Claiming Cortosis (Duro)

[cheshire_kitty]

Location: Duro, outside a mine.

Cortosis, a highly sought after material was plentiful on Duro, just below the southern boarders of the One Sith's territory. It was material Konrad intended to claim for the One Sith military for its anti-lightsaber properties. The military mostly consisted of non-force users so the cortosis would help somewhat close the disadvantages should they have to face Jedis on the battlefield.

The plan was simple, he and [member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] would sneak into the mine and kill as many people as possible in stealth. Once they reached the ore, Konrad would call the fifty or so men he brought with him to rush in and secure the premises. Once the mine was secured, his men would start loading the cortosis onto the ship.

Konrad glanced at Vega, a mysterious cloaked figure who had offered to assist him in this operation in return for some of the cortosis they took. Although it was not in Konrad’s nature to work with someone he did not know, he made an exception for Vega as he could sense the force in her which may prove useful should anything go wrong. With his hand, he signalled to Vega for her to take down the second guard at the entrance while he took care of the first.

Carefully, Konrad slipped near the first guard who he had watched begin his shift approximately 10 minutes ago. If they entered now, no one would notice the missing guards until the next shift change so the timing was perfect.

Konrad stealthily grabbed the guard, covered the guard’s mouth with his free hand, muffling any sound that was trying to escape his victim’s mouth and drew a red smile from ear to ear with his switch blade. Konrad could feel the guard’s life slowly leave his body as the guard’s struggle to free himself stopped and his breathing started to slow.

Once the body was hidden, Konrad shot a glance at Vega before he entered the mine. The cortosis, as far as Konrad was concerned, was now property of the One Sith.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

The material - Cortosis - had been a sought after material of Vega's for quite some time. Thankfully, this. . . Konrad as he earlier stated to her was willing to share the loot in exchange for her beneficial help. They'd done their travel, approached the mine, and all was left to do before entering was to slay the guard Konrad pointed her way. Upon acknowledging his signal to take them down, Vega acted without hesitation, syncing her ambush as Konrad did. She struck the guard in the throat to render his windpipe temporarily useless before drawing a dagger from her respective side to sink into his heart. Thanks to the damage he took to the throat there no screams to be exhaled, while the blood merely poured internally throughout the guard's physique. Another stealthy act to avoid blood being recognized by unwanted foe. Like Konrad, Vega dragged the body to where he dumped his then hugged her back against the entrance to the mine, all while thinking about the etched smile on Konrad's slain foe. She liked how he done that, but it was trivial at the moment. Cortosis was the priority. Perhaps she'd compliment him later.

Vega lined purple hues with Konrad's coloured pair, waiting for him to enter first before following behind. Despite the need to keep as stealthy as possible, in a low audible voice she said, "How much Cortosis do they keep in this place?", in order not to gain the attention of any more guards that lingered ahead.

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Konrad silently entered the mine with [member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] behind him. It was not in Konrad’s nature to show it but he approved of the effiency of Vega’s murder of the second guard.

"How much Cortosis do they keep in this place?" she asked as she followed behind him.

“There should be approximately enough to make armour and weapons for a platoon of soldiers,” Konrad replied.

He continued deeper into the mine with Vega following carefully behind him. The path was a linear one and while that made entering the mine simple, it was make entering it in stealth a tad more difficult.

“Kark,” Konrad cursed under his breath when he saw a couple of miners discussing something on the path before them. Taking them out quietly would be simple however; there was still a problem of being potentially spotted by someone leaving the mine as the entrance and exit was the same. However, either way those men would still need to be taken out for the two to remain in stealth. Konrad glanced at Vega and signalled for her to keep an eye out for anyone who may witness him dealing with two men. “All witnesses must die,” he simply muttered.

With a wave of his hand, Konrad used the force to push the men against the shaft, surprising them. He then carefully stepped out and tightened the force against one of the men’s neck then pointed a standard military issues blaster at the other. “Make a sound and you die,” he growled at the shaking man. Of course his threat was a lie, either way the man would have to die – but he didn’t know that.

Konrad continued to tighten his hold with the force on the miner with the other at gun point until the first stopped moving. He then proceeded to drop the body and advanced on the other. Konrad swapped his blaster for his switch blade that was still caked with the blood of the guard he had killed earlier, and placed his hand over the man’s mouth, muffling his screams. Konrad pulled the man behind cover and stabbed the blade into where he estimated the man’s lungs would be, drowning him in his own blood.

 

[Vega the Chaos Sith]

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

'Damn,', Vega thought to herself. It was no wonder he offered to share the loot with her if she assisted him. She expected only small handfuls of the material. But nonetheless, Vega continued behind Konrad, keeping herself in sync with his actions. When he halted, she halted, and when he signaled for her to keep a lookout, her eyes wandered the path of the mine for another pair of eyes unfortunate to be enough to be there. Konrad said no witnesses, so Vega intended on making sure it stayed that way. He knew what he was doing, by the looks of it. Experienced in these situations as well.
No other eyes but theirs bared witness to Konrad's assassinations. Well, that was right up until he performed his last kill out of the two; an approaching shadow from ahead alerted her purple hues, and she proceeded to pull that dagger once again from her side. It was another miner. He had his face buried in a holographic device in his hand, probably watching something entertaining. His engrossment in his device became his own undoing. Vega hugged her back against the wall, waiting till he got close enough before she sunk the dagger into the back of his chest, while a hand smothered his face. She even went as far as sticking her scorched digits through his nostrils, just so he couldn't at least hum anything that an echo would carry. But he didn't make a sound; the blade pierced his lung, drowning him in his own blood. She got from Konrad. It was a wise move of his, and one she enjoyed witnessing. All was left to do was carry the now dead corpse to where Konrad dumped his before proceeding on.

"I'm surprised they haven't got more alert bodies to guard this place," She said as she motioned herself behind Konrad, looking back the way they came to double check they weren't followed.

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

"I'm surprised they haven't got more alert bodies to guard this place," [member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] remarked.

“This is what happens when they get comfortable. They let their guard down which opens themselves to an attack like this,” Konrad simply said in reply. He had seen many organisations and men fall as a result of this. It was one of the reason why he was son hard his own soldiers. It was vital to stay vigilant if one was interested in staying alive.

Konrad and Vega who followed behind him were nearly half way into the mine. Using a wrist mounted HoloPad, he called his men who were waiting outside to slowly and silently enter the premises.

The deeper they got, the more personnel there was inside eventually, it was no longer feasible to continue their mission in stealth. Konrad watched as two heavy infantry escort a cart of cortosis to the entrance, quickly approaching their location.

He could tell that these men were highly trained men that he could take down by alone. With his HoloPad, he quickly ordered his men to stealthily close on their location, ready to jump into the fight, if necessary.

Konrad glanced at Vega and signalled for her to take one of the men down. The men were quickly approaching while the two lay in wait, ready to jump out and attack once some more of the distance was closed.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Hm, they thought alike, didn't they? She herself was wondering how they'd keep up the stealth against this lot. They looked more professional; armed like they were hired to specifically guard what she assumed was now the area where the Cortosis lingered, judging by the cart that some of the men were carrying. Vega knelt by Konrad's side, waiting for him to do something of an action so they progress forward. After all, he was in charge of this heist, and more knowledgeable about the mine. She waited to see his signal for her to progress forward before she moved up, hugging her back behind a wall before the path of the approaching me. If they were going to go through the rest of this more loud, then she weren't going to wait on Konrad's order to take down only one of men. They were blocking the path, so she saw to clearing it.

Once they walked past the cave wall she pressed her back against, she attacked - bare handed. First - she forced the gun out of one of the guard's hands to fly into her own, where she then bashed the back of it against his face before flipping it around to unload a shot into the seconds' face. The shot echoed through the cave, coursing its way down all nearby paths. There was no going stealth now; they'd have to just go loud.

"Send in your men." Vega said to Konrad, leaning herself against the wall with the rifle directed towards the targeted room they wished to invade.

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Soldiers rushed in before Konrad even gave the command. He felt a sense of pride in the promptness of his men. They knew their superior officer well and understood that if they did not arrive on scene within 5 seconds of Konrad’s order, they would have been severely punished regardless of the circumstances. Instead, they decided to take initiative and observe the situation and enter when the time was right.

Fifty men rushed into the mine, blaster in hand. However, the numbers were uneven; they were outnumbered two to one. Konrad did not anticipate there would be this many in the mine. He had expected this to be a low scale mining operation but appears not. Although Konrad normally commanded men, it seemed he would have to join his men in battle.

[member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] and Konrad separated to fight off the men. Konrad made his way to the front of his men and used a Force Push to knock down some of the men that were now engaged in battle against them.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Vega saw no need to use the force - or a lightsaber, for that matter - at the moment. With the amount of soldiers under Kanrod's thumb that just came in, along with Kanrod himself, Vega only needed to use the rifle and close-quarter combat after splitting up with him. Vega took down any of the guards she could, before proceeding on towards the next. But there were so damn many! Cortosis must have been getting rarer and more valuable by the day. But their numbers didn't stop her. Vega fired at a few guards from behind the wall, then sprinted from behind cover to attempt to take down the guards who wandered off with the crate. She fired at one, then decided to use the force to open the lid of the crate in order to knock down the next. He went down, and she once again used her knowledge in the force to maneuver the crate behind Konrad's men. It was safe there, but not for long if they didn't deal with these numbers of forces.

Vega ducked and dived through Konrad's men to skid alongside Konrad himself, dropping herself on one knee while returning fire to the foe. "Konrad?!" Her voice yelled over the shooting. "I managed to secure one of the crates behind your men, but many more are in here!?"

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Konrad sent another surge of force lightning before he answered Vega. “Good job. There should be less than twenty by now. I have trained these puppies well and they’ve handled this situation in an acceptable manner.” He was in a good mood after seeing his men taking initative. Although acting without orders was something Konrad highly disapproved of, in this situation, he was impressed by them.

Konrad stopped and watched his men at work, overwhelming the remainder of the people in the mine.

“We surrender!” A group of miners yelled desperately. The soldiers surrounding the men stopped and stared at Konrad, awaiting his decision.

“Kill them,” Konrad casually ordered. Since this was no longer a stealth mission, he figured that he might as well have his men murder everyone hopefully spreading fear among those he encountered.

Once the order was given, Konrad’s men opened fire on the defenceless miners with their blasters. It was overkill but it was better to be safe than sorry.

“Search the remaining area and kill anyone who is still alive," Konrad ordered his men before he walked towards the crate of cortosis secured by [member="Vega the Chaos Mage"].

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Vega eventually came to lowering her gun, seeing as the remnants of the guards they were facing admitted defeat and stated their surrender. They were better of surrendering, Vega thought - right up until Konrad gave the order for his men to finish them off. The miners tried to save themselves as much as possible, but they had no chance. They shouldn't have taken the job; it was their own undoing if they were told of the possibilities. Oh well, too unfortunate for them.

Vega lifted herself to her feet at the men finished off the miners, throwing the gun to the ground before taking herself over to the crate with Konrad. She lifted the lid to examine the Cortosis. A smile painted itself upon her fact at the sight of it. Still, there had to be more crates within such a big mine. Right?

"Is this the only crate throughout the whole mine?" Vega questioned Konrad, standing opposite him on the other side of the crate while a scorched hand sustained the weight of the lid so it didn't drop back down. "I hope there's more of this waiting deeper within the mine," She added.

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

“If this was the only crate in the mine, I would be very disappointed,” Konrad replied bluntly.

After he had inspected the crate of cotosis, he launched the comm-link in his wrist mounted DataPad to order a couple of men to come and take the cortosis aboard the ship before he and [member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] ventured further into the mine.

Konrad continued into the mine, ignoring the bodies of those slain by his men. ‘Collateral damage.’ He muttered as he stepped on one of the bodies that were in his path. After fifteen or so minutes of walking, they had finally reached the end of the mine.

Konrad and Vega entered the room where they had expected crates of cortosis to be stored however, strangely, the room was empty. Slightly annoyed, Konrad felt there was something odd so he ordered several of his men to put their ears to the wall and tap it in attempt to find a hidden partition. At approximately five minutes since the exercise had commenced, one of his men stood before him and announced that they have found a false wall.

“I believe this part of the wall is actually a hidden partition,” the man stroke the section of the wall he referred to.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

"Agreed." Vega added to his reply before they journeyed deeper into the mine to reach the supposedly empty room. Vega partially widened her eyes to the lack of Cortosis crates in her sight, grazing her boots against the mine floor. 'Damn it.', She thought before Konrad gave the order to scour the walls. Again her boots grazed against the floor as they searched, cleansing her boots of dry blood picked up along the way. She stopped in her actions once one of the guards discovered the partition. She approached save Konrad the hassle, knocking purple digits against the partition. Yeah, it was definitely hollow; the way her fingers bounced back after each knock made it quite self-explanatory.

"Yeah - they've hollowfied the wall, but I wouldn't go as far as to open it just yet." Vega replied to Konrad's soldier. She stepped back a few feet to place herself alongside Konrad. "That could be rigged to blow upon tampering. I've seen this before. It may be in fact behind the partition, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't go to the lengths of rigging the entry to it. Have your men stand back and open fire on the partition. If there's anything behind it their bullets should spring the device." Whether or not she'd take his advice was yet to be seen. Nevertheless, she stayed as far back as she was, arms folded over her chest.

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Upon [member="Vega the Chaos Mage"]'s advice, Konrad emptied his room of men, then had a row stand at the entrance of the room and open fire on the wall. Vega was right, the entrance was rigged and the wall expploded sending fragments of bricks and concreat flying everywhere.

Once the dust had settled, Konrad's men rushed into the formerly hidden partition. It was filled with cortosis. It was strange that the ore would be hidden behind a partition like this - almost as if they expected to be attacked... Just as that thought cross Konrad's mind, he could hear a loud rumble of unfamiliar footsteps. He could tell from the footsteps that they did not belong to his men or anyone from the One Sith Military for that mater. The sound from the footsteps sounded much heavier as if the boots were made of heavier material.

Suspicious of the rapidly approaching unexpected guests, Konrad had his men form several lines barricading the hallway. The men in front were crouched, blaster rifles pointed forward and the second row of men were in a standing position, ready to open fire at the quickly approaching men on Konrad's command.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Vega used her knowledge in the force to shield herself from the rubble, raising an arm above her face to push away any that went her way. A small breath of air escaped her upon seeing the Cortosis dwelling within the wall space. Damn, that sure was a lot, wasn't it? As much as she wanted to admire, the sound of approaching footsteps caught her attention. Familiar with how Konrad's men maneuvered, she knew they didn't belong to them.

The Sith lowered her arm before her stomach, pulling a rifle into her grasp which laid alongside one of the enemy corpses. She motioned it to the direction Konrad ordered his men and said, "That doesn't sound like your men, Konrad. They must have had a secondary group who begin their shift now. Other than that they possible heard all the gunfire, somehow. Want me to go accompany your men, or shall we grab the rest of the Cortosis and make a run for it?"

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

"The incoming men are neither mine nor are they from the One Sith," Konrad replied. "I think it might be easier and safer t fight our way out."

Konrad and [member="Vega the Chaos Mage"] waited until the men were in sight. Once the men that were heading towards them were visible, Konrad gave the signal for his unit to fire. Konrad's men fired first and the others soon followed suit. The battle was not an even one but Konrad had faith in men he had trained personally. Feeling a bit bored, watching and not participating, Konrad aimed several bolts of force lightning at the opposition.

Within 15 minutes, the battle was over. A fifth of Konrad's men were dead while half were injured but that did not matter, men were replaceable and they had won. All of the arriving men had been killed. Kill now, ask questions later was Konrad's MO.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

Vega gathered that much, but she didn't say anything on the matter. Once Konrad's men opened fire on the enemy she contributed herself to the cause until victory was within their favor. She only got a couple of rounds into the enemy soldiers, mostly due to the fact Konrad and his men got within her line of fire. Once again a weapon was cast aside by the female Sith when the battle was over. It looked like Konrad had lost a good fraction of his men, but now wasn't the time to be sympathetic. She got the sense their leader didn't care, so why should she? They all knew what they were getting themselves into.

The Sith approached the broken partition wielding the Cortosis, a smile painting on her lips to the sight of it. She couldn't help but glide her hand over the crates which possessed them. "So - here lies our loot. Do you think we can get it out of here before another squad comes marching in? We ma get followed; I know of a place where we can hide it for now. The Unknown region is a region they hopefully shouldn't follow us to. There lies my sanctuary."

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Dead. That was the simplest way to describe the men who attempted to prevent Konrad and [member="Vega the Chaos Mage"]'s theft of the cortosis. Should another squad of men enter and attempt to reclaim the lost ore, they too would be dead as well.

"Good idea, we'll move the ore to your sanctuary in the unknown regions, spilt the ore and part ways." Konrad nodded to show his approval of Vega's plan. It was the best plan they had at the moment to safely escape with their spoils.

Without allowing his men to take so much as a break, Konrad had them secure and load the ore aboard the ship and had the ship set its course for the unknown region Vega had previously mentioned with her directing the fleet.

 

[Vega the Chaos Mage]

With his acceptance on her plan, Vega left the mine to board herself on the HMP Predator she currently used. Sure it was from a different era, but it done the job. She powered up her ship and ascended out of the atmosphere once the Cortosis was secured, leading Konrad towards her sanctuary via a hyperspace jump to speed up their journey. She had no doubts of Konrad being able to keep up; he was obviously skilled at many things, so it was only natural to suspect those skills stretched into piloting.

"Jump out of hyperspace travel in ten seconds, Konrad. For we are here." Vega transmitted over the communication link, waiting those ten seconds she stated before she humped out of hyperspace speed in order to glide her craft to her sanctuary - The Vault. It was a technological facility, stationed on a rogue moon once under separatist control. And now it belonged to Vega, and her companion who was yet to be met. Vega continued to lead on, gliding her craft into the hangar constructed within the trading wing of her facility. With plenty of room for Konrad's craft to touch down within the hangar as well, Vega landed her ship atop a lift which lowered her craft down to the hangar's level. She proceeded to exit her ship, hopping out of the cockpit to touch down among the hangar surface. From there she waited for Konrad to step out his ship once he himself had touched it down.

[member="Konrad von Grimmelshausen"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Under the instructions of [member="Vega the Chaos Mage"], the ship safely arrived in a planet of the unknown regions. Konrad disembarked followed by several of his soldiers, all carrying boxes of cortosis. Once they were near Vega, he had his men open the crates to reveal their contenst.

"Cortosis, several crates of them. This is half of what we found and your share," Konrad gestured at the boxes to Vega. It was less than what he had expected but he was satisfied with it none the less, afterall, he was not the one who wasted months of mining it only for it to be stolen. "Enjoy making the armour, weapon or whatever you intend to use it for."

Konrad nodded to Vega before he turned away and headed back onto his ship. Now that he had the cortosis, it was time to bring it back to the military and present it before the Grand General, Isamu Baelor. Perhaps it would help him earn some points with the stern man and help the good general ignore the unusually high death count of the prisoners and slaves in Konrad's care.