For a Fistful of Beskar

Posted on Wed Nov 11th, 2020 @ 8:52pm by Sage Hud Ubar & Mando'ade Zaf A'Toruk & Spacer Talon Kolani & Lucian Azari & Ver'alor Jiani Pava

Mission: Episode 1 - All Roads Lead to Nowhere
Location: Port Nowhere

The Kel Dor was waiting at the far end of the room opposite an assorted group of bar stools.

"Thank you for coming," Hud said to everyone who had gathered. "Time is of the essence, so I will cut to the chase: a colleague of mine has been taken, and you will retrieve her alive and well."

"Well, that's about the best example I've seen of getting to the point," Talon said with a quiet smile.

"Gonna need an image and a last known location," Zaf stated. His tone, his stance and his expression were serious, attentive and matter-of-fact, his right hand rested at his thigh, just before his blaster with no need to emphasize or coddle said weapon. His dark green gaze settled with a deceptively casual directness on the Kel Dor.

A holographic viewer snapped a 3-D render into being with the press of a button. "She is an Echani named Ariadne Azanni. Her current location is currently being held aboard a nearby Hardcell-class interstellar transport. You may have seen it when you docked."

The Zabrak studied this imagery for a few seconds, then nodded. "I may have," he agreed. "How many of 'em on that bucket?"

"And how exactly do I and Mr Azari fit into your polite equations?" Talon asked. "In fact, more to the point, as I'm assuming you want to hire the Rancor, how many am I carrying on board?"

Jiani looked over at the gruff Spacer, eye flicking quickly as she studied the man. Obviously, someone who lived on a ship, freighter most like from the random grease stains on his hands... moneyed though, pristine shore clothes. Rancor eh? Bit ostentatious, but workable... Wonder if she's beautiful and it's ironic, or ugly and a blunt statement of fact.

"Hopefully more than the three of us if you're planning an assault," Jiana grumbled still looking at the Kel Dor. "Those are Hardcells, designed to transport tanks, as well as infantry. We're looking at a few hundred B1's if we're lucky."

"But Hardcells are vulnerable to internal EMPs," Hud said. "My envoy will come aboard under the guise of business and detonate an EMP at the appropriate time. This will create a window of opportunity for infiltration by a small team. The team will proceed to the detention level and rescue Ariadne, who will then be able to secure an exit strategy." His face-mask hissed in exhalation. "Such is her specialization."

“You’re forgetting, sir, that the Rancor is already on a job,” Lucian said, giving Hud an annoyed look. “My journey doesn’t stop here and the Rancor was reserved by me to take me to my final destination.”

"Your final destination is not going anywhere," Hud said, "nor is the one you seek. Both can wait." He looked at Talon. "It is not unusual for a freighter captain to run concurrent jobs, but it is unusual for a passenger to dictate the direction of a ship." His face-mask hissed again as the Dorin-gas pumped through it. "Besides. If you want help finding someone, then Ariadne is the best in the trade. Find her and you will be a step closer to finding..." Hud trailed off and pressed Force energies against Lucian. Brother. "... what it is you seek."

With a scrunched up, stern expression on his face, Zaf let his gaze linger on Jiani as he listened to the three strangers trade words. Unnecessary, was his first thought, but then, while unknown 'help' might be more trouble than useful, extra targets might not be a bad idea. Still... he didn't like the implication that this unknown patron was touting, and that sentiment won out faster than his patience for such gatherings.

"Jiani and I can handle this, Kel Dor," Zaf stated, clearly and boldly with no sign of shame or ego. "Let..." He regarded Lucian and Kolane with mild derision. "These two clearly have somewhere else they need to be. And," his grin was lopsided as he looked from Hud to Jiani and back again. "A two way split is more than enough."

"With or without their help, your compensation will remain unchaged," Hud said to Zaf. "I need a ship, a pilot to fly it, and an envoy to open the way for the strike team. These two will do fine."

"Acceptable," the Zabrak said. He considered the fact that his ship was docked to the station, but didn't mention that out loud. Currently he was in the black financially, and while he didn't particularly relish being a passenger, if this 'Rancor' pilot was offering his ship to the potential slaughter, he could carry the repair bill.

Talon could see that this was a job that he was going to end up on, what he didn't like was the fact that so many others already knew about his business and his current transport, however he also knew that this wasn't difficult to the right slicer or the one paying enough credit for the information.

"Very well, I'll take on the job and the Rancor will get you there in one piece," he said, looking at Azari. "My terms are simple, no one flies the ship except my crew and any damages get paid for by your good selves..." He waited to see what the outcome of his terms demands was.

Looking over at Azari, he leaned in. "I can still get you to where you're going, in one piece and without any further hassles," he said. "If it helps, I'll reduce the fee on your transport with me."

Lucian shrugged but was clearly unhappy with the deal. He turned to Talon, "Money isn't the issue," he said in a low whisper, "But we're on a time constraint. We can do this, but we must be quick about it. We can't be too delayed."

"Any damages will not be paid out of our cut," Jiani replied sternly, fixing her gaze on the pilot. "Not our fault if you can dodge a laser or two."

At that, Zaf grinned, the lopsided expression aimed purely at the other Mandalorian. Here and now, old grudges were forgotten in the interest of cooperation, and while he trusted no one here, he knew Jiani could be relyed upon.

"Then it's settled," Hud interjected, raising his ugly hand to halt the argument. "Deputy Foreman Ondar aboard the Hardcell hauler is expecting a representative of a planetary militia from Karatu to assess his droid army and deliver payment." Looking to Lucian, he said, "You will intercept the Karatan representative and keep the appointment in his stead. You need not fool them for long. When you are brought aboard, you must get within the same room as the Deputy Foreman. Detonate the EMP device near him. Nobody will be harmed, but it will disable the master controller kept on his person which will in turn disable the droid army. From there, our rescue team will blast open a docking port and raid the detention area. If Lucian makes it back to the Rancor before the rescue team, then they are free to leave. One way or another, Ariadne will secure the rescue team's egress." He paused to scan everyone in attendance. "Any questions?"

"Me?" Lucian asked, surprised. "I'm not sure how I'll be helpful in your mission."

"You will do fine," Hud said. "I have foreseen it. Now, time is short. Go to the commercial docking bay and look for the Karatan representative. He will take ill and you can take his place with the delegation of Skakoans from the Techno Union who will take you to their ship. Attend audience with the deputy foreman and activate this." Hud tossed him a hefty EMP device. "We will do the rest."

"He's afraid," stated Zaf, enuciating his words with clear derision and with an upward nod in Lucien's direction.

"I don't let fear drive me," Lucian said, giving the man wearing half of a Mandalorian suit a pointed look. "Nor do I let it keep me from opportunities. But the truth is, I have my own quest and delays such as this are not feasible for me."

"Then I guess it's time to stop whining like a bunch of Tauntauns on Tatooine and get this job going." Jiani said with a roll of her eyes, not in the mood for a Joopa measuring contest.

"Afraid," Zaf confirmed with a lopsided smirk. "And making excuses. Just go do the thing for this guy and get gone then, it won't take long. I'd do it myself, but I think they might not be so keen to trust me." The Zabrak ran a couple of fingers between his cranial horns and sighed. "Faster you go in, faster you can leave. We're wasting time talking."

"What do you say Paploo?" Jiani asked, crossing her arms over her armored chest as she turned to face Lucian. "You in for a little adventure? Or you gonna wait out on the station while the rest of us go be Big Damned Heroes?" Her own smirk matched Zaf's. So far she was enjoying working with rather than against her sometimes rival.

A thunderclap sounded off inside the room as something Forced the air to slam against itself. "Enough. Initial payment is under the table. The rest will be provided upon completion. Now, to your places."

Lucian groaned. He did not want to get involved in whatever shenanigans these people were up too, and frankly, he couldn't care less about their cause. But the courier he hired clearly couldn't care less about the professional courtesy of finishing one job before taking another so unless he wanted to sling his rifle at the pilot, he didn't have much of a choice. Either way, he wasn't getting off this station any time soon.

Uninterested by Lucian's mood, Zaf's attention had split between the Kel-Dor and whatever payment lay beneath the table. Without any sign of directly asking, he trusted Jiani to cover them both while he retrieved said monies.

Talon looked around as everyone got up to leave and he pulled out his comlink to call his co-pilot, Alema Rhae.

They needed the Rancor ready to go at a moments notice and he needed her fired up and prepped for launch. Whilst this meant a delay to Lucian's journey, Talon had a few ideas about making sure that his paying passenger would be able to get to his destination as close as possible to the original arrival time.

With a nod of approval, Hud watched his motley crew disassemble to their respective tasks. Now he would be free to pursue the other half of the operation, and it would be the most dangerous of all.