, though the flash of disapproval was shortly shifted to something more assessing, tone measured. “So you’re suggesting infiltration. See if they’ll recruit you? Not a bad tactic, though you shouldn’t be going in alone. Splitting up is general bad karma, but if it’s productive, might be worth it.” Ruka looked over them all again, inviting opinions.
“It’s unlikely any of us would be recruited on the first day and allowed to see anything worthwhile. We aren’t a cover ops team intending to stay for months while they get comfortable. Might.. be worth going more direct. Ask questions, find those who are being aggravated by the gang who won’t go off and tell on us. Maybe take a prisoner or two, steal uniforms for a more immediate entrance.” Cole offered, gesturing slightly as he spoke before landing the hand back onto his blaster.
“Subtlety doesn’t really work for me. Obviously.” Korvis stated the matter of fact. Which was true to the extreme. A Mandalorian armed to the teeth stood out in busy ports. In a backwater village on Jabiim he might as well have a flashing red beacon on his helmet.
With a bit of a groan and a slump back into the chair, Nicfer fights the urge to fire off a snarky comment. Like if they liked shooting so much, full frontal assults were in fashion again.
Team player Nic. Team. Player.
“If we don’t have time, we make them make snap decisions instead of thinking on it. And we don’t need to be shown anything worthwhile. Just need someone inside to open door for others.”
She looks the Mandalorian up and down with a bit of a half grin.
“Sometimes subtle plans need less subtle means. Like you could be a good way to force this crew into make a snap judgment on brining on new folks.”
She leans back in her chair again and shrugs.
“But if you want to play shoot'em up cowboy, the by all means. I’ll not stop y'all”
So just one snarky comment. No more. Team player.
“Definitely not shoot ‘em up.” Ruka stressed, then to the Consul, “You’re definitely gonna stand out, ay, but you wouldn’t be the first,” he waved a hand at Krovis’ kit, “beskar’d merc that rolled in with a gang on Tatooine. We had a…mission in Mos Kenny. Woman there did the same.” There was a tightness to the words, grim with an old, regretful anger of sorts. “Subtle or direct, we should check things out first. If they gangers got eyes in town, we could be endangering those people just talking to them, whether or not they’re reporting us back. Kriff, we might land and get a welcoming party of droideka. Let’s see what the situation is, then reconvene on plannin’.”
“A common sense idea, no use fighting ourselves before we even know what we are up against.” Acknowledged the Ratattaki.
“One thing.”
Nicfer says from her seat, fiddling with her data pad as to not make eye contact.
“Might be good to drop a subtle person or two before we land and have them walk in. If they see us all disembark from port, subtly is gone. Then the two groups keep in touch via comms.”
“Think we’ll do?”
Adem raised a hand, DT trilling affirmatively.
“Tracking is our speed, if there’s a trace of him down there, and we can find it, it won’t take much to lead us to him.”
Ruka regarded the two with an impressed grimace (apparently, an expression that’s possible).
“Can’t believe I’m wishing we’d kept the franger’s hand,” he muttered, rubbing at his temple, before his arm dropped. “Alright, it’s a good idea. Nicfer, Bol'era, you both have leave to separate for recon. Watch each other’s backs and watch that droid. I’ll tell the pilot we’re making a stop before we get too close. Comms check every thirty minutes. Either group misses two checks, we regroup.”
With that the Mirialan turned for the cockpit, hoping the only one outside his chain of command with the biggest guns present agreed with them.
“And what are we doing while they play secret spies?” Cole queried, watching Ruka start to head off. “Could take a vantage point, note some guard patterns.”
The Proconsul paused and nodded.
“Take your eyes up, Consul Korvis an’ me will go look like a couple schuttas in the open?”
He let the question hang, one hand on the cockpit door’s edge.
“Other idea is you could stand out like a sore thumb and draw attention from the…what was it you said? Secret Spies? I would have gone for Super Secret Spies for more alliteration, but to each their own.”
“A flyover would probably be good. If nothing else it would draw eyes our way and off the Recon team.” Korvis surmised. Plus the team would be able to get a topside view of the land.
“Flyover would work. Playing distraction in person may be more of a detriment if they up the security because of it.”
“` "A flyover ya'say!?” a voice came from the cockpit.
From the pilots seat, a Ryn wearing plain clothes and a dusty brown jacket, his head back towards the waiting party. The pilot’s hair was in an intentional disarray, kept in check, seemingly, only thanks to the round leather bowler hat her wore atop his head. His hair was shock-white against his blue-gray skin and beak-like nose. “Reckon'I can drop'yeh few off. Fly'some'recon with tha others-eh?”
He spoke quickly, but if you focused through the hard-to-place accent, he was surprisingly easy to understand. “`
---
“` The pilot, despite his eccentric nature, operated the Lambda-class shuttle with veteran proficiency.
Just outside the reach of the town’s entrance, Nicfer and Adem were let off. The barren, arid soil of Jabiim. They could see the entrance to "New Terris”, a large set of gray stone walls and a simple opening that lead to branching paths into the town.
“Don’t'let'the'scorpion’s bite heh,” The Pilot called out.
The Umbaran and Zeltron squinted as the shuttle took back off. “`
“Alright'then,” the Ryn pilot smirked as he wiggled his fingers and took hold of the pilot controls. “One fly'over, comin’ up”.
The shuttle lurched, air warping around it and piercing the otherwise quiet din of the muddy planet. Not as dramatic as a TIE Fighter, perhaps, but it definitely drew the attention of anyone outside their homes. And they definitely were not paying attention to whoever was coming into the town.
The shuttle hovered, then, giving the three onboard a vantage point for the moment.
“` Cole Farrow’s eyes honed in on the sights below. He saw that the homes were mostly made of local resources, a mixture of stone, ore and with roofs fashioned into tile. The people that moved around it were all looking up, but it would be impossible to make out if there was fear, relief, or indifference.
There were, of note, a few humanoid-shaped BX-series droids that seemed out of place. They were the only things that carried weapons openly and were marching around the town with militaristic intent.
As the far end of the town was a trail leading into the mountains that New Terris was built up against. ”`
The pilot maneuvered the ship for a flyover of the town. As he swung the ship into the trajectory the sun shone directly in Korvis eyes. His visor did its best to compensate for the sudden change but still left the Consul with a temporary light blindness.
“Blasted visor, it is time for an upgrade. Hope you get a better view than I did.” He stated
Cole had clearly been at a better angle.
“Two BX droids carrying armaments. Rest are civilians. Nothing of notable interest beyond the droids, hard to tell with the number if it’s just precaution or if there’s been unrest.” The Human commentated. “Definitely don’t fit in though.”
“Hopefully civilians,” Ruka commented. “Could be their controllers. Way those droids are moving is definitely patrolling, though.” His gaze, sharp like Cole’s, lingered on the path. He addressed the pilot: “Can you land us next to the rock face? ‘Least we’ll have our backs protected.”
“` With the distraction served, the Ryn pilot wove the shuttle up into the air, and then exited the towns space, doing a lap around to survey the mountain range that walled in the "Empty Eyes” base.
Thanks to the pilots skill, they were able to not seem to trip or trigger any alarms. “`
Passing through the town gates, Adem kept his steps relaxed and his eyes ahead. The first step in avoiding suspicion was not to do anything particularly suspicious, after all. DT-3 eyed the largely vacant merchant stalls and what few townsfolk were around, who seemed to only faintly register their presence.
“Don’t worry, Deets,” the Umbaran assured the droid, who trilled lowly. “No matter what you hear anyone say, you’re not for sale.”
Taking a deep breath, Adem let the Force wash over him, brushing over the town for any hint of emotion. Some traces of surprise and mild intrigue lingered, no doubt leaving along with the shuttle that had just passed by, but the town was otherwise a miasma of resignation. Yet… someone was daring to hope, even just a little, like a candle struggling to light a cave.
Back on the ship as it turned from the fly by of the area, the trio observed what they could. Ruka’s eyes went foremost for the bridge that seemed to be the only access point – at least, to someone on foot who couldn’t leap the ravines – to a base or mine set into the mountainside. His gaze caught on a particular droid at its entrance. “Got a pit droid down there, I think…bunch of armed ones. You two?”
“More armed droids yeah.” Cole confirmed. “On the base. There’ll be a lot of reinforcements if we go in loud.”
“The Front gates look pretty heavily armed with droids.” Korvis stated, before adding. “I don’t think a frontal assault would be a wise course of action.”
The Mirialan eyed the mounted guns on the ridge. “I can probably take out those turrets, but that’s only one problem. Maybe we’ll have some luck in town. There’s got to be other entrances. Save that forward assault as our last resort.”
Nicfer spent a few moments upon disembarking to dirty her robes. If they were on foot traveling, they should look the part.
“Dust yourself. Too clean gonna raise-”
She looks up to see Adem walking towards the gate with his droid.
“…Or you can use the naive approach.” She muttered to herself. “It has its uses…”
She follow after, but keeps her distance. Now there were two spy parties. Counter-surveillance was always hard. Sticking more to the periphery, she kept a look out for those paying attention to those that might be drawn to the Umbaran and his droid. She also kept a look out for those that might belong to this droid/inorganic gang.
Everyone towards the entrance to the town seemed to be focused on the flyover. No one noticed or seemed to pay much attention to the Zeltron and Umbaran.
New Terris
Adem and Nicfer noticed immediately that the streets seemed quiet. Thanks to the thinking of the Zeltron, the added dust that she patted herself down with definitely helped with making them both look like regular townspeople. Adem’s armorweave cloak, fashioned almost like a poncho, also helped the pale skinned man to fit in.
A droid walked by, but didn’t seem to pay them any mind. Instead, it walked over to a dark skinned man with white goatee and hair working at a food vendor stall.
“What are you looking at, Human?” the droid approached the stall.
“N-nothing, sir,” the man replied quickly. “Would your…benevolent Master like some extra produce?”
The droid seemed to consider this, it’s narrow-head swiveling slightly.
“Very well. Your offering will be reported to the Master. This will of course be at no cost?”
The man tried to hide his flash of anger with a frown. “Yes, of course.” he bit out.
The merchant filled a small bag and handed it to the droid. Without any further conversation or thanks, the droid marched off, continuing on its patrol.
From their perch in the mountains Korvis assessed the situation in the base below. The team knew that there was a heavy droid presence. What they didn’t know was just how heavy.
“I think what is Necessary at the moment is patience. Let Adem and Nicfer scout out the town and wait until they rejoin us before we proceed.” The consul said as he turned to await a response.
Well this is a fun scheme. Protection but no real indication if you are paying enough, so you always offer more. Smart, but short sighted. Epically if you want to stay in the area.
Nicfer wanted to clock the droids patrol through the city, but she didn’t want to leave Adem to twist in the wind. Epically with his shiny target that might get him scouted by the gang.
So, instead of following the droid ans ditching Adem, she approached the man that turned over the goods to the droid. Browsing what food was avaliable.
“Hey friend,” she said keeping her voice low a touch raspy. “Gotta drink for a traveler and maybe something to fill an empty belly?”
Cap always said, “Make friends, cause they telll you everything you wanna know for free.”
Adem, forgetting himself and that he was in a group, did what he could to play off his dreamlike stride into town and focused on looking like he belonged. He turned to merchant merchant Nicfer spoke to and approached, putting on a smile and the manner of someone looking a little lost.
“Excuse me, good sir,” he said, perhaps in too cloying a tone, “we’re land surveyors here from off-world, visiting your lovely little town on behalf of our client. We were hoping to speak with the local authorities about the property lines, could you point us in that direction?”
Nicfer was able to convert her groan of frustration and surprise into a cough of someone that was still hoping for a drink after a long travel. She looks away, acting like she is still coughing.
Adem… We are not such good partners that we can operate without communicating first…
The merchant blinked a few times. He seemed to be watching for the Droid to go on with it’s patrol. Once it passed, he seemed to relax a bit. He smiled at the Zeltron.
“I’ve got a few different options, but not a lot I’m afraid.” He gestured to the bottles of liquid on the side of the stall.
When the second stranger spoke, his demeanor shifted a bit. “You saw the extent of the local authorities…” He grumbled.
Shrugging he handed a bottled beverage to Zeltron. “On the house. So is this advice. If you want to stay safe, keep your head down and just do what they say. Anyone that doesn’t…”
He looked towards the mountains, and where the Empty Eyes base was. He shook his head.
Nicfer slides the man a few credits anyway before cracking the bottle and taking a long drink.
“I saw what happened. If you won’t take payment for what your are giving me, consider it reimbursement for what you gave that droid.”
She keeps her voice low as place like this always have hidden eyes and ears.
“How does one get an audience with the person in charge? Is that even possible? Or is it just talking through intermediaries?”
The merchant seemed to appreciate the credits. It was a simple gesture, not about the money, but the intent. “He…only showed up once. Since then, it’s been the droids. But anyone that’s gone through the mountains comes back… different.”
He looked down. “I’ve said too much. Best we can do is endure. Maybe someone will come and help…” He sighed then returned to tending the shop.
Adem coughed and gave Nicfer an apologetic look, then regarded the merchant again. “Just one more thing. Have they ever left anything behind that you’d be willing to give us?”
Nicfer return glace is to Adem is just deadpan and emotionless, yet still full of sarcasm. She turns to the merchant, her face instantly turn back to that of a travel weary Zeltron happy to make a friend and make conversation. She holds a few more credits, nothing much but enough to maybe get a bit more information.
“Also is there a place in town we should avoid? Where they like to congregate or gather at? A dock, cantina, or warehouse? Be good to know where not to go.”
The merchant tilted his head slightly at the pale-skinned ones request. “Er…not that I can think of? They kind of just take without giving. Jarret- a local boy, jumped one of the droids a few weeks back though. Didn’t end well for him,” the man shook his head. “But nothing I’m afraid.”
He shifted his attention back towards the pretty Zeltron, whom he seemed to want to be nice towards. “No docks, I’m afraid. The work is all done at the mines, but there is a local pub. No guards or droids, but I suspect…somehow they know what’s being said there…fraid I can’t do much else.”
“You’ve been a real sweetheart. Thank you so much. I am sure we would have ended up in hot water without your help. Thank you~.”
She grabs Adem by the arm and squeezes a bit too hard as she starts to guide and drag Adem away.
“I’m going to consult with my partner about our next steps. Have a nice day.”
As she looks away from the merchant and back to Adem, any trace of sweetness or charm was gone from her voice and expression.
“Move! How about with the next person we stick to a plan, or even discuss one.” She hisses in a low tone. “And who askes for trinkets left behind from those harassing a town when your cover is something unrelated to solving that problem?”
Adem grew flustered. The irritation he felt roiling within Nicfer was well warranted, and, at a loss for words, he raised a hand and cast his eyes down in an apologetic gesture of submission.
“Should… should we try the pub?” he suggested, after a few silent steps trudging after Nicfer.
DT-3 let out a disapproving beep and slapped Adem’s ear with his leg.
“Ow! Not you, too. You think she’ll stay mad?” The droid glanced Nicfer’s way and simply trilled in resignation.
Nicfer gave an approving look to her unexpected robotic accomplice. At least there was someone with a brain.
She turns back to Adem with her traditional expression of mild annoyance and like she would prefer to be anywhere but here. “Focus Adem, I’m always mad, don’t worry about that.” She glares a bit, “But you are making my ang-… Annoyance spike.”
She nods her head to keep walking as standing and complaining will draw eyes. “A yes, we should at least show up at the pub, but this time we should try not to stick out. We want to do the observing and information gathering. Not our targets.”
The walk to the pub was nowhere near long enough for Adem’s taste. Nicfer’s annoyance showed no signs of subsiding as the Umbaran left some following distance, but that concerned him less than what awaited them.
Every sensation a hundred times louder, more intense, and a fraction of the inhibition.
Passing through the creaking doors, it became clear the pub was sparsely populated at the time. Adem permitted himself a breath of relief at the thought that the feeling of the place wouldn’t soak into his skin like a swim through a sewer. Still, the hazy apathy of the town lingered, and clarity would likely only come from that little shimmer of hope the Umbaran Jedi had barely perceived on their arrival.
“I’m going to feel out the room,” he told Nicfer quietly. “If I notice anyone odd, I’ll have Deetee point them out, just chat them up when I order some water.”
“` The pub didn’t even have a name. It just looked like a place that was built to serve some food, and drinks and people of the town knew that’s where you headed for a drink.
Most of the patrons kept their eyes down. They reacted to the door being open, but none of them seemed to want to engage with the new comers. Even if they didn’t know the faces, could be new workers…could be…who knew. Better to keep quiet and mind your business. ”`
Adem struggled to read the currents of the Force in the room, to little avail, but the flickering memory of Marick’s lessons cut through the haze. The Umbaran composed himself, and simply took in the room.
Don’t overcomplicate it, just see things for what they are. An exit, an entrance, who’s drinking, who isn’t.
He pulled Nicfer aside and nodded in the direction of the cameras, and shared all he had noticed. “Whatever we do here next, someone is going to know we’re here. We can try the bartender or the girl who’s not drinking, probably not both.”
Nicfer felt like it was almost night and day between Adem first entering and now here at the bar. Maybe there was hope for him as a proper criminal yet. Not that she would tell him.
“Bartender might be the tough one to crack but, there is no way they don’t know what is going on in their bar. girl that is not drinking could just be someone out of coin but doesn’t want to go home. I guess..” She had to make a snap decision before things started looking out of place. “Bartender it is. Any chance you can disrupt cameras discretely? That could provide us with other info, like who shows up to fix it.”
Nicfer begins to walk to an open spot at the bar, but slow enough to get one last response out out Adem.
“You know that’s more your wheelhouse, right?” His statement was met with a hard stare. “I’ll think of something.” Adem took a seat, back to the corner with Nicfer in sight and earshot. He searched the rafters again, looking for something in the cameras to exploit.
The camera were there. They definitely had wired powering them. Where they led to, or if they could be exposed seemed to be illusive.
Empty Eyes Base Mountain Range
On Cole’s suggestion, the shuttle took some time to find a place to settle. It was out of the direct line of sight to the Empty Eyes base, but still doable on foot. The shuttle, while simple, managed to blend in with the rocky terrain thanks to its’ dull gray painting. If one didn’t look too hard.
Ruka, Cole, and Korvis set up and talked over their intel gathered.
The Mirialan Proconsul regarded the range as dust blew around them, stirred by their descent and having yet to settle; nevermind Tattooine’s normal sandiness. As it became evident they weren’t in immediate danger from the landing, at least for the moment, his first action was click the comm channel in quick succession for a check on the other half of their group.
As he awaited a reply, he commented to the two with him: “Well Korvis ain’t dressed for recon, and I’m not great at cloaking. Farrow, you think you can get a vantage?” His violet gaze darted around the rocks and the top of their shuttle itself, judging for a point to set down with sightlines. “Pick a spot and I’ll get you there.”
Cole nodded, “Should be easy with the terrain.”
He looked around, walking a circle round’ where they landed. There was a lot of nooks and crannies, no lack of areas for someone to nestle into. Hwoever it was an outcropping in the direction of the enemy base that stuck out. While being angled seemingly, allowing him to blend in more, it would also allow him to have a full view of their surroundings.
He gestured to it, “There is good, shouldn’t be too hard to climb up either. What did you mean by get me there?” The Human clicked onto that wording, looking to Ruka cautiously. Being picked up was basically the bottom of his agenda today.
“Take a guess,” Ruka said, meeting that cautious look with a flat one of his own, one eyebrow raising, as if to say, you know what I’m thinking. He lifted a hand anyway to gesture. “It will be quick, with your permission?”
Nicfer took her seat and made a show of flipping her hair back to the side to expose the shaved side with the patterns cut into the short hair before tapping a credit to the table and waiting for the bartender to make their way over to them. No point in coming on too strong. She didn’t know how much time she had, but rushing was the path to sure fire failure.
She fought the urge to get lost in her thoughts and how to plan a conversation and instead just glances around her and tries not to look too available as she waits on the bartender.
“What can I get'ya?” the woman asked her eyes seeming to take in the Zeltrons appearance but not seemingly too interested or not interested.
Watching Nicfer and the bartender, Adem evaluated his options. DT-3 skittered to and fro across the table, whirring quietly and taking in the room and the faces all around.
One woman hadn’t moved or taken a sip of her drink since he and his Zeltron partner walked in. Discomfort and apprehension stirred around her, and Adem was terribly curious as to why.
Minding the angles of the cameras, he approached the quiet woman and her much less quiet friend, the latter’s inebriated enthusiasm not nearly contagious enough for the former.
“Is this seat taken, ladies?” He smiled, no reason not to be friendly. DT-3 chirped amiably.
Emma blinked a few times, unsure what to say. She started to open her mouth, but was cut off by Janice, who seemed to hone in on the Umbarran. She almost hiccuped, but then caught herself. “It isn’t now,” she smirked, eyeing Adem up and down. “Hiya, I’m Janice…haveeee you met Emma?” she gestured at her friend, who seemed to try to stay as still as possible with the hope of becoming invisible. She did make eye contact with Adem, smile, and looked back down again.
“It’s a pleasure.” He sat down, keeping Nicfer in the corner of his eye. “Anything exciting happen in this town, lately? Heard a shuttle came through here a little while ago, must have been a sight.”
“Oh boy ever did it!” Janice exclaimed excitedly. Emma, meanwhile seemed to be narrowing her eyes and trying to mouth ‘shut it’. “Hadn’t seen one since…” she did seem to lower her voice, even in her drunken state, as she cast a glance up towards the ceiling then back down. “…since our new benefactors arrived,” she nodded.
Adem turned his silvery eyes to Emma. “Not much for drinking? Me neither.” DT-3’s scanner gently hummed as the droid cocked his head at her.
Emma seemed to smile at the droid at first, then immediately lost the smile and slid backward slightly in her chair. “Is..is it one of them?” she asked in a loud, frightened whisper.
“Deetee’s my friend, wouldn’t dream of hurting anybody.” He patted the droid’s head, and he emitted a mechanical purr in response. “So who are you worried about?”
Emma seemed to calm slightly. But Janice spoke up. “Damn droids…” She grumbled, but not too loudly. “It’s like they got eyes in the back of their heads. Normal droids ain’t that smart…even the data-ey ones..”
“Something that’s cheap and strong, but work would be better.”
She makes an effort to say it with a bit of a frustrated huff.
“Fresh into town, but if I can’t find work I’ll be forced out of here.”
Nicfer slides the paltry sum of credits over to the bartender before pulling her arm back to use it to proper her head up.
“At this rate I’m going to have to go back to scrounging for shiny scraps in junk piles.”
The act didn’t need to be good to have an immediate affect on the barkeep. Something about the way the Zeltron was presenting herself openly, the honesty just seemed so sincere.
“Names Tessa,” she said easily, seemingly at perfect ease with the new stranger. “And only work here is the mines I’m afraid. But they only come by every so often looking for new workers. That said…”
She grabbed a bottle with some blue liquid in it. She poured slowly and then slid the tumbler with a few ice cubes towards the Zeltron. “If you’re looking to get in on the next shift, they’re going to be heading out via shuttle just before nightfall. If you head north of town, turn left, you’ll see a man named Jaret, and his young lad, Willim. Tell Jaret: "Tessa makes the worst blue hyperdrive of any bartender in the system.” She chuckled a bit. “He’ll know it means I sent ya’”
Nicfer looks down at the glass that was just poured for her, but not before the bartender caught the smile she flashed up. Time to play up happy yet bashful new girl.
“Ar-…Are you sure?” She whispered, acting like she was worried someone might steal the information given to her. “I.. I don-… How can I thank you? This-thi-this seem too good to be true.”
Nicfer almost hops out of her chair as she talks. Like a child finding out she’s going to her favorite toy store. She settles back down and mouths the phrase “Tessa makes a the worst blue hyperdrive of any bartender in the system.” a few times to help commit it to memory before downing the drink in front of her before finally look up at Tessa, still smiling.
Tessa simply smiled, then threw a wink at the Zeltron.
Then she seemed to melt back into her original demeanor. Bleak.
Nicfer sits at the bar, happy with herself that she got a great lead. Team Super Secret Spies just proved their worth which always feels good. With her job done, she glances around the bar to see what happened to her partner Adem. She was worried she was going to have to march him out again. She was also curious if he was able to deal with the cameras.
She was no longer curious as she caught him at a table with two women. ‘Please be working on collecting information and not collecting working women’s information.’
“What makes you say that?” the Umbaran asked, sitting back and glancing over to Nicfer, who seemed to be getting results. “I know a thing or two about droids.”
“Look, ya didn’t here it from us, but the Overlords droids are just, creepy. Faster reaction times than I e'ver seen from a BX, and I used to work in a repair shop.” her and Emma both seemed to quiet down as they sat back. “So, what’s your name? You look like the way I prefer my caf: light and sweet,” she flashed a lopsided grin.
“Sorry, I’m engaged.” Adem said, eyes looking to Nicfer for a non-verbal affirmation. “To… a Kuat heiress, actually, my accountant and I are just scouting material sources for the yacht we’re building for the honeymoon.”
He gulped, seeing Nicfer’s expression and aura grow irritated again.
Janice blinked a few times, then snorted but covered it up by going back to her mug. Emma just blinked and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“Anything else you might say about the droids? See where they come from? We’ve got an appointment at the mines, you see.”
Both girls seemed to turn away, wanting to be left alone.
“Enjoy your drinks, ladies. Let’s get going.” Adem got up to leave, keeping his face angled away from the cameras as best he could. DT-3 gave off a confused trill.
Seeing as Adem’s conversation might have run its course, Nicfer gets up and makes her way out of the bar, making sure to pass in front of Adem’s vision. Nicfer does not make eye contact, but she jerks her thumb towards the door at hip level, hoping Adem sees it and follows. Once outside, she looks for an alley or side street where maybe they could get a moment or two to discuss the next steps with less prying eyes.
“I can climb.” Cole spoke, expression flat as he turned to begin the clamber up.
The Mirialan sighed.
Watching as the human began climbing hand over hand Korvis couldn’t help but lean over to his remaining companion and whispered, “I guess now wouldn’t be a good time to mention I have a jetpack.”
“We’ll save that for later. He can climb,” Ruka deadpanned back in a whisper that was not much of a whisper.
Cole would have jibed back if this wasn’t a lot harder than he thought this would be. Not in terms of complicated route, simply just being quite a steep ledge to haul one-self over when said one is used to urban warfare where there’s stairs. And the ledge isnt crumbling with sand making the grip require a lot more force.
The Human got up to the top, and sat down heavily in the nook of it. Cole was doing his best to regulate his breathing so it wouldn’t be audible to the two below.
It was a damned good view though.
Hearing wheezing, Ruka called up, “Alright, Farrow?”
“Yes.” Came the strained and clearly out of breath voice of Cole.
Who was now glaring at the scenery.
“Aw, come on, I don’t deserve that,” the Umbaran said, reading Nicfer’s exasperated mood. “That was a better cover than none at all. Let’s keep it going and see what the mine can do for us.”
“Uh huh,” muttered the Mirialan, then spoke up again, “What’ve you got up there?”
“Well, did you take care of the cameras, or just flirt with girls?”
Nicfer really wasn’t looking for an answer as she raised up from the wall she was leaning on.
“Look, I’m not agaist a bit of work with a but of play, just make sure you got the work in first.”
She punches him in the shoulder as she passes Adem by. Too light to do damage, but hard enough to not be friendly.
“You gonna radio team door kicker about our next moves?”
“That would help, wouldn’t it?” Adem tapped his comlink. “Recon team, checking in. We have a lead on the mines we’re following up on. Intel says the target has modified the combat droids in the area to have sensor capabilities well beyond spec, so keep your guards up.”
Ruka’s shoulders minutely loosened in relief to have his comm ping returned. He spoke into his own device. “Copy that, Bol'era. Good work, both of you. We’ll keep eyes up. What’s this following up entail?”
This accompanied a gesture at Cole to be careful, a sort of get down stay low.
Adem looked at Nicfer and nodded, quickening their pace to a brisk, not quite yet suspicious walk. “We’ve got a contact and a code, so whoever it is, they’re very cloak-and-dagger about whatever they’re doing in that mine other than mining.”
“And do you have any idea what that is? How’s the townspeople? They seem hurt, scared?” He paused, trying to order questions, think…tactically. “And where are you meeting? Don’t go off anywhere you can be trapped or isolated. Better we just regroup and lose the intel than that.”
Nicfer keeps pace with Adem and tries to keep up with at least Adem’s side of the negotiation. The rest of her attention was checking for tails and any signs of trouble a head on their path.
Listening to him talk, Nicfer tried not to crack a small grin.
‘We got a contact. WE got a code. By the time we get back to the ship, he’ll talk of how he was able to persevere though my incompetence. Can’t be too mad, it’s what I would’ve done if I wanted to impress these folks. If he wants the credit, I ain’t gonna stop him.’
Cole was already low enough to not really see the gesture.
He called down to Ruka, “Nothings coming after us, all clear for now. An’ don’t worry. I’m down.”
New Terris North Part of town
Nicfer and Adem approached the location they’d been directed to. Sure enough, there was a man with tanned skin, short hair, and narrow eyes. Beside him was a small boy, maybe seven or eight, holding a datapad. It seemed likely to be Jaret and his son Willim.
There was also a small gathering of four to five people, all who looked ready for a days work. This was the first and closest thing to excitement either Arconan had seen from the town since entering.
“Alright, alright,” Jaret (they assumed) started to calm people down. “I’ve got four openings left, but think real carefully because whoever goes today, won’t get to go next week.”
The gathered townspeople murmured and discussed that concept with fervor.
This gave a small opening for Nicfer and Adem to approach Jaret, if they were going to.
“Taking applications from off-worlders? We won’t be here in a week anyway,” Adem interjected, hand raised. He looked over at Nicfer, hoping to mutually agree on a cover this time, the third being the charm.
He was counting on the old stereotype of Umbaran doonium miners, though whether that information ever made it this far from his homeworld was an optimistic guess.
Jaret narrowed his eyes, squinting a bit. “Hm, that depends. Haven’t seen you ‘round before, and we don’t usually send off fresh-faces…”
“You Jaret.” Nicfer matched the posture and almost the same facial expression. Narrowing her eyes and leaning forward so she could whisper in his ear. “Tessa makes the worst blue hyperdrive of any bartender in the system.”
She pulls back and quirks an eyebrow to see if there is any recognition of the code phrase she just gave. She followed up, “I didn’t think it was that bad, but I don’t mix drinks and haven’t been accused of having good taste either.” She glances over at Adem, “As shown by who I’m traveling with.” She gives Adem a playful wink to help keep things light.
Jaret’s entire posture seemed to change as Nicfer mentioned the drink from Tessa. “Yeah, last one I had from her nearly made me shit for days, ah-ha-ha!” he chuckled. Behind the chuckle, though, was a serious look in his eyes as he leaned down, borrowed his son’s Datapad and made a few quick button taps before handing it back to him.
Wilem frowned aggressively and then went back to playing whatever game it was that was installed on the datapad.
“Alright, you two can head in. Transport’s around the corner and goes wheels up in 15 minutes,” he shook the Zeltron’s hand and then leaned in a bit towards her ear.
“Good luck,” he whispered. When he leaned back, he was back to being his usual self, turned, and started to bicker with one of the other townspeople that was whining about something.
“` Adem and Nicfer were able to get on the transport and blended in. Mostly because no one else seemed to really be paying attention to them, focused on other things and talking about the "work” being done in the mines.
When they arrived, they were processed and given some datapads to fill out. They were then directed to where they would be working, and where they would be staying [FACILITIES], and what the tasks would include.
Mostly, it seemed pretty straight forward. They were to sort the mined ore into piles: one for usable, one for not usable that would then be deposited…somewhere likely not at the benefit of the townspeople or environment. “`
From his vantage point, Cole Farrow could see that the camp's rotation was moving without much variance. He supposed that was one of the benefits of droids- they didn't need water or food breaks.
Nicfer looks around where they’re at in the mine and watches to see how everyone else moves about, keeping her eyes peeled for guards down where they were.
“Guess it is time we looked around and got to work. I would hate to be still trying to get my bearings and miss helping with a certain delivery.” It wasn’t her most subtle double-speak, but then again if no one is on to you then no one knows to listen when you talk weirdly. “Let’s check out what they have for mining supplies. Best to grab the good stuff since they might pay based on production. Some power tools or controlled charges could make all the difference in our pay.”
She hoped that Adem was picking up what she was putting down. ‘ Explore, find things to cause damage and distractions.’
This wasn’t Adem’s first time in a mine, but it had been his first in a while. The air inside was unsurprisingly stale and cold.
“Tools would be best,” he mused, “with charges down here, we’ll blow our hands off at best and bring the cave down on us all at worst. Ask me how I know.”
As they walked deeper into the caves, tools in hand, Adem felt threads of the Force as he passed through them, as if they walking through spider webs. They were many, so many that finding their nexus was unlikely, but this was without doubt the work of their quarry.
The mining droids in the tunnels seemed inconspicuous to the untrained eye, going about their functions as expected, but Adem noticed that they were scanning each organic miner that passed them by, some even repeatedly.
A few even seemed to be moving in a way less indicative of mining work and more like a patrol pattern, moving up and down the tunnels at a deliberate pace.
“I’m not looking for something to take heads and hands off. I just want to rattle some tunnels and make guards shift positions.”
Nicfer didn’t wanna ask. It was a mix of didn’t care and she was sure her plan would work, but the words of team player kept echoing in her mind. And maybe she had been a bit of a bitch this whole time and he hadn’t complained too much…
“…So how do you know?” She muttered as she tried to think of a back up to blowing stuff up.
“They say it was worse before I was born, but doonium mining was never the safest. More than once I’d heard of crews getting buried, and not just in one tunnel, but neighboring ones too.”
“Then without those kinds of party favors, how do we plan on surprising the folks here so our friends have an easier time? Guess a rucks with the folk here could do the same thing, but that might get messy with the others around.”
As she wanders the mines with her lacky in crime, an idea begins to form. Outlaws that employ droids and non-organics might rely a bit heavily on computers and other automated systems…
“Ok, no loud party favors. Maybe we look for computer terminals and see if there is anything fun to play with on their local net.”
Moving out from where they are, Nicfer spots a terminal, complete with droid guards. Nicfer knocks Adem in the chest with the back of her hand to point out the terminal. Again, probably a bit too hard.
“So. Distraction or slicing? I mean I know what I’d prefer, but team player and all that.”
“See what I can do to draw them off.” Adem peered down the tunnel at the droids around the terminal. Their look was familiar, mining droids with no armament to speak of. Attacking them outright seemed disproportionate.
“Just don’t get too reckless. I can’t slice and save you too.” She hisses. Though she does seem concerned.
Adem focused himself, fixing his eyes on a group of stalactites hanging over the shallow water nearby. Around it he wrapped a crushing telekinetic hand and squeezed, slowly breaking it free from the roof of the cave and sending it crashing loudly into the water below.
The Jedi hugged the wall, watching the droids shift their scanners to follow the noise. Their security protocols demanded they investigate, and their habits as mining droids meant any new rock samples took some priority regardless. The droids trundled away from the console.
“After you,” Adem said, feeling he’d earned the self-satisfied smile he wore. He gestured towards the console.
As soon as the droids being to trundle off, Nicfer moves. Keeping low and moving as quickly and as quietly as she can. She pulls the tablet and cables for her slicing kit as she approaches. She wanted all the time she could get that Adem has so graciously provided for her. That and she was unsure what she was going to find in the system, so more time meant more poking around.
“Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!” Nicfer hisses. This system was way more fortified that she was expecting and the code she was executing was failing just as often as it was succeeding. Someone had to be actively watching the system. Running out of time, Nicfer went with the spaghetti method, throwing up lines of pretty generated attack code and seeing what stuck.
She got about half way through her list before her tablet glowed red and showed she had been booted from the system. Unplugging, she looked back over to where the droids were to see if she had time to sneak back to Adem.
“` The droids were still searching for the source of the disturbance.
This left a clear path west, over a bridge, to where the door to the base entrance was. ”`
Instead of meeting up, Nicfer points to the bride to Adem and then to the bridge to the base before making her way that way herself. She could relay what she had managed to kill when they met back up in a second.
Following the Zeltron slicer, Adem tapped his comlink to radio an update.
“Recon team, checking in. We’ve got entry, start your approach and we’ll link up with you ASAP.”
“Gate is down and I got one turret, but that’s it.” She relays though Adem. With a sigh, she pulls her blaster. It looks like she really doesn’t want to say what’s on her mind, but she swallows hard and seems to steel her resolve. “Wanna do something very dumb for all the right reason?”
Adem produces his lightsaber and smiles, DT-3 beeping confidently. “That’s the job, isn’t it? Watch my back, Deetee.”
“Yeah well, this job is to get the other turrets pointed inward so team doesn’t have s subtle bone in their body can do maximum damage on entry. Which means the turret needs targets…” Nicfer still looks like she hates this plan.
“And here I was worried I wasn’t going to get any deflection practice in.”
Nicfer just rolls her eyes, “Maybe you should’ve been on the door kicking team.”
“Copy, Recon, we are on approach. We’ll go in loud. Stay clear so we’re not shooting at you.”
That directive given, the Mirialan waved Korvis and Cole forward, taking off at a run for the approach. He was already thinking of an aerial charge and telekinetic landing into the middle of the fray when it occurred to him, as it did more and more these days, to rely on his teammates and their skills. His comm tabbed back to the others this time.
“Consul, you wanna show off that jetpack and beskar, give ‘em a flyby?”
Cole began getting down from the watch point, glad that going down was usually easier than up.
It was also nice for things to be finally happening.
Heading in from the north of the base Korvis fired up his jetpack, and flew down from the mountain perch that had been on. He swept over the wall and kept just above the rooftops to make himself a harder target. Near the main gate a BX droid had his back to Korvis. Obviously it didn’t think any threats would come from inside the base. It never even registered him on its sensors before the Consul let loose two blaster bolts that caught the droid in its arm.
“` The droids arm just came off, and with it, the smoldering remains of the barrel of its blaster.
"What the…? Oh. no.” the BX droid droned as it stared mutely at its lost arm. “`
Adem’s silvery eyes briefly strained to see through the sudden light of the surface, but saw the large enforcer droid posted on the bridge ahead, and knew his window to strike was brief.
His mind swept up in the surging current of the Force, and he rushed the large droid down, his lightsaber sharply snapping to life. The Umbaran embraced his desire to win, and in a liquid movement he slashed the glowing yellow blade into the surprised droid, scoring a deep cut in its armor.
Nicfer charged with Adem but instead of keeping up with his speed she kept back, letting loose with blaster fire. She was brining her shots target but made the mistake of getting tunnel vision and missed the cable going across the walkway. Her last volley was way off target as she almost eats it on the bridge. Her shots impacting against the disabled turret, the pit droids operating it saying some truly hurtful things about her lineage. ‘Sometimes I regret learning binary…’ Unable to admit her own failings, Nicfer fell back her winning personality.
“Adem! WATCH MY FIRING LINES!”
She said it, but didn’t feel great about it.
“Noted!” The Umbaran shouted back, squaring up to the enforcer droid, with DT-3 trilling at it defiantly.
Cole arrived alongside Ruka, and kept running until he had cover beside some form of tank. It was a large vehicle and could soak some shots.
Rounding the corner with the sniper rifle, the Human peered down the scope at one of the IG droids. They all bore weaponry, and with the intel they had were priority targets. After a moment to aim, he shot, the bolt blasting through the droid’s arm. The droid was active yet, but it wasn’t going to be shooting for a while.
“` The IG-droid glanced down at its sudden lack of arm, and therefore weapon. Its servos creaked as it looked down, then up in the direction of where the shot came from.
"Oh bother, it seems we are under attack,” it said. “Could anyone give me a hand?” “`
Rockets ignited, blaster bolts began firing, and across the bridge sabers flashed and Nicfer shouted. Ruka, sprinting forward, inhaled the Force and leapt, seamless, one heartbeat to another. His form soared over the tank Cole ducked behind and nearly higher than Korvis flying before reaching the pinnacle of his arc and descending to land amidst the center of the encampment.
A flick of his violet eyes was all it took to lift the farthest IG droid into the air and rocket it the still armed other unit of the same kind. As the two chassis crashed together in a clanging burst, the Mirialan’s saber floated up beside him, blue blade activating, and he drew a matched set of emerald daggers into each hand.
“` The IG-droid on top of the warehouse was confused. One minute it was minding its own business, trying to count the individual rocks its photoceptors could see while on guard. The next, it was flying through the air by an unseen, unkind, hand.
The droid crashed into its fellow IG-droid, and the two went down in a tangle of awkward droid-limbs and clattering clangs.
"We have to stop meeting like this,” the droid that ended up on top of the other commented.
The bottom droid was stunned, and the top droid would need to scramble back to their feet. “`
The pit droid, still frustrated at Nicfers transgression, attacked by running forward and swinging a metal arm at her knee.
“` The Bounty Droid, code named ‘Hax 2.0’ spun to face its Jedi annoyed by the slash to its plating.
"Ah, what do we have here,” he droned. “A Jedi…fascinating…”
The droid charged electricity into its fist and slammed it down into the ground, trying to smash into the Umbarran that had attacked. “`
Nicfer tried to fight off her ankle bitting attacker with a stray kick while still trying to provide fire support for Adem. She was sure this next shot was going to be put right in the droid arm join! Just get clear Ade-
BANG
Nicfer felt like she just slammed her shin into a dursteel coffee table. She winced and her eyes watered as she looked down to see the droid had made it past her stray kick and connected with her leg.
Anger welling up inside her, she turns on her pint sized attacker. “You want my attention, you got it.” She growled, “I’m gonna weld your joins solid and use you as the hood ornament for my star ship!”
Her glare became even clearer when she drew her saber and ignited it in her off hand.
The hulking droid’s movements were ponderous and easy to read, but incredibly dangerous nonetheless. The Force surged through Adem’s body like a lightning rod, and he deftly flipped several meters back from the enforcer. Upon landing gracefully, Adem saw the crackling crater in the duracrete where he was standing only a moment ago. DT-3 booped lowly, and Adem grinned. He raked a burning crescent into the bridge before his feet.
“Wanna try again?” he called to the droid.
The pit droid almost seemed like it was going to be frightened by the Zeltron's threat. But then its dome head swiveled and it started to laugh in a mechanical fashion.
IG-droid 1, despite not having its arm and weapon, was still a professional. It drew a side blaster and and fired it in a spray at the Marilan.
Ruka kicked backwards off the ground, flipping high over the salvo of plasma fire and landing back in a crouch.
“Korvis, Farrow, covering fire!” he barked at a battlefield yell. “Bol'era, Nicfer, heading to you!”
The bounty droid stamped one of its feet, shaking the bridge and bracing for the next attack. Immersed in the flow of the Force, Adem pounced forward, rushing beneath one of the droid’s arms and scoring another deep gouge through its plating. Unable to secure a final blow, Adem backpedaled a short distance away from it. He gestured with his off-hand, attempting to project a slowing field around the droid, in hopes of buying time to formulate the killing blow.
“` The Bounty Droid seemed like it was slowing down. Its movement becoming lagged and jinky. But then, for some unseen reason, it started to move again like normal.
A partial success. Something, it seemed, was protecting the droid from the attempted Force-usage. ”`
Turning quickly hearing Ruka call for covering fire, Korvis came to a sliding landing on his feet and turns the Jetpack off once meter above the ground. The closest droid is another BX series. Not really taking the time to aim Korvis fires off 4 shots in quick succession. Scoring a glancing blow on the droid, Korvis did what he wanted to mostly. which was get the droid attention.
“Go!” he shouted “We got these.”
“` The droid responded, in turn, by firing back. Surely not shooting first had its benefits?
The bolts bounced harmlessly off of Korvis’ beskar.
"Oh, biscuits…” “`
“` The third IG-droid, meanwhile, was finally recovered and back to its feet. It’s head swiveled, it sorted out its blaster rifle, and yelled "SUPPRESSING FIRE” in a mechanical drone.
The wild spray of blaster bolts…missed Ruka by a mile. It wasn’t even close. Instead, the bolts tore into the first IG-droid that Cole had targeted, causing it to spasm, twitch, and collapse in a pile of smoldering metallic limbs. “`
Due to the angles, getting closer was becoming an imminent necessity.
Farrow, leaving his cover and crossing the road diagonally, brought the sniper rifle up. In a moment of pure instinct, he let loose a single bolt from the blaster.
It struck the second BX droid in the head, and before it hit the floor the Human was tucked back behind cover.
With Korvis covering and Farrow blasting heads off of things, Ruka bolted directly for Adem, preternatural speed making him a blur of motion to the IG units’ photoreceptors. A flicker of split will had one dagger exchanged in his palm for his floating saber, and then he was slashing it down two-handed across the other droid’s dorsal chassis.
“` The two IG-droids could barely react. Their reflexes were too slow, so Ruka blew right past them.
The Mirilan’s strike connected cleanly with the Bounty Droid’s crimson-colored chasis, which was now starting to look very saber-scarred and ragged.
"Another…yes, the ‘green Ranger’ the boss mentioned…” it droned with almost too-human of a voice, spinning now on the Mirilan and turning its back to the Umbarran. “`
Frustrated and annoyed that she was having to fight a pit droid (and was currently losing) Nifcer gave up on her plans of having a new hood ornament for her ship and instead chose to bring her saber blade crashing down on the wee droid that had the hex-nuts to dare try to laugh at her.
The droid should have been paying attention, not laughing with its head turned. It could only see the glow reflected off the ground before the blade bifurcated the droid and bit heavily into the ground.
“Who’s laugin’ now you hunk of scrap!”
“` Hax 2.0 wasted little time in unloading a burst of blaster bolts at Ruka at close range from the turret located on its shoulder.
"Dodge this!” “`
Just after, IG-droid two fired off a sucked shot, but not with the greatest aim.
And dodge he did, the so-called ‘Green Ranger,’ epitaph getting a grimace out of the Mirialan as the rapid-fire of a turret less than a foot away sprayed at him. Still he spun away from one shot that grazed his cape, pinwheeling his lightsaber to block or turn them away into the ground and walls around them.
“You built this thing to look like the last one. Remember me?” He intoned at it, speaking through to its master he was sure would be somewhere on the other end, connected. “We told you we’d get you in cuffs.”
There was no audible response, but Ruka could sense... something in the Force that seemed to be a...high pitched laugh?
The enforcer droid’s back was turned, and Adem seized his opportunity. Despite the assault the machine had weathered from his lightsaber, no apparent weakness presented itself, beyond one more surprise attack. The Umbaran pounced for the droid’s shoulders, his yellow blade singing as it carved through its shoulder cannon.
Even in his armor Korvis could swear he felt the shot whiz past his head as the BX droid suddenly lost his head. As it slumped to the ground the surprised Consul turned around. There he caught the last glimpse of Farrow before he ducked back behind cover.
“Nice shot, Farrow” he called out into the comm unit mounted in his helmet. Not waiting for a reply he set his sights on the IG droids bearing down on Ruka. Drawing a bead on the closest one korvis quickly pulled the trigger and….. nothing. He tried several times but the thing must have malfunctioned.
Drawing out his trusty spear Korvis changed tactics and charged the droid. It registered him and the metal head swiveled a complete 180 degrees to face him. Using the back of the shaft Korvis still caught the droid off guard sweeping its legs out from under it. The droid landed with a loud thud as the spear twirled above Korvis head and he brought the blade down piercing the head of the droid all the way through.
"NOOOO I NEEEDED THAT!" the droid droned as it lamented the loss of its shoulder blaster.
‘I hope no one saw that pit droid get me. If someone say anything there just might be a friendly fire incident.’
Nicfer still riding the wave of anger and embarrassment that a pit droid managed to hit her runs after Adem and towards the enforcer droid. She holster her blaster in the rush up to make sure she would not be impeded as she went to unleash the boiling rage inside her on this massive droid before her. Seeing Adem go high for the shoulder cannon, Nicfer put on a last bit of speed to slide and go low. Striking at the droids legs as she slid by.
“Nice moves Consul.” Cole commented back, levelling his sniper up over the group.
The Human, hearing the destruction that continued, had ran down into view. There were only two droids remaining active on the ground, but they were both surrounded. Considering how quickly the rest had gone down they were of little concern and certainly not a high enough priority to fire into melee combat. One missed beat and the wrong head is being blown off.
So, he took a moment to breathe. The shot rung out, and hit target. Not as impressive shot as the previous, but the angle was awkward.
As Nicfer slides by the droid she lashes out with her saber with more emotion and instincit than any real form and was rewards with a shower of sparks and the grating of metal. As the droid rotated to see what just happened, each step was met by the sound of metal rubbing and grinding against itself. While a mechanics nightmare, it was like music to Nicfer’s ears.
“` "AHHHHH MY BITS!” Hax 2.0 cried out in a slightly eerily human but still robotic voice.
The Bounty Droid pivoted, spun, and hissed, trying to keep balance, but there was damage to the hinge of the legwork. “Master…forgive me…” “`
With Farrow’s shot flying over to hit the droid at the turret and Nicfer and Bol'era gone high and low on Hax, Ruka took the opportunity to clear their field slightly more. A flick of two fingers off the grip of his saber and a force of will sent the IG droid backwards and toppling into the crevasse behind it that the bridge crossed. A series of clanks echoed against each side of the rock as it fell.
“` "Nooooooooo” the cry faded off and got quieter and quieter.
Hax 2.0 realized his robotic goose had been cooked. He felt something pull at him through…the Force? But Droids couldn’t feel the Force, that was the energy that connected all living things…and droids weren’t…alive. Were they?
But the command came either way. It wasn’t through radio waves or a terminal. It was as if the voice spoke directly into the droid. “`
You know what must be done, darling
”` Hax 2.0 nodded, and initiated his destruct protocol.
His chassis started to glow, energy coalescing in his power core. Circuits rewrote themselves and became overwhelmed. Electricity started to surge around his body.
“But what about the Courstant-shattering kaboom?” Hax asked, just before his chassis detonated into an ochre ball of flame that sent shrapnel flying. “`
It flashed between synapses, in marrow and bone. An impression of blooming heat. Slashing light. Metal screams. Slicing, embedding, puncturing.
He knew. He’d died and lived this way before. He could see the shape of it in Shadow, future phantoms: one figure clear away, another pale and dodging clear, but not all of them: shards ricocheting off beskar, cutting fuel lines and cables; razors spearing into pink flesh. Blood and fire.
And he wouldn’t let that happen. Not to the mercenary Consul or to the Knight under his care, both strangers, it didn’t matter; they were lives to protect.
So he planted his feet and pushed.
Saber clattered, both hands raised, palms out. It wasn’t gentle, but it wasn’t harming either, shoving Nicfer and Korvis away to safety. Impacts slammed into his side, and one leg buckled while he lurched, a hot spread of liquid and a gasp of pain, and the motion carried on, force and the detonation blast toppling him ragdolling backwards from the droid’s husk, rolling to a stop somewhere closer to Cole than not.
A sensation of danger skittered across Adem’s skin, like walking through a spiderweb he hadn’t seen. A murky premonition of hot air and the acrid smell of melting durasteel and burning plastoids compelled him to turn tail and run from the combat droid, wrap DT-3 in his arms and leap away to get himself free.
“` And just like that, the base was suddenly quiet. The only sounds piercing the arid air were the sparks of disabled droids and machinery. Faint hisses of of smoke from the battered chassis’.
No other threats presented themselves. Until the silence was pierced by a transport ship lowering to hover.
To anyone who was versed on their history with the Clone Wars, it was a reconditioned and retrofitted C-9979 landing craft…used to transport and deploy B1 "clanker” droids by the Separtist.
From an open panel, looking down at the gathered intruders, a man with slicked back, silky black hair, effeminate features, fair skin, and devious eyes became visible. “`
It was obvious to Korvis that the droid self destructed. How he escaped the blast radius though was beyond him. One second he was preparing to strike out against another IG droid and the next he found himself sprawled along the ground coming to.
“Report in everyone.” he yelled into his comlink. His ears still ringing in his head.
Cole tilted his head away from the ear that had the comlink in it, but tapped it down and responded, “Seems clear for now.”
The Human kept the blaster in hand, but angled toward the ground with his finger firmly placed on the metal above the trigger mechanism. He closed the gap between himself and the group, but kept his gaze on the base. Just because it was quiet didn’t mean there was nothing occurring behind the walls.
Nicfer could feel.. something in the force enveloping her as the droid went critical. By instinct, she fought it, as all of her “corrective lessons” up to this point were force based. But in the heat of battle and taken by surprise her own will was found wanting and she was tossed clear of the blast. Coming to a tumbling halt… somewhere? The whole thing was disorienting and her back was now matching her shin and ego, bruised and painful to the touch but fine medically speaking.
She took this moment to stay lying down and catch a breath. No doubt the team saw her sail through the air with the greatest of ease and Nicfer knew she would not let an opportunity like that slide without a few remarks about grace and poise. Maybe if she just stayed still, they’d forget about her.
"Report in everyone."
No dice.
“Experimental projectile Nicfer still kicking. You’ll have to try harder to get rid of me.”
‘Own it. If you own it, it takes the sting out of their jabs.’ She still reminded on her back looking skyward for the moment, not wanting to match any glances from anyone. “I could’ve made it on my own. I didn’t need saving,” she muttered trying to convince herself.
Ruka groaned, pushing himself back up while his vision was still spinning somewhat from being thrown; but the Dark answered him as generously as it always did, like breathing, steadying his body even while he bled.
“Not trying to get rid of you,” the Mirialan grunted back to Nicfer, relieved everyone seemed alright. But that didn’t mean they were safe or the job was over. Amethyst eyes snapped up and fixed on the shuttle above them, narrowing. He called, “Eyes up! Watch the droids and brace your minds.”
His weapons lifted from where they’d hit the ground in various places with him, floating back around him at the ready.
”`
(Message deleted)
The transport circled with dramatic flare, getting closer to the forward base that the Brotherhood’s “Envoy Corps” (was that new? It had to be new) had cleared out. How had they found him, even in this remote world? Could it have been a coincidence? No, neither of the boss’ (former boss he correct himself) offspring seemed connected. So how…?
Sylvian Blaine shook his head in disappointment. There was nothing to be done but to fight back now. Hax 2.0 had failed even in his second death. Perhaps Hax 3.0 would do better…but alas.
He finished the touches on his eyeliner and fluttered his long eyelashes. He needed no mirror- for he knew he looked good. Only the best for a reunion with the lovely Mirilan who had gotten away.
And, one of those who had taken Sylvian’s mentor and muse away from him. For that, there was blood to paid.
“Go,” he commanded, and the ship descended, just north of the Envoy Corps party.
The repurposed Clone Wars era ship lowered and dropped two racks of equally archaic but still functional B1 battle droids. Their domed heads
“Roger-Roger,” the first pair acknowledged in their monotonous, robotic tones.
“Steven-steven,” the second pair chirped in.
“No, it’s Roger, not Steven, we’ve been over this” the third set corrected.
Steven, Roger, whoever,“ the fourth set sighed in a mechanical drone that was almost human.
"Focus,” the fifth pair scolded.
The rack disengaged and all 10 B1 droids touched down and lifted their stock issued blaster rifles.
After the rack rotated, a final droid deployed: spider like with two blaster cannons for arms. It tucked into a roll and then when it came out of it deployed a small blue spherical shield. The Droideka did not join the conversation, but it need not have.
For it was then, and only then, that Sylvian made his dramatic entrance.
“Yooooo hoooooo,” Sylvian called out, voice boisterous with the practice of a trained stage performer. He landed deftly on his tip-toes with the aid of the Force. He wore a vibrant colored coat, leggings, and, oddly, had exotic feathers fanning out from his back. At his side, he cracked a lightwhip, the weapon famous from Zygerrian Slavers.
“Welcome to the main event. I, The Great Sylvian, Master of the Empty Eyes, will be your host for the evening. Please, do enjoy!”
The first two sets of B-1 Droids advanced, with their focus set on the Jedi and Mandalorian. They raised their blaster rifles and started to fire on their position with surprisingly precise aim.
More distracted than he might care to admit by the surprising presence of a lightwhip, Adem was caught off guard by the B-1s. Such accuracy was not what these droids were known for, and the plasma bolts screaming towards him gave little time to speculate on how these droids achieved their deadly aim. Sweeping the lightsaber blade across his body, the surprised Umbaran’s deflection alignment was uncharacteristically poor, with one bolt bouncing backwards across the shoulder of his sword arm. “Bweeeeep!” DT-3 ducked clear, and the stinging shock of even a graze from the battle droid shook the wincing Umbaran’s concentration. The next bolt bounced clear of him, now sharply angled in Ruka’s direction. The pang of embarrassment stung far worse than any blaster shot. Adem imagined that somewhere, the many Jedi who fought in the Clone Wars were laughing at him.
Ruka’s reflexes were refined by far worse than stray blaster ricochet; he twitched aside of the shot with quicksilver movement, his own saber floating freely, ready to bat aside more fire.
“Steady,” he encouraged Adem into their comms, not entirely taking his eyes off of Sylvian above. They narrowed. “On the ground, watch that droideka! We’ve got to get close. Farrow, Korvis, cover! And Farrow? You watch our backs close. If that franger gets in our heads, it’ll be like the caxqettes all over again.”
Caught in the middle of the street, Korvis was just a hair too slow. He had heard Ruka’s warning and though he was fast for someone his size there was just too much ground to cover as the droids let loose their first volley of blaster fire.
He managed to stay ahead of the shots until the very end, catching a direct hit to his shoulder. The force of the blast knocked him sideways as he slid in behind a shipping crate. The scorch mark on his left pauldron made him thankful for good craftsmanship and Beskar.
Nicfer’s short little daydream was cut short by the lander, droids, blaster fire, and the shouts of alarm in binary. Kicking up to her feet, her blaster was back in hand as she moved to reinforce where Adem was. She kept low, only peeking out of cover to blast one of the droids she could get a good angle on. The one firing on Adem. If she could drop this clunker and Korvis could drop his, they would be in a perfect position to push forward and catch the rest of the droids in a crossfire.
"Strike first, no merc-" the first pair of B-1's chirped mechanically. They were cut off, however, by Nicfers well-aimed shots, her salvo of blaster bolts ripping into the left-most droids chasis and downing it, verily.
Thinking to remove two birds with one stone, or at the very least distract Sylvian from concentrating enough to manipulate any of their minds, Ruka thrust or his hand and focused on the droideka. He willed it to be pushed, to fly for Sylvian, but nothing happened. The Mirialan glanced at his own limb in confusion, and then grimaced back towards their enemies. Perhaps Sylvian was suppressing him? But it didn’t feel like it.
Cole had settled into the doorway of the building, using the cover to hi advantage. Sadly the low position also gave cover to the target.
He took a shot at the tech weaver, eyes narrowed. But between all of the droids and his own positioning the shot went to far up and the red flash teetered off into the distance before disapating.
Cursing under his breath the Human jumped. Grasping onto the edge of the doorway and hauling himself up. There were better ways to have done this, he realised however as the blaster clattered against the building.
And then as he scaled it, the round shape almost caused him to slip straight back off. In a panicked moment, Cole managed to scrabble to a more secure place but the movement was far from subtle.
Ah well, he’d been shot before. It was bound to happen again.
His shoulder was fine but a touch sore as Korvis evaluated himself behind the crate. Just another inch or two and it would have caught him between the armor plates and would have been a real disaster. Seeing Nicfer take out the first droid Korvis pulled the trigger on his modified Bryar pistol. He waited until it was just below maximum charge before he ducked out of cover. In one swift move he popped out from behind his crate and let the overcharged blast loose.
The Droid didn’t even know what had hit it as the bolt caught it square in the chest. sending it hurling backwards from the impact it fell fell motionless on the ground a gaping hole in the center of its chest.
“` The third set of droids advanced and tried to get vindication on the armored Mandalorian who downed one of their rank. "No retreat, no surrender!”
They fired. “`
Pinned down Korvis had little options. Running would likely get him hit again and while his Beskar was extremely durable even it wasn’t impervious to damage. Sometimes the smart thing was to do nothing. Even more so because his blaster was still cooling from his overcharged shot and needed a few more seconds to not risk it jamming up or worse blowing up in his hand.
“I’m pinned down. Anyone able to lend a hand?”
“` The fourth set of droids moved in a…somewhat uncharacteristic flanking maneuver? The circled behind the others and came up behind G1 and G1.
"Coverring fire!” they barked in unison as they open fired towards the Umbarran and Zeltron.
Their shots went…not where near intended.
And right into the backs of their remaining two allies.
“Oh no, this must have been what the Clones felt like during Order 66!” “`
“Hang on, Korvis–” Ruka began in response to the man’s call for aid, only to find himself pinned, plasma aimed his direction singeing one of his dreadlocks with the stink of burning hair as he had to drop straight to the ground in order to dodge the headshot. “Kriff!”
Re-centering himself, Adem pounced into action to attack the battle droid while it suppressed Korvis. He rapidly surged towards the droid like a river breaking through a dam. In one fluid sun djem slice, the droid’s blaster was cleaved in two and ceased to fire. The yellow blade then ripped through its legs, crackling and hissing as it took the droid to the ground. Before the B-1 hit the dusty earth, the tip of the lightsaber pierced its chest, neutralizing it.
“Deetee, can you help him?” Adem looked at the droid and nodded in Korvis’s direction. The droid gleefully trilled, and launched a glowing stimulant canister to the beskar-clad warrior.
“To your health!” Adem called.
The Droideka rolled forward, undettered by the Mirilan's attempt to dismiss it. It did not speak, but chose to use its twin blaster arms instead, firing one at the Umbarran and one at the armored Mandalorian.
DT-3 gave off a low trill of concern, and the Umbaran Jedi knew there was no room for error with destroyer droids. He weaved the force through his muscles, his bones down to the marrow. His body moved with uncanny speed and agility, leaping clear of the droid’s line of fire. He vaulted over the edge of the adjacent building and kicked off the edge, sailing over the street to land above and behind the droid, perched on the ledge.
Catching the stim in his hand Korvis immediately injected it into his shoulder. The rush of stimulants flowed into him and the odd rush of them kicking took mere seconds to feel. The crate he was hiding behind was being reduced to slag from the onslaught of the droids. Korvis knew he would have to move to more cover.
Timing his jump out into the open he sprinted across the street just in front of the Drodika’s hail of blaster fire. For all the death those droids can deal it was a good thing they couldn’t turn fast. As he entered the doorway to the small building his Blaster beeped notifying him that it had recharged after his overloaded shot.
Following up with her blaster fire, Nicfer moves to the left circling around the back of the shielded droid while unloading with her blaster at the droid behind it. The open ground made her nervous so she ignited her saber with her free hand. She never trusted the weapons, despite her training with them going well. She always had like blasters. Impersonal, ranged, disposable…. The could always get the job done.
Throwing himself back to his feet in a tumble, Ruka’s hands shot back out. This time, he didn’t try to push the droideka, mysteriously protected as it was. This time, his weapons launched from his palms, puppeted by his will.
A blue pinwheel of spinning plasma screamed through the air, a superheated buzzsaw neatly bisected one of the already damaged droids. It dropped into molten-edged pieces. To the right of its smoking remains, one of the Mirialan’s two emerald daggers sheared across another’s chassis with a crystalline clang. Then, just as quickly, both reversed in midair, summoned back to his grip.
The droids went down in a dramatic flourish, sparkling and hissing and shouting out one liners from random holo dramas like: "I wonder...will I dream?"
Cole carefully took aim, and… missed.
The Human frowned, looking down the scope to check his aim and… did that karker wink at him???
“Here goes nothing.”
The Vizsla Consul rushed out of the doorway standing in the open. Taking aim with his pistol he unloaded into the shields of the Droideka. It was a stupid risk to keep the droid off of Adem long enough for him to take out the droid. Slowly the Droideka started to turn back to face Korvis.
“Now, Adem.” Korvis said into his communicator… or this is gonna hurt really, really bad he thought quietly to himself.
With the droideka swiveling towards Korvis and the Consul bidding Adem to attack, when already sabers and blasters had tried and failed, Ruka knew what to do. He’d fought enough of these machines before, dealt with worse shielding, red crystals and screaming and–
The Mirialan Proconsul dropped his blades from his telekinetic hold and extended one hand, fingers splayed. The Dark Side welled up under his skin, burnishing his eyes gold and pulsing shadowy along his veins, the power building to a storm that leapt from his gloved fingertips. Arcs of white ripped through the air and cracked against the energy shield, but didn’t stop; the lightning continued unabated, and the charge kept growing. The thin plasmic corona around the droideka began to wobble and shudder like water boiling, electricity racing across it, before finally it burst and collapsed, leaving the mechanical killer exposed.
The ionized air was rich with the scent of ozone, crackling with emotion, and the Umbaran Jedi could still feel the effects of Ruka’s attack rippling through the Force. Adem let these ripples break across him, passing through without touching him. Now, release it. He rushed forth, saber buzzing, arms braced to swing, and raked the blade through the droid’s exposed back.
The Droideka was no match for the Umbarrans blade. It screeched as metal rent and tore and its sensors went dull.
As the team whittled down the droid adversaries to the end, it was perhaps curious that Sylvian had remained oddly out of the combat entirely.
And now, it was clear to see what he had been up to.
“Oh, Darlings,” he sang. “Alas, does our encounter end. Before I go, I wanted you to meet a few of my new friends!”
“` From the mines, a cadre of civilians brandishing blasters and other crude weaponry emerged. Each of them had a similar vacant expression in their eyes, their bodies moving as if driven by mechanical instruction.
Their eyes were hallow in a way…blind.
"Protect the master,” the call as they approached the Brotherhood team. “`
Cole adjusted how he was sat, raising onto his elbows. It was rough, the armour thin there to allow for more agile movement so the stone building dug in past the fabric. But the raised stance gave more fluidity, better tracking.
Eye down the scope, one deep breath. Exhale, the trigger pulled-
BANG
Sylvian attempted to throw up his barrier. But he might have overreached. Nothing happened.
So Coles bullet tore into Sylvia’s arm. The man winced, crying out in pain.
“Garreaaahhhhh” he cried out and clutched at his arm.
He tapped a button on his belt and started to float, just as the shuttle from earlier started to do a fly by.
“How DARE you ruin this for me!?”
“Kriff,” Ruka swore as the civilian townspeople appeared, obviously being mind controlled. En masse, too. And Sylvian was still even moving? How powerful was he? Lip curling, an amethyst glare bored a hole at the puppetmaster with all the fervor of Cole’s shot, weighing the decision for just a heartbeat: try to break his control by attacking him, or try to contain the victims with minimal harm.
His mind flashed back to he last time he’d been on Tatooine with a Brotherhood team. Reprimanding the lot of them for their savagery and ordering a court martial on one. Injuries abound, people torn apart and burned to death and exploded, an orphaned boy.
Were the people he was with now any better? Could he trust his own Arconans, the Vizslan Consul? Did it even matter, if Sylvian could order them to just jump off the cliff?
Protect them.
Ruka took off at a run, leaping and twisting overhead of the lead miner with athleticism only the Force and training could give. He came down behind them and then kept going, until he was well situated between their backs, the cliff side, and the bridge. Then, he channeled the Force into his palm and slammed it down into the ground.
The shockwave of energy ballooned forth from that epicenter, not unlike an earthquake. The miners went tumbling, might have gone flying altogether, crashing, bones snapping; he’d done that before. To enemies. In wartime. But now, his other hand made quick, precise gestures, an absolutely concentrated effort of will, reshaping the world as he saw fit. Invisible force countered each person’s momentum, changed their trajectories, cushioned their falls. They still hit the ground, but it would be harmless, save the roil of dust and dirt kicked up around them.
“Contain, don’t hurt them!” he barked the order. “We stop him, we free them.”
With a bit of a force-assisted run and leap, Nicfer launched herself into the air after Sylvian. With the force only getting her so far, she ignited her rocket boots to get her the extra speed and distance to close to her target. She was going to tackle this little loser to the earth. Yeah, it was probably going to hurt them both, but she’d make sure to pay him back for the damage she inflicted on herself.
Or at least that is what she thought she was going to do, but between the dirt and being flung from the explosion and that stupid little pit droid, her left boot failed to function properly and she just couldn’t get the altitude she needed to get Sylvian. She cursed herself for not having her blaster ready to make up for the lack of distance she had. A shot from her stunner might have sent him tumbling back to earth too.
Keeping Ruka’s orders in mind, Adem focused on the cloud of dust where the miners fell to earth. If the insidious control their target had couldn’t be broken, then at least it could be delayed just long enough. Just… stay there… The Umbaran Jedi concentrated on slowing the movement of the small crowd. That’s it, slowly now… The air around them shimmered, out of sync with the flow of time around them.
Taking off at a run Korvis fired up his jetpack. The ground below was a blur as he increased it to full throttle. His target was nearing the boarding ramp but thanks to Nicfer he had been slowed down by the first attempt.
Catching the flamboyant force user Korvis drove his shoulder into the man’s sternum knocking the breath out of him. Korvis wrapped his arms around the surprised foe and dove for the ground. Coming in low and fast the Mandalorian released his hold on the man and threw him at the feet of his companions before using a sharp 180 degree turn to slow himself to an easy landing that he could walk right out of as the jetpack shut off.
“No, stop away fifth, I am inevit-” Sylvian’s cries of pain and disorientation took control. He felt his equilibrium shift, tilt, and his consciousness falter and fade.
The ship that he had been attempting to board started to pull away, the unknown pilot clearly seeing it was time to go. It evacuated quickly, disappearing onto the horizon.
This left the miners in various states of discomfort. They all rose, slowly, and their eyes seemed to return to normal. They looked around in a drunk-like stupor. They looked at their weapons, their surroundings, and immediately threw them to the ground.
The first of them, a woman with dark skin and matted hair, turned to face the group of Brotherhood members.
“T…thank you,” she said, bowing her head towards the tall Mirilan. “You saved us.”
Korvis used his hunting gear to tie up Sylvian. To be extra sure, they blindfolded him and made an improvisational gag. The Mandalorian would likely make sure his stun blaster was always on hand until they were able to turn him over.
”`
Epilogue
Arx Minor Exarch Office 40 ABY
“So the two of you were able to infiltrate the town, avoid detection by the Empty Eyes, get access to the mines, and disable the primary turret array?”
Marick Tyris Arconae calmly read off the mission debrief he had been handed. The Hapan’s glacial eyes were focused on the Zeltron woman. The Exarch’s expression remained devoid of any emotion, but he could tell that Nicfer Luthol was carefully debating the pros and cons of a long sullen silence and a mean comment. The only thing stopping her, he surmised, was that she wasn’t quite sure how or where Marick fell in the rank and file of this “Brotherhood” she’d been, by now at least, assimilated into being a part of.
She chose to nod once in affirmation. Marick nodded to her, politely, in return. His eyes then shifted towards Adem Bol'era. “You then proceeded to take out multiple hostile, enhanced droids including a droideka,” he continued, recited the data off his tablet without having to look down at it.
Adem nodded as well, trying his best to keep his expression as muted as possible. Marick actaully smiled, small though it might have been, and bowed his head in respect. “It’s good to have you back,” he said simply before moving towards the armored Mandalorian that had been waiting patiently.
“Consul Korvis,” Marick continued, addressing the leader of Clan Vizsla. “It seems that your experience in the hunt was a boon for this operation, and lead to the capture of the leader of the Empty Eyes.”
“Talks-a-lot-guy? Yeah. It was a team effort, but we were able to apprehend the target.”
“I’d say it was a lucky shot, but he had it coming,” Cole Farrow added cooly. Unlike Adem and Nicfer, the young mercenary didn’t seem to be tepid when addressing Marick. The Hapan nodded, then glanced back down at the datapad.
“But their pilot got away,” Marick slipped in the question as a statement.
“But the pilot got away,” Korvis repeated back.
The Exarch glanced over at Ruka, and the two exchanged a non-verbal confirmation that confirmed the validity of the report.
“Either way. The people of New Terris are safe and have offered their willingness to trade with the Brotherhood. And without Sylvian Blaine, the Empty Eyes are not more of a threat to the Galaxy. Thanks to your combined efforts, the Envoy Corps has successfully completed its first mission.”
“Consul, I’ll make sure the credits are delivered for your services. Same for the rest of you, you’ve earned your Marks today.”
“What happens to Sylvian?” Ruka gave voice to the question on the collective groups mind.
“He will be handled appropriately,” was all that Marick offered in response. His expression darkened, eyes hard as flint.
”`
Sylvian opened his eyes. His once gloriously groomed and combed back hair was a disheveled mess. His eyeliner and makeup was runny and smudged. The pain of the sniper rifle wound was still stinging, and his own blood had soiled and stained his once lovely uniform. To make things worse, he couldn’t even complain about his current state, as his mouth was gagged to prevent him from speaking. He tried to reach out to the Force, even just a corner of it, but felt…nothing. No minds to pull or push on with influence. No healing or mending for his aching body.
His eyes flicked towards the first figure he could make out. They widened once they focused on who it was and suddenly it made perfect sense why he couldn’t leverage the Force.
“Wwwmmmny!”
“Aw, you see Marick, he did miss me,” Wyndell Tyris explained to his brother.
Marick did not say anything by way of response. He simply continued walking. Sylvian’s eyes focused and saw that they were underground somewhere. Nothing so exciting as a crypt or dungeon, but simply cold stone and boring but sterile corridors.
They turned and entered into a room where he was forced into something that could have been considered a chair.
“So, we leave him here to rot? A swift death? Play good cop, bad cop? Drink in front of him? I can do that now, you know…”
Marick started to reply but then stopped, narrowing his eyes at his brother. “You know that you were allowed to drink during your partners pregnancy.”
“Details, details…” he waved his hand dismissively.
Sylvian’s eyes went wide at that. The boss’ first protégé and son, the one who had abandoned them all those years ago forcing Sylvian to step up and take his place…had a child as well?
That train of thought seemed to be where Marick refocused on the task at hand. “No. He does not deserve any of that.”
Marick drew out a knife that had been hidden on his person. It was a plain, obsidian piece of metal. A Sith dagger. He twirled it idly between his fingers and thought hard about his next actions.
Atyiru would understand. There were some lines that had to be crossed for the right reasons. And here, outside of the eyes of the Brotherhood or the Clan Arcona, Marick Tyris Arconae passed judgement on the man who had tried to take his daughter away from him. Had prevented him from being their for the birth of his daughter.
“No,” Marick repeated. “This will be done ‘to the pain’, as you’re fond of saying.” He placed the knife at Sylvian’s chin and looked the man directly in the eyes. “First will be your tongue, then your nose, then your eyes and and your feet below the ankles.” the Hapan explained calmly. “Your ears will be all that you keep so you can hear the cries of shame and disgust as you wander the rest of your pathetic life in misery and never hurt another person ever again.
Shadows overtook the two figures as Wyn turned and exited the room to stand watch at the door. Marick’s knife blurred.
A man screamed.
And no one would ever hear it.