Ensared

[Xin Boa]

Continued from my here.

[member="Maanis Vizsla"] [member="Effie Duanna"] [member="Delila Castillon"] [member="Jorg"] [member="Adder"] [member="Barnabas Harou"] [member="Guarn"]

Background:

http://starwarsrp.net/topic/113340-the-fleet/
http://starwarsrp.net/topic/113341-the-dragoons/



They had actually put a bag over his head. Like an old fashioned gangster movie. Then they’d searched him for bugs in the back of the speeder. Time was a difficult thing to follow tressed up like this. Everyone was eerily silent. He hoped this wasn’t an execution. He’d seen them put a blaster bolt in the back of an informant’s head before. At least, he supposed, it would be quick and wouldn't hurt for long. Yulon had always liked him though. He would get to say his piece first.

The speeder came to a stop. Xin felt something tug at the back of his mind. If something was off the others didn’t seem to notice. He couldn’t sense any heightened emotions. Everyone seemed perfectly calm as the doors were opened. They had come to pick him up on the day he left prison. Not out of courtesy, but because they thought he had betrayed them and been given a shortened sentence for it.

He felt a tug on his upper arm and he was guided out of the back. Then he felt it. Sudden panic as everyone came to an abrupt stop.

“Who the feth are you?” called one of his guards.

“Weapons down please. I don’t think you’re stupid enough to try anything are you? Have a good look around?”

Xin didn’t recognise the voice.

“You don’t know who you’re…”

“You work for Yulon Tan and that is Xin Boa I believe?”

“And…” Gault trailed off. He was just to Xin’s right, perhaps even close enough to strike. They hadn’t bound his hands. He got the feeling that this wasn’t his moment though.

“We’re taking him with us.”

“My stones you are.” Gault replied to the stranger. There was desperation in his voice.

“Not a choice.”

Xin heard weapons being primed all around him. “Not for us either. Can’t disappoint Yulon. We’ll all die here first.”

Xin had to shut his eyes tight as the bag was pulled from his head. He opened them slowly and adapted to the light. They were in a wide street. The four men who had picked him up had pistols raised.

A lot more men had a lot more weapons pointed back at them. Xin didn’t recognise the Nikto who stood before him, with the bag in his hand. It turned out he owned the voice who had been making demands.

“I have an option.” The Nikto turned said. No one pointed a weapon at him. This didn’t surprise Xin. He wouldn’t have wanted to point a weapon at him either. It seemed a decidedly dangerous thing to do. “Xin tried to escape. He admittedly to the betrayal and you had to shoot him.”

Xin became aware of a commotion in the distance. He peered around the speaker to see a nautolan dragged into the road. He couldn’t help but notice the matching tattoos. And the distinct lack of movement. Who the feth were these people?

Gaunt grunted. A gentle shove pushed Xin towards the nikto and Yulon’s men retreated for their speeder.

Xin gave a weak shrug and a smile. “Thanks?” As he was led away from the street he heard a blaster being discharged behind him.

Vagrant Fleet, Relgim Sector

Coming out of hyperspace drew Xin Boa from his sleep. Barely a word had been exchanged as he was led away. No one had put a bag over his head or bound his hands. That was perhaps a good sign. However, given the look of the people escorting him away it might not have been a necessary precaution.

He looked out of the window. He groaned.

“Ah, recognise the view?” chuckled a massive reptilian. He wasn’t a trandoshan. His muzzle was too long and he had a tail.

“Yeah,” Xin replied. He didn’t sound thrilled at the revelation. “Lived here a few years back.”


The Adrogaddo, Vagrant Fleet, Relgim Sector

The room seemed to be serve some kind of planning function. The screens were all blank but one, which showed a projection of the positions of the ships in the fleet. They seemed to have collected a few more since Xin had been here.

There were several people in seats around a central holoprojector. Constant movement in the shadows as they fidgeted. There was the angry nikto who had frightened even Yulon’s men and the huge reptilian. Xin had the sense that they were all waiting for someone. The doors slid open.

A tall duros in a black coat strode into the room. He came to stand a few feet from Xin and placed both hands on a console.

“Xin Boa.”

“That is my name. You didn’t need to send a shuttle by the way, an invitation to…”

“I have a job for you.”

Xin fell silent, looking embarrassed by his own mouth. He couldn’t think of the other nautolan who appeared to bear very similar tattoos. He wasn’t skilled enough that anyone should put that much effort into apprehending him.

“Right?”

“We have some friends. Some friends who think Yulon Tan is going to knock off one of their banks and seriously damage their digital ledgers. We would be in their good books if we prevented this. We would be in their really good books if Yulon was stopped permanently.”

“Oh,” Xin replied. Now it made sense.

“You don’t have to help us. It’s just that after today… well if they decide to tell Yulon the truth before or after we make our move. And if we don’t capture him.” The Duros shrugged innocently.

“Yeah, not sure I can escape a bounty that big,” Xin sighed.

“My name is Wesseq, you’ve met some of the team already.”



OOC/ Task 1 Explain how you ended up in this mission briefing and introduce yourself.

 

[Subject 37]

[member="Xin Boa"]

Jorg remained silent.

The 5th Legion had been going strong even with the loss of Hoth and the recent hits that the Alliance had taken, but as of late they had been branching out to more...vague missions. They hadn't removed themselves from the Alliance of course, that was impossible, but rather they had taken a new directive upon themselves. The outer rim and beyond was a dangerous place, people, organizations, even governments were sometimes lurking just around the corner to grab whatever table scraps they could.

So it had been decided that somebody needed to help the little guy.

It was vague really, not a clear mission and certainly not something that would be accepted if anyone ever found out about it, but then again that was partly the point of the Fifth Legion. They were all ex-stormtroopers, soldiers who had a penchant for the darker side of life. If anything ever went wrong it was easy enough to blame their past, say they had gone rogue and had no affiliation with anyone near the Alliance.

Jorg wasn't really sure how he felt about it, but in the end he had elected to join in on these new missions. With the war against the First Order becoming more dull he needed something to focus on, needed something to strive towards. This was as good as anything else. His lips thinned for a moment, his hand clutching at his side before he glanced at the holo-projections that lingered in front of him. His eyes drifted for a moment before settling on the figure in the middle.

"Jorg." He said simply.

More of an introduction wasn't necessary, not yet.

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

Barney seemed to be the only one completely at ease.

The pink-skinned Zeltron lad rested his tight leather boots on the holoprojector, still and relaxed. He wore his best green vest, a small thing that left his midriff open to the world. His arms cradled his head of red hair, his eyes closed in boredom.

All Barnabas ever wanted to do was fly. He had left his orphanage to claim a life among the stars. He'd joined up with the Nation simply to be behind the controls of a ship. Ever since he joined the Vagrant Fleet, he had been petitioning to fly anything, despite his lack of experience. The Zeltron had thought that was what this meeting would be about.

Judging by all the others here, he figured out pretty quick it was about more than that.

Green eyes flashed open as he heard the door hiss, and he righted himself, suddenly interested. He watched [member="Xin Boa"] with intensity, a smirk grafting itself on his face. Barney listened as, finally, someone relayed what the kark he was supposed to be doing.

Sounds like fun.

He gestured at [member="Jorg"] as he spoke, waving off his paultry introduction. "So serious, all the time, these meetings." Barney released his Zeltron pheromones, filling the area with happy thoughts. "Barnabas Harou. Friends call me Barney. Or Barn, I guess. Or a good pilot, although recently a certain friend of mine," the Zeltron glared playfully at the Duros, "has as of yet not acknowledged that. Looking at you, Turan."

 

[Guarn]

Guarn had absolutly no idea how she got here. it was a comedic thing truth be told she started as a body guard then next thing she was here as a guard.
she was a bountyhunter little else.
"Guarn i kill people to death. "

 

[Xin Boa]

OOC/ Suggest people put the thread on "follow" instead of tagging everyone



To death? He wasn't certain if that was reassuring or not. Xin decided not to ponder the matter in any great depth. Jorg: his name seemed to match the man. Blunt. He looked as if he'd seen his share of combat over the years. This looked very much like the group of people you'd pay to deal with a crimelord. Or an insurrection. His headtails twitched at the release of pheromones from the zeltron. It seemed relatively innocuous but a nautolan was attuned to such things.

"Please to meet you all," Xin said as black eyes glanced around the room. "Are you expecting me to go back into the organisation?"

"No, no. I imagine that wouldn't end well for you. Wouldn't be much help to us then," Wesseq replied.

"You know, I don't remember the Fleet having this kind of an organisation when I was here last?" Xin ventured.

Wesseq didn't even shrug. "The Fleet Dragoons have been around much longer than that. But it's not something pick pockets temporarily living on our barges find out about."

"Right, well..." Xin started. That was a rather blunt comment. The duros seemed to have an answer to everything. Just not necessarily the answers he wanted to hear.

"We haven't introduced everyone yet. That is Inso, Braktek and Hirrau..." Wesseq interrupted. A pause was left for anyone else who needed to introduce themselves.

 

[Azimuth Industries]

A slightly overweight Aqualish wearing a cheap blast vest and cargo pants, with a Deathhammer pistol tucked into his waistband looked up at [member="Xin Boa"] with all four of his eyes. He waved a furry, three-fingered hand.

"Achuta, uba call me Narbo, nobata?" The Hutt Space accent would have been hard enough even if it had not come from between the tusks of an Ualaq.

A Twi'lek woman sat on his knee. One of his arms lay draped across her shoulders. She smiled too much and wore too little. He pinched her cheek with meaty fingers. "Uba call me Ur-Damin, eh cheeka." He laughed from the gut.

It might have just been the lighting, but Braktek looked a little uncomfortable.

Ri'Shajirr dropped out of the game. The Imperial Remnant's actions all over Rishi dried up supply. Plus, poor relations with the Hutts all added up to Narbo having to relocate his place of business. Where better than a massive, largely unregulated fleet full of distraught refugees just struggling to make ends meet? Those were the best kinds of spice fiends.

So yeah, Narbo would drop whoever needed dropping. Long as he pitched in these 'goons would hopefully look the other way. Least that was the idea.

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Jorg"]

For a few moments Xin was distracted from matters at hand by another thought. He didn't remember there being many slender female twi'lek around the fleet when he had been here. Just a lot of poverty. Maybe things had improved.

"So your decision?"

Xin's attention was brought back suddenly by the direct question. He turned to face the Duros who studied him carefully in return. "I'm in for this job. Just this one."

"Fine." Wesseq turned to a human by the consoles who tapped a few keys. The screens that had been blank lit up. "Your old employer isn't stealing anything as such. There is an electronic vault in a financial district of Ord Trasi. We think he has a team planning to break in and deploy an advanced code developed by the bank's competitor. It will annihilate their digital currency ledger, taking weeks to recover. At best. Thoughts?"

Xin slowly nodded his head. His tattooed head tails shook and he pursed his lips in thought. "He had some financial contacts and there were rumours of a big job back when I was with them. He'll have at least two inside men. He'll have a core he trusts and mercs hired from at least two separate groups. Looking at that holo they'll take advantage of the height, use bikes or jetpacks to move in quick and keep the authorities away. I'd say..."


The Sublime Smile, YT-1210 class light freighter
Orbit of Ord Trasi.

The group sat in near silence in the back of the freighter. Boa had been drawn towards the cockpit before being firmly told he wasn't allowed there. He didn't like silence.

"So how long have you lot been working for Wesseq?" And then, because he didn't know how to keep his mouth shut, he added: "he seems nice."

He hadn't made his mind up on the crew yet. Yulon wouldn't send run of the mill thugs for a job this big. The team of Dragoons was going to try and scope the target and try and spot some of the criminals on watch. Xin didn't trust the two aqualish. He wasn't speciesist. Some of his closest friends - which for Xin was never that close - had been aqualish. It's just they tended to lose their tempers easily. And Xin preferred not to end up in unnecessary firefights because of hot heads. He didn't appreciate any situation where he ended up in the line of fire.

 

[Dravis Rosilla]

THE SUBLIME SMILE​

​

Barnabas huffed to himself, scratching a purple splotch on his neck. The Zeltron was more than a little jaded. Yet again, the higher-ups kept him out of the pilot's seat. The pink-skinned boy kept his dark thoughts to himself, content with sipping something fruity he found, leaning back on an empty crate

How he'd managed to procure something fruity within the fleet was beyond him.

Barney pondered Xin Boa, the strange Nautolan's question absentmindedly, his mind elsewhere. His pack of deathsticks felt warm against his leg, and he debated taking one out, but turned his thoughts elsewhere. "I've been traveling with the Fleet for, oh, a month? Two? Not sure. But working for Wesseq?" Barney chuckled, taking a long sip of his drink. "The guy hasn't given me the chance. Not until today, that is."

The Zeltron cheered up slightly, imagining himself in the cockpit of an X-wing. "Can't wait to get out there."

Another sip accompanied the statement, and Barney sunk his back further against his crate, eyeing the others strangely.

| [member="Xin Boa"] | [member="Narbo"] | [member="Guarn"] | [member="Jorg"] |​

 

[Subject 37]

Jorg wondered exactly why he was here.

He knew why he was here of course, he knew the decision he had made, but he wasn't exactly sure why he had made it in the first place. His lips thinned for a few moments, his gaze drifting over half a dozen different things as he considered just what the outcome of all this might be.

His fingers drummed on the side of his rifle.

Unlike everyone else it seemed Jorg was dressed in full military gear. It was the same that he had worn on Bespin, meaning it looked rather unkept and old. That had been done on purpose of course, mostly so he could use the excuse that the armor had been scavenged from a fight with the Alliance. Something that most people would buy given the recent troubles.

He stretched slightly, glancing around and slowly sliding a powerpack in place.

Jorg felt out of place.

Perhaps he wasn't great at this undercover work.

 

[Adder]

Being far from home had always been relative for Adder. Used to be that she measured her distance from Coruscant, but ever since she’d helped take it back with the Alliance, the brilliant planet of her younger years slunk away back where it belonged – to her memories. Closest thing to home, now, was Sulon, and the dust bowl of a town called Baron’s Hed.

And even then.

Didn’t need to glance at her datalogger to know they were on the other side of the galaxy. Away from war, away from the suffocating offensive of the First Order. The roots she’d put down were thin, her belongings always packed and ready to go.

She’d make her rounds back to that ass-end, eventually. Not for a few months, though.

When the itch to flee had called this time, Adder didn’t wait a beat before scratching it. Took only a few hours of digging through her contacts, and she had herself an off-the-books job, on the down-low and so gray you might as well dip it in tar and call it clandestine.

Her SLEEG records were conveniently misplaced the very next day. The landlord found her key and half a year paid in full when he opened his mailbox in the morning, and that was the last anyone’d seen of Adder in that region of space.

The sister of a husband of an informant was a Warden of the Sky, and every once in a while, they’d grab a caf to lament the horrible disrepair of spacelanes. Then they’d upgrade to caf with whiskey and lament some more, until at some point, they forgot the caf altogether and polished off a bottle or more. Calista would give up and ask for help, keeping in with the good decisions people make while drunk. Adder, not to be outdone, would enthusiastically agree – even when the job entailed risks that’d make her gut twist into all kinds of funny shapes if she were sober.

One long ride, a few greased palms, and a staring contest later, Adder was sitting in the hold of a freighter, polishing her Westar with a durasteel toothpick between her lips.

She’d slunk in at the tail end of their little team, unassuming and near two heads shorter than the rest of the motley crew. Her alias was a kick to the arse of an old identity – Shisa Thalvi, thug and enforcer extraordinaire. The changed name was all part of the new gig, together with the checkered past and a few nasty black splotches on her record.

Anything pristine in this gutter would stick out like a Jedi at an orgy.

So Petra Paget cleaned her blaster, and chewed on her toothpick, and said nothing at all.

 

[Xin Boa]

This was not the most talkative crowd. Xin tried to work out if this was reassuring or not. The only one who seemed to talk back was the Zeltron and he was clearly one of the junior members of the group.

Regardless of what Barnabas did with the crew, Xin liked to talk before doing something dangerous. It helped to calm his nerves. And this was going to be dangerous. If any of his old crew caught sight of him it wouldn't end well.

"Well, not being given the helm is one thing. I'm not even allowed in the cockpit."

Hirrau, the nikto who had picked him up and seemed to hold a position of authority looked over at him. "That's because we don't trust you yet. And Wesseq isn't a nice person. Or even an honest one. You just have to understand he's exceptional at what he does and to do as you're told."

Xin shrugged. He didn't enjoy being told what to do. Certainly not be a dishonest man.

"We're down in ten" Hirrau growled. "Remember, no weapons in the city so everything goes in the black bag with the permit for now. We need to scope the joint, perhaps catch them doing the same and maybe dig out an insider or two."

Xin considered keeping the holdout blaster he'd aquired along with the one he'd been given. In the interest of gaining some trust he handed both over, wrapped in their holsters. Walking around with empty hip and chest holsters would have been almost as suspicious in a city without blasters in the hands of the public. He hadn't even fully changed from the clothes he'd left prison in. They'd given him a jacket, a blaster and a comm-link. Not even the time to change the braids on his heastails to metal bands. He always preferred metal bands when he was in this kind of mood, on that narrow ledge between flight and fright response.