First Order on the Agenda: The Eternal Hunt for Spies

[The Amalgam]

Damn, they had been spotted early. They were already scrambling to escape. She telepathically ordered several of her apprentices to pursue, pulling out her comlink and transmitting a single code to the security forces.

EXECUTE.

The power to the area cut. The whole room went pitch black. There was to be no attack yet. Dominic would see that coming.

Force Horror is an effective tactic when used properly.

Amatuers, or those Masters who are pressed for time, will try and lay it all on you at once. Smash the hammer down on a brain as hard as one can, and leave.

But for someone like the Amalgam, a random badass, or one of the galaxy's many fascinating brands of homicidal butchers, which she also of course counted as, it is best to go slow. This was their turf. [member="Dominic Craig"] was an interloper.

Alright, my lovelies. Connect yourselves to me...let us warp his very senses...but slowly. We must creep on about it...be little creeps, all of us... The Amalgam telepathically hissed, mentally embarrassed at her lack of something genuinely sinister at the end of that statement. But she had gotten the idea across. They were to be creepy about it.

"The First Order killing civilians in such a brutal manner is hardly surprising...what IS surprising is that they thought it would do anything except make us crave revenge. And revenge will come for whats left of your failed government...in one form or another..." she cooed softly at Dominic, making the edges of her dark power dance at the edges of his mind, slowly, near imperceptibly trying to scratch at it.

Normally, though the effects were strong, she could only maintain it for twenty seconds. However, with her acolytes reinforcing her efforts she could afford to steadily build up his fear. Particularly, his fear of failure.

"Tell me..." she hissed to Dominic in the darkness. "Are you not concerned at how quickly we caught you?" She asked, trying to play on any sense of paranoia he might possess, slowly trying to worm her way into his mind, little by little, trying to see what else Domic might fear beyond the obvious, though the obvious would do at the moment, such as trying to create paranoia.

"So casually you surrender yourself..." she hissed at him again. "Did you really think you and your pathetic little band can escape? After what you pulled. You will fail she insisted coldly, lacing her words to subtly ever so slowly ramp up whatever fears she could sniff. Ideally, the affect would be a dam, slowly leakng then bursting. But he obviously had a strong mind.

"When we find your friends..." she trailed. "They will be interrogated. I will force you to watch as I do things to them that will stay with you in every dream you have ever after. I'll make you pick which one I torture first. Whatever I cut off them will be your dinner that night. And if you do not eat I will cut even more off of them..." she snarled at Craig in the pitch black. "And thats only the start of the horrors I have in mind for your besties...they will all die...painfully...slowly...with you looking into their eyes every second of it...but you will be unharmed...save for maybe a mild case of too much protein. But you'll be otherwise unharmed. And I promise when you go back to the First Order..." The Amalgam trailed as she revealed her Zabrak appearance and feral yellow eyes, brandishing one end of her Master's saber while the remaining witches appeared, their own simple red blades silently activating, contrasting with her purple blade.

"It will be with a full belly..."

Normally The Amalgam would not have been laying the ham and cheese on quite so thick but with the way she was trying to ramp up his fear at the same time as well as try and render him more malleable later on once he understood she really was capable of such horrific sadism so she figured she could splurge on the descriptive horror a bit. Besides, this creep had attacked a bunch of innocent people. She was guilty of that to but she at least tried to give most of the innocent ones the respect of doing it to their face. Even her own master, a sadist who had horrified even The Amalgam in the end, would have felt dusgust at herself for killing in such an impersonal manner. (Of course it should be kept in mind that with all things Amy it was a matter of scale: in her warped sensibilities, slowly torturing and killing a leader's underlings then making the leader eat them was for her a relatively pedestrian torture. As she had not-quite-ironically noted Dominic would even leave with a full belly! A full belly! )

Meanwhile, as she worked his mind at a distance. The bandaged Moon Soldiers that had accompanied the security forces slowly sealing off the exits and escape routes, even the ones that were barely possible. They even thought to try and cover routes normally impossible without some creative architectural hacking such as det charges.

The Moon soldiers directed it, mostly, sending in drones to the old, decaying routes through the Annex, drones flying ahead of some soldiers as they quietly creapt down each possible escape route, each soldier hoping the route they were clearing would be the one that caught the killers who had murdered their citizens and were plotting to murder more. They even accepted help from the Mandalorians sent by [member="Adenn Kyramud"] and gave them special license in helping them hunt. They would have put tails on Adenn himself but The Amalgam had forbidden it, knowing how hostile the gesture would be taken were it discovered.

Meanwhile...

[member="FN-999"] sure had given a fight for one lone man.

But, as the fight wore on and he was cornered, He took the last option and tried to die by grenade. That wasn't good. They needed him alive, not as a bag of Jelly.

The Moon soldiers cautiously approached the trooper, calling in medics, but prepared to shoot (and through the medic) if he twitched funny. Most of their ears were still ringing from the blast earlier.

"Stabilize him and make sure he is kept in a medical coma..." the Leader of the Moon Soldiers ordered the medics as they approached.

"But whatever you do...keep him alive..."

(Bat symbol scene transition)

The Moon Soldiers watching [member="Loreena Arenais"], [member="Amadeus Ren"] from across the street began to grow more concerned once Adenn Kyramud showed up. He and Kay were besties. That had no advanced intel he would be here.

"Claw to Central, Advise. Asset PUNISHMENT has arrived on scene and appears to be directing unscheduled operations..." one soldier watching from the apartment transmitted to his immediate superior hiding on the street.

"Hands off, Claw. Adenn's professional...he won't interfere unless he has to."

"Yeah, but what if his idea of 'has to' is different from ours?" the bandaged faced soldier asked in the sweltering apartment they monitored Loreena from.

"Then you act..." came the answer. The soldiers were to figure it out on their own merits or they were no use to [member="Kay Arenais"].

Sighing, the soldier acknowledged and switched off comms.

"This deal is getting worse all the time..." the bandaged soldier complained as he watched through a scope.

How could they protect Loreena with so many variables?

 

[Tyrcas Pallopides]

The Zakuul System;​

Zakuul City​

​

Amadeus listened as the young girl offered up some thoughts on her kindness. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps not.

"Maybe some start out kind, but end up burned one too many times?" The Knight of Ren suggested, thinking briefly on his own life. "Life really does move fast though, you're right about that. Luckily people like you are still around."

When the offer for support came, Amadeus took it, and placed an arm around the girl's narrow shoulders. He made sure to avoid leaning on her too much, considering his armor beneath the thick blankets around him. In fact, he absently wondered if Loreena would be able to feel the padding. Even if she did, the chances of immediately thinking it was body armor would be unlikely, surely.

You talk too loudly through your thoughts, Amadeus thought back to his fellow Ren member, Decitus. I'll act when we're inside the alleyway. Be ready.

Moving across the street, traffic avoiding the pair, Amadeus cast a casual glance around the area. He didn't like the increasing presence of guards, though he heard a commotion coming from behind, as the familiar voice of Decitus Ren rang out about someone being hurt. He figured that would take up some attention for what was about to happen. And as the pair neared the alleyway entrance, the beggar raised a gloved hand and looked at the glass.

"Oh," He said simply, blinking. "I didn't even think about it--"

Appearing to trip, Amadeus let the glass fall forward onto the mass of blankets on the ground. Offering an apology, the beggar knelt down and reached out to pick it up with an effort.

"I-I'm sorry, my leg, sometimes it gets out from under me..."

Grabbing the edges of the blankets in two fists, Amadeus suddenly stood up and spread the material through the air, in an attempt to bring it down over Loreena like a makeshift net. Being an Epicanthix, the warrior's physical strength was very high, and the blankets thick, as he also used the Force to control the cloth in the way he needed; and if the surprise attack worked, Amadeus would proceed to wrap the blankets roughly, before hefting Loreena and making a dash down the alleyway, away from the guards and observers...

[member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Samka Derith"] | [member="Adenn Kyramud"] | [member="Salis"]​

 

[BE-183]

Post: 3
Location: Zakuul City, Government District
Objective: Perform a daring escape
Status: In flight
Allies: [member="Dominic Craig"], Werewolf operatives
Enemy: [member="The Amalgam"]'s militia, Eternal Empire security​

"Oorah," the Sergeant approved, still having no idea what they had acquired save for understanding it was important. Seemed like the first part of the job was done. But it was never that easy, was it? No sooner than they had confirmation of transfer, they had company. She had a feeling they were being watched by those droids, never trusted the blasted clankers. Call it a soldier's instinct.

Bee was really missing her armour's scanners now. While the team may have forgone their usual trappings and liberated their current gear from the FOSB's bounty of confiscations over the years, they had plenty of time to plan and were nothing if not prepared for the delicate mission. Among their 'acquisitions' were several pairs of optical lenses, a few stun pearls and some low profile blasters. As soon as the Agent gave the word, the squad armed up.

There was no time for long goodbyes, a simple nod said enough. She recognised Craig's behaviour in herself. He seemed more than capable, but it still stung to leave a man behind; it was a painful reminder that she couldn't keep her people safe. In the field you became a tribe, you put the lives of your men above your own and you knew they'd do the same for you. The bond of brotherhood within the First Order was all the stronger in the Retribution Corps, even between branches. But it was for the mission.

With the briefcase handed over, the troopers promptly slipped out, going cover to cover to exit the server-packed room. When the power dropped, they activated the low-light mode on their lenses without missing a beat. As they left the server room, they lobbed a few presents back through the door for the goons chasing them; a handful of the small stun grenades. There was a saying in the Corps: you didn't retreat, you made a tactical withdrawal. They had the advantage of knowing exactly where they were going, while their pursuers would have to search that whole sector of the building. With time of the essence, the team avoided engagement, proceeding to speed through the labyrinthine maintenance access to lose them. Since none of the droids deeper in the Annex had seen where they entered from, the Sergeant would opt to take the more expedient route before the response arrived.

Ten minutes was enough time for the team to exit the way they came, even through the maze-like corridors, as they remembered their route. Those sons of banthas could seal an empty building. They stowed their weapons before heading out onto the streets, hearing the sirens close in, but they had a relatively comfortable six mikes or so to spare. Wasting no time, the small group took off on a brisk walk through the alleys of the Government District, once more appearing to be merely a bunch of laid-off civil workers, confused and mildly concerned at all the ruckus. When they were out of the immediate vicinity, the small group hailed a passing taxi, jacked it, piled inside and drove calmly down the road leading out of the district.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"I haven't had that happen yet." Lori had been betrayed by a friend before, him suggesting that she surrender herself to the Sith during the occupation of Commenor. But she couldn't do it. And when she saw him again, she punch him in the face. It was a good punch. Felt so good. She'd of done worse, but her Dad wouldn't of allowed it. He'd probably of frowned on her for hitting the guy in the first place. But it's part of a daughter's job to disappoint their Fathers, wasn't it?

She noticed some of the padding that [member="Amadeus Ren"] had, however she assumed that it was a bunch of extra clothing and some kind of protection from anyone attacking him on the street. The thought of any real armour was the furthest thing from her mind.

Lori snickered as he seemed to have forgotten the glass. "It's okay. I'll take care of it." But as she went to reach for it the glass dropped on the blanket due to Amadeus falling. Well that was almost comical, but concerning as well. If he was wandering around with an injury, it was better for him to get that fixed. Maybe she could find a hospital or something for him. That's even if he'd even go to begin with.

The blanket caught her by surprise then as it was quickly brought over her head and around her body. It was so thick and smelled stale. No doubt it would muffle her voice so that only Amadeus could hear her. "Hey!! Let me go!!" A cold chill ran down her spine as she kicked and made what limited movements that she could while she was carried away. He was no homeless man. He had to be an operative of some kind, yet until now she didn't sense any Force Sensitivity from him at all. And she had let her guard down. To what end though? No doubt she'd find out soon enough. Then maybe she could plan out her escape. There was always the hope that such a thing was possible. Regardless, she was kicking herself for being so stupid. If there was a next time, she was going to have to be much more careful.

[member="Samka Derith"] [member="Adenn Kyramud"] [member="Salis"]

 

[Dominic Craig]

Allies: Werewolves | [member="BE-183"]
Enemies: [member="The Amalgam"]
Objective: Keep 'Em Coming

​

Dominic felt the twinges of his vision twitch. Force visions. It was older tactic but one they nonetheless had tried before. Perhaps not these guys, but those the agent had faced beforehand. The FOSB man remained determined, gritting his teeth into a forced smile. "I ain't scared of you, jagoff." The FOSB man glowered, "I've faced tougher assholes than you and your sorority here," He taunted. His mind strengthened, and his resolve coalesced. He remembered his thinking exercises at the Academy. Don't let them get to you. Don't let them mess with you. Don't let them win. His fist clenched around the trigger. "And I've eaten my fill of human." he cockily added, raising his charric pistol at the approaching figures, their blades illuminated in the darkness.

"So if you think, for whatever reason, you're gonna break me, I got something else," Craig aimed down the barrel, and fired. The maser bolt went and slammed against one of her disciples lightsabers. The force was enough to knock her back, as the radiation hit like a brick. "We're gonna break you, sweetheart," Dominic snarled firing again, and breaking the concentration of another as she sought to avoid the bolt. "We're gonna break your raggedy whore queen," He added, firing again, "And we're gonna show you, and the whole damn Galaxy what we can do." He added still backing up, "Because lets be honest," The spy cackled, a laugh reverberating through the archive, "You don't have a chance in hell against the First Order. Against our might."

"Against me." They were closing now, as he kept firing, "And honestly," He threw down his gun, when they were within proper striking distance, hands raised. "I think a man like me would really enjoy seeing you try."

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

LOCATION: ZAKUUL
EQUIPMENT: IN BIO
ALLIES: @#TeamEmpire
ENEMIES: [member="Tyrcas Pallopides"], @#TeamLessCoolEmpire

My hunts never go this well.

Ghorua saw the sudden reaction; the urge to fight, to defend himself, before the spy succumbed to his own body's will, falling unconscious to the ground. Wasting no time, Ghorua leaned down, and slapped force-cuffs on Tyrcas, while also searching the rest of his body, taking away anything that looked like a weapon.

The crowd barely took notice of the struggle, it happened so fast. A few eyes near the event strayed over, some in concern, some in mute interest. Ghorua's disguise matrix disengaged, revealing the large hunter, who hefted the now-cuffed Operative over a shoulder.

Ghorua comm'd his ship, which was being piloted by an apprentice, Nibal Han. "Karba. You got my location?"

"Yes." A gungan of few words, as always.

"Get to the nearest spaceport. Target's neutralized. Let's get him off the street, shall we?"

There was no confirmation, but Ghorua knew Nibal Han understood. He began to wade through the crowd yet again, toward the spaceport. Toward Tyrcas' new cozy cell, until Ghorua could process him, make sure he was safe to turn over.

Then, who knows? He might go fishing again.

 

[Samka Derith]

The Zakuul guards scurried away, doing the duty to the people they were so obliged. Sam took a quick spot check. She was still alone.

The next step was an avenue of escape. A parked speeder was nearby, it's owner was a young man sitting inside on a communicator of some. The young Ren girl trotted up to the vehicle, thinking back on [member="Amadeus Ren"] as she did so. He seemed competent but she certainly hadn't appreciated the backtalk. Too loud? She was a professional. One of the best in the galaxy. Groomed as Seiger's successor before this nonsense unfurled and this man believed he could correct her? She was flawless, had made certain that a one to one communication remained as such in a technique he clearly hadn't understood. If their numbers weren't so tight she'd be tempted to make an example of him... perhaps she still could. Just a reminder of who was more powerful, who stood as an Overlord and who didn't...

She shook her head. Such petty thoughts. She was surely beyond them now. Her mind had to remain on the mission.

This would require some exertion. Nothing too straineous but it would require focus and possibly cause her to become a blip on another Force user's radar. She mentally reached out to the person in the speeder. She called to them, comfortingly. The man had a weaker mind. He was no fool but below average. It was all she needed. His mental defences slipped for a moment and she flooded in, drowning his free will in a sea of darkness. The man shuddered then straightened his posture, dropping his communicator.

Sam smiled. An unwilling get away driver to double as another hostage. Perfect.

She marched on, not willing to stay in one place for too long or give a firm link between her and the speeder. With a hop and a skip, Sam decided to lean against the wall by the alleyway's exit having made a full turn around the block. Amadeus should bring the girl this way in any moment...

[member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Amadeus Ren"] | [member="Salis"] | [member="Adenn Kyramud"]​

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

Post: 2
Location: Zakuul City
Tags: [member="Samka Derith"] [member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Amadeus Ren"] [member="The Amalgam"]

Adenn was watching [member="Loreena Arenais"] and [member="Amadeus Ren"], though he was hidden away with Gunner. However, he was watching them, taking in every move, every motion, every anything they made, all to make sure nothing happened to Loreena. Inside, Adenn knew that The Amalgam probably had someone watching her as well, but it simply wouldn't do for Adenn to fully trust someone else with the protection of someone so important, that would be irresponsible. Oftentimes Adenn's paranoia wouldn't work out and he'd be distrusted afterwards, but this time... this time the paranoia worked.

Adenn saw the man trip and then saw as he yanked the blanket over Loreena. Blinking in shock for a split second, Adenn was in motion the next, as was Gunner, with both calling it in to different people. Adenn sent a mass alert to the people it concerned, mainly Lady Kay, The Amalgam, and some others, while Gunner called the Mandos who had come with Adenn, he told them of the situation and what was happening. While Adenn wanted to charge off and chase the man down before beating him a enw one, Gunner managed to restrain his Alor(leader) and talk some semi-sense into him. This plot no doubt was bigger than they knew, so it simply wouldn't do to go chasing after him and leave the other fries out in the open. No, they'[d follow along and see where it went. However, they weren't going to risk Loreena just like that, so Adenn shot a small tracking device towards the bag containing Loreena. It was small enough so that it wouldn't be easily noticed, and had a good enough signal so if both the receiver and tracker were still in the city, Adenn would know.

With that done, Adenn decided to also follow in a more conventional manner, with one person following the other. That said, it couldn't be any of the Mandos, since they only had their beskar with them, so they asked [member="The Amalgam"]. Adenn sent a message to her and hopefully one to the agents nearby, of course he didn't know if they'd reach the target or not, it was more of a gamble, but his message still made it sound like he knew what he was doing.
"Greetings there, as you see, [member="Loreena Arenais"] has been abducted. I'd rush in to save her now, but that'd leave too many free people out there and we can't have that. So, here I am asking that you or your people keep an eye on Loreena and track her, I'd have my vode do it, but we're hardly inconspicuous. That said, I ask you do it for us and for Kay. Best of luck and thank you."

Then the message ended and Adenn and Gunner went to play it off as if they hadn't noticed anything. They made their way down from their perch and back the way they had come, walking the same route they had before. As they walked, they gave a nod to the knights they had spoken to earlier, but other than that, they carried on as if nothing were amiss. This gig was out of their hands now, and it'd be up to others to track the kidnapper. However, once they were found, Adenn would be sure that he and his men would be at the forefront of getting Loreena back, even as he walked off into the city, he swore it would be the case.

 

[The Amalgam]

A fast draw. The Amalgam had barely avoided the Charric shot that had flung one of the witches back, breaking all their concentration and causing a momentarily painful psychic feedback that knocked the Shi'ido for a loop as she scrambled behind cover. Prepared. Experienced. A quick shot. Vet. Reasonably high up the ladder to get trusted with the assignment. No wonder they had picked him. [member="Dominic Craig"] had called her bestie [member="Kay Arenais"] something vile however so she was going to discipline him.

As he continued to fire, Amalgam, having recovered her bearings began to manuever through the servers to reach him, his words sparking a dark amusement.

"What you can do?" she called out mockingly as she got ever closer. "What your government can do is die after riding the Sith's coattails to victory against the Galactic Alliance. One of the greatest military victories in history, and then you yourselves collapse and then, like petulant children, display how weak you all really are by going after soft targets, like fething vultures pecking at what scraps the desert deigns to give them..." she sneered at him as she and the acolytes got within striking distance. Craig seemed to know that the game was up, because he threw down his pistol.

That smug as hell smirk sparked a cold hatred in her she hadn't felt so intensely in a long time.

"Smug little rodent, aren't we?" The Amalgam questioned, again with a noticeable sneer to her features. "You think you deserve respect? What was left of your superiors took an obvious professional and turned him and his peers into nothing more than the fanatic in the basement plotting against a world they are not fit to live in any longer. I would sooner honor an Axe Murderer before your filth, for even though an Axe Murderer kills innocents with the same relish as you, at least they do it to the innocents up close. Not at a distance, not hiding, safe and sound in your little bunker or wherever the feth you and the rest of the vermin who came with you were when your little surprises went off..."

The Amalgam found herself removing her weapons and handing them to her acolytes. She force pulled two knives from her acolytes. She tossed one at Craig's feet. The other witches stood back.

The Amalgam looked at the double edged fighting knife. She had killed first when she was ten years old. A knife and a blue plastic box had been her only companions other than the clothes on her back in The Underworks. She'd been forced to master that knife. And though she had far more creative implements at her disposal, she was no less a master. The Congregation had even recognized her skill with the knife, even going so far as to have her study the Sacred Knife Torture Ceremonies of a cult of Kerestian mystics. It was there she had been introduced to the Dark stick, the Kerestian's weapon of choice, and its companion tech, the Light Absorbing cell.

Studying under the Kerestians had been an eye opener...like it was going to be for Dominic.

"Go on...put your credits where your mouth is...and I will show you just why your chitstain of a Galactic Empire wannabe collapsed...its more of a chance than you gave our civvies."

The Amalgam lapsed into a familiar stance. It was a CQB stance with her knife. She waited for Craig to make a move.

(Bat symbol scene transition)


The Moon Soldier Sniper on the top of a bank commed the other soldiers in the area as he watched [member="BE-183"] and her team hijack the transport. The security forces had sealed off the area, but the Headmistress had been very strict against completely cornering them...it was never wise to make the enemy desperate. Always leave a little route for retreat...

She had ordered the spaceports in the local areas locked down, but the Moon Soldiers on their own initiative had allowed for a few vehicles to occasionally get through to anticipated escape routes that had been theorized by the best military analysts when sweeping through this area during the Headmistress's prior overhaul and assessment of the most vulnerable targets.

"B-Team to Crimson. Bandits have acquired escape pod and are attempting exfil out of engagement zone." The Sniper commed his team leader.

"Await until bandits have exfilled district before reacquiring. Recommend ground team for Retrieval. Non-lethal pacification only."

"Acknowledged. Signaling."

The Sniper sent out a burst transmission and right as the taxi was about to exit, that was when two armored speeders carrying Moon Soldiers armed with blasters came from different streets as it passed by trailing behind it a bit before opening fire on the back of the taxi, to disable it.

Meanwhile...

They had failed.

One minute they had been in control, and [member="Loreena Arenais"] had been safe in their scope. Next the crowds and sun glare and that was all it had taken for [member="Amadeus Ren"] and [member="Samka Derith"] to snatch her. The Moon soldiers were scrambling everywhere in Loreena's last known coordinates, knowing their Headmistress would kill them for this failure. Only the announcement by [member="Adenn Kyramud"] gave some faint hope this might still be salvaged.

So they went into overtime, flooding the streets with soldiers in plain clothing, all in an attempt to find the daughter of the bosses's bestie. Some looked quite morose, knowing they were dead even if they did find Loreena...such failure is unacceptable...

 

[Tyrcas Pallopides]

Planet Zakuul;​

Unknown Location​

​

As Tyrcas opened his eyes, he became very aware of the full body ache. And the pounding in his skull. In fact, the mysterious interior, of wherever he was, was far too bright following what he could only assume was a shock stun of some kind. That thought, the officer quickly realized he was detained. The cage around him flickered with energy, as Tyrcas slowly pushed to his feet and looked through the tube of containment. He wasn't personally familiar with Force Cages, but he knew of them, and could recognize when inside one.

"Where am I?" Tyrcas said simply, knowing someone was listening. "Is this how Zakuul treats tourists?"

Until such time as a dialogue could be opened with whomever had abducted him, Tyrcas planned to maintain innocence. There was little point in panicking and revealing more than he intended to; not to mention the cage itself had other means of use, and if he was able to evade or otherwise talk his way out of the situation, avoiding that torture would be preferable to the alternative...

"This seems highly irregular, to abduct a visitor to this planet for no reason..."

Come out, come out, wherever you are...

 

[Tyrcas Pallopides]

The Zakuul System;​

Zakuul City​

​

Amadeus ignored the squirming and cries of objection. They were somewhat contained and muffled by the thick blankets, truth be told, so the effort wasn't difficult. With the young woman over one shoulder, the Knight of Ren looked back to make sure he didn't have opponents immediately after him. It seemed the subtle method had resulted in a bit of room to take advantage of the kidnapping. There were no guards rushing down the alleyway, or into the branching passages Amadeus moved through behind the mass of buildings around, but that didn't mean speed was lessened.

The Knight knew that his partner in the situation - Decitus - would be either following or moving toward the rendezvous point. Given how well it had gone so far, Amadeus hoped it was the latter. The time to find some form of transportation would waste those valuable moments that the guards were unable to keep pace.

"Stay quiet, I don't want to hurt you," Amadeus said to the bundle in his arms. He would keep Loreena in the blankets until she was contained and away from passersby. "I can't say the same for the others I know..."

Ahead, his fellow Ren awaited, leaning casually against the wall of the alleyway. Amadeus approached, as he reached up and ripped the false bushy beard from his face.

"Ready to head to the holding location?"

[member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Samka Derith"] | [member="Adenn Kyramud"] | [member="Salis"]​

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

LOCATION: ZAKUUL
EQUIPMENT: IN BIO
ALLIES: ETERNAL EMPIRE
ENEMIES: [member="Tyrcas Pallopides"], FIRST ORDER

The holding area of the Jawsome would be extremely uncomfortable for the First Order Officer.

Perhaps he couldn't feel it at first, but the Dark Side force user would eventually feel the synthweave in the wall, a glowing beacon of the light side that would eventually make one opposed to it uncomfortable, or so Ghorua heard. Secondly, the biot jelly would be a strange experience. No Force powers could go past the walls of this room, a glowing white area with force cages, and no noticeable way of turning them off.

There was a faint buzzing as the force cage whirred, a whining, static sound, that promised danger. The bright lights, the cage, the silence... it would be enough for any regular being to break down. Perhaps yell, scream, show any emotion whatsoever.

No such outburst was forthcoming. Ghorua smiled.

The comms in the room came on, revealing a voice. Deep, too deep to be human. Maybe a little too much humor to be governmental. "Usually, a tourist won't default to calling themselves a tourist, or a visitor, under duress. Normally, when one might identify themselves, they would defer to a name, or perhaps a profession. Unless one identifies as a tourist, but I find that hard to believe. Your passport is relatively new, after all."

Ghorua's voice was calm, but you could hear the smile in his voice. He put on the veneer of confidence, and he did it well. "And I don't see any symbols of Zakuul here, do you?" That particular comment could be taken any number of ways, but only one was the right interpretation. The spy, and Ghorua knew he was a spy now, had assumed immediately that the reason he was here was because of his mission, figured that Zakuul had found him out. It was a correct assumption, but the only way to that conclusion was to be guilty of something from Zakuul in the first place.

"It's just you and me, tourist."

Not all of this was guesswork, of course. On the street, his facial recognition software would never have given him anything. But with time, and focus, it wasn't hard. False ID's could only go so far.

 

[BE-183]

Spoiler

[media]https://youtu.be/xCAutUrA5J0[/media]​

Post: 4 (final?)
Location: Zakuul City - in transit
Objective: Exfil
Allies: [member="Dominic Craig"], Werewolf operatives​

Enemy: [member="The Amalgam"], Eternal Empire security​

Constance had the wheel. She used to be a Scout Trooper before the chit hit the fan, so she was an obvious choice to drive. The exits were shutting down one by one, which meant heavier traffic, but that just made it easier to blend in. This was the Spire, the busiest city in Zakuul, and there had to be thousands of identical taxis driving around. They had a good head start before the response had shown up back there, and with the presumed element of anonymity on their side they got as far as the outer district. Druce saw it first, however. "Chit," he spat suddenly, "we've got frackin' moonies."

Should've been smooth sailing, and to be fair it was; right up until the squad speeders with the Eternal Empire's Moon Corps print showed up all guns blazing, firing into the traffic. A few bolts burst through the crumple zone and cargo compartment in the back of the speeder causing Constance to evade, then some of the missed shots ripped into nearby civilian vehicles. Yikes, that would look pretty bad on the holonet later. "They're out of their bloody minds! Punch it!" Horace yelled from the shotgun seat.

"I am, keep your horns on trench monkey!" was Constance's retort. With their armour plating, the pursuing vehicles were heavier and less maneuverable than the taxi, so they were easily outpaced, but they seemed to keep showing up for the time being. The speeder slipped in and out of traffic and around corners gracefully to avoid them, finally drawing up on a bustling intersection.

"Get us out of here Constance. Keep those gravbangs handy Druce and give me one. We wait 'til we're clear of the civvies," the Sergeant ordered. Constance spun the wheel frantically, suddenly jerking them into a tunnel. "Now!" They lobbed the specialised grenades back at the pursuing pair of squad speeders and peeled off, leaving them in the dust.

The team was out of sight for the moment. "Oi love," Gord spoke up, "take us in that car park. I 'ave a plan." Constance pulled up, taking a spare space in the parking lot. Gord was a former combat engineer, and he was able to slice a couple of clean rides for them. They ditched the battered taxi and disappeared.

Bee was with Constance and Horace, while Druce and Gord split off. This was just one operation; they had no plans of leaving the planet yet, and it was much safer to get to one of their secure hideouts and lay low. "Nice driving chauffeur," the Sergeant sighed, "take us to point Hotel, and make sure we're not followed." She took a breather and stared down at the case in her lap. Was it worth it? She guessed she'd see.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

It was terribly hot inside of that blanket. Lori's heavy breaths didn't help either. Already she could feel the beads of sweat pouring down her face, making her hair and face wet. How long before she was able to get some fresh air?

The voice of [member="Amadeus Ren"] came through, muffled but clear enough. So he didn't want to hurt her but others might? Perhaps she could use it to her advantage. Her mind played out the scenario where the man carrying her, the one that she thought was homeless, could in fact help her to escape. If she played her cards right. But at the moment she wasn't sure if she'd get to be alone with him to try that out. And besides, maybe she'd be able to escape all on her own! She could blind them with her ball of light and then just run away. Yeah. That could work.

There was one problem though. She had to get out from this blanket!!

[member="Samka Derith"]

 

[Samka Derith]

There they were!

The Ren looking shabby and dishevelled and the young woman squirming beneath the blanket. Unusual but apparently effective. Maybe such improvisation was Amadeus's speciality.

Sam nodded and gestured to the parked speeder besides them. She bounced over to the passenger side at the front, trusting her associate to quickly throw the girl in the backseat.

"Off we go now," she tapped the dashboard in front of her as she settled into her seat to signal the driver to go. He shuddered again before beginning to take off. Hopefully the puppet would remain stable...

Sam turned her head to face the pair in the backseat. "Loreena?" She called out gently to the girl, letting out a soothing aura of energy emit from her. It would be a somewhat comforting if eerie feeling. "It'll be alright. I'm a... friend of your parents. Whatever happens you'll come to no harm from us, I give you my word."

​

[member="Loreena Arenais"] | [member="Amadeus Ren"] | [member="Adenn Kyramud"]​

 

[The Amalgam]

At Zakuul Satellite Command, the machines in orbit that had been tracking the marines-in-training began to follow the vehicle they were shooting at. The vehicle [member="BE-183"] was in soon diverted into a tunnel, for whom the blue prints were immediately pulled up. Next came the requirement to think like an infiltraitor.

Military Analysts that The Amalgam had brought from Commenor who specialized in conducting the very sorts of planetary infiltrations being attempted by The First Order in this instance began to work it out on the spot, isolating all the areas where they would best swap out vehicles, but then came the more difficult part, actually figuring out where they had gone once they had gone into the tunnel.

A parking lot nearby the tunnel was drawn up as a likely place to ditch a shot up vehicle, and the sattellite was directed to focus on that spot. There were several other candidates, but this spot, this parking lot, was considered the best. It had the best access deeper into the Spire, from the tunnel they had gone into...the density of vehicles provided the best chance to escape. But the people operating the satellite kept on it, tracking its thermal signature, nearly losing it several times through thick traffic but eventually they got to a point where they could track it cleanly and semi reliably. But they had spooked them good. They would want to go to a hide out.

Other people were working on that while efforts to try and track down [member="Samka Derith"] and [member="Loreena Arenais"] were still ongoing but had stalled at the moment. But the collective fear of The Amalgam--especially given the horrid, unnatural things she had done to the previous staff, spurred them to quadruple their efforts. All data on their last known position and most likely exfil routes were being transmitted to [member="Adenn Kyramud"] and his men as they searched. They had to recover the daughter of the Empress. They had to.

In the meantime as they were not certain where the ones BE-183 was with were fleeing to, they decided to adopt a wait and see approach, tracking the vehicle as best as they were able...

 

[BE-183]

Spoiler

[media]https://youtu.be/-ZbPG5zRd20[/media]​

Post: 5 (cont.)
Location: Zakuul City - in transit
Objective: Doing the Zakuul shuffle
Allies: [member="Dominic Craig"], Werewolves​

Enemy: [member="The Amalgam"], Security​

Meanwhile...

Constance obliviously drove on. She had been garrisoned here before it all went down, so she knew these streets like the back of her hand. Currently she was taking in the sights, staying alert, but the rest of the mission was shaping up to be like taking a leisurely-

"Chit!" She slammed on the brakes and swerved, rousing the Sergeant from her thoughts and the Zabrak from his nap.

Cut to the main surveillance room. In the shining jewel of a fallen empire, Zakuul's multi-tiered capital megacity, whose architecture threatened to pierce the atmosphere not to mention the clouds, surveillance was an understandably difficult affair. As it happened, tunnels weren't the only obfuscation to an outside observer. The crack team of intelligence operatives would likely come upon the revelation that even the sharpest satellite imaging was hard-pressed to penetrate the dense upper layer of urban structures, which formed the higher levels of the Spire. Even succeeding that, its operators may have quite reasonably struggled to pick out a generic civilian vehicle among possibly millions. The new security forces, being fresh arrivals on Zakuul, had failed to pursue on the unfamiliar roads and resorted to pulling up schematics, eating up precious time as they gave them a read through. But what mattered was, they had the one thermal signature which stood out in the midst of the bustling city, and followed it relentlessly. Foolproof.

Unfortunately, any conclusions they had managed to draw might prove to be substantially founded on guesswork. Superlatively insightful guesswork, certainly, but no more based in observable reality. Nonetheless, the trackers honed in on the best, most assured location for their fugitives to go: this parking garage which was, in certain circles, said to be the de facto nexus of the Spire. There may even have been some celebration in the surveillance room when at least two civilian speeders were sighted exiting said location... suspiciously, and going their separate ways in ostensibly random directions.

Cut back to the troopers, who seemed to be losing their collective chit. "What!? Are we being tailed? Sitrep!" Bee clutched the briefcase with a white-knuckle grip, rapidly glancing between the others.

"Ah, no. See," Constance replied in an oddly calm tone, jerking her head forward, "crazy bastard cut me off, ma'am." Bee just squinted at her through the rear-view. "Really, who the hell overtakes into oncoming traffic? They should have RDCs for civvies," the Scout muttered, keeping her focus on the road ahead.

Horace heaved a sigh of relief, turned to the back seat and grinned. "Easy, bucket. Just imagine that case is full of crayons." The Sergeant bit her tongue, firing off her best steely NCO glare prompting him to back off. "Sorry, excuse my friend. She spent most of her career alone in the woods, so she's got all the social graces of an ewok. "

"Smeg off." Constance continued the leisurely drive to the Old World. She was a Scout Trooper; she knew when she was being watched or followed, and how to avoid it. Her instinct happened to be accurate, in fact.

Although Commenor's best were doing a commendable job tracking the two speeders that had exited the car park, there had been perhaps a slight smidgeon of a switcheroo. The alleged suspect vehicles were in truth, respectively occupied by a gungan family of three and a devaronian transporting an outrageous number of porgs, for undetermined but presumably malicious purposes. Therefore, ample reason to track said vehicles, even if the mix up was undetected.

 

[Dominic Craig]

The FOSB Agent cackled like a hyena at the gesture. The special agent cleaved a cigarette from his pocket, and lit the roll of paper. "You insane?" He asked, shaking his head before taking a long and deep drag. "Sweetie, I'm not about to fight you." The Agent condescendingly mused to her. "I'm not about to risk my life on what? A whimsical fancy?" He rolled his eyes, and kicked the blade away. "Nah, you have fun playing Empire, but just remember, that when the time comes, we'll be the ones to put you down." He slowly leaned down and picked up his weapon. His eyes were now locked with the Sith's and a smirk pursed his lips.

"Now if you excuse me, I have a war to win." The first shot struck the witch to her left dead in the face. The maser immediately causing her skin and flesh to boil and contort as moisture tried to escape against the invisible force. The second hit the Amalgam's companion in the thigh, leaving her staggered before a second bolt slammed into her head. The agent picked himself up, and reached for his tie, straightening it, before firing three times at his adversary. This time, time was key, and the Special Agent bolted for the door. Already he was concocting a way out. They may have thought him a caged animal, but in reality, they were all caged in with him.

[member="The Amalgam"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

A friend of her parents?? How was she to trust that?

Lori felt the goosebumps rise on her arms and the back of her neck as [member="Samka Derith"] sent out her calming aura. Although it provided some comfort, there was something off about it. Or maybe it was the fact that the so-called 'friend of her parents' had kidnapped her inside of a blanket! Friends wouldn't do that! They'd just ask her to have a chat or something. Whoever these people were, they had an odd perception of what a friend was like.

How long was she to be kept inside of the blanket? Forever? Lori felt the speeder take off and of course the first thing on her mind was wondering where they were going. If these people knew of her parents, then more than likely she was a hostage. What else could it be? It wasn't as though they were whisking her off to her safety or anything.

"Let me out of here. It's hard to breathe!" As if to emphasize the point, she started to have a coughing fit. [member="Amadeus Ren"] had her wrapped up tight and she was starting to get a bit claustrophobic. "Please!"

The tracker placed on the blanket by [member="Adenn Kyramud"] was still doing it's work, now partly hidden among the folds of the blanket.

 

[Adenn Kyramud]

Post: 3
Location: Zakuul City
Tags: [member="Samka Derith"] [member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Amadeus Ren"] [member="The Amalgam"]
Sorry for the delay in posts

Marching along, Adenn felt horrible, he'd never so willingly abandoned someone like that. He never wanted to do it again either, and he wanted to stop this current one, now. Looking through his HUD, Adenn saw that the tracker was working, however sparingly that was. Deciding to return the favor the Amalgam and her troops had done, Adenn had his HUD send the trackers info to them as well. Even if it only pinged every minute or three, it was better than nothing.

The sudden speed pick up from the tracker indicated to Adenn that they were in a speeder. Growling lowly, Adenn activated his jetpack and flew up into the air before looking around. He was searching for the general area where the tracker had come from. Sadly there were several speeders up at the time, so the one he was looking for was hidden well. No matter, Adenn flew in the general direction of the tracker, intent on catching it the next time it went off. He wanted at least one other tracker on the speeder, one that worked better than the hurried one he'd shot towards Loreena and her blanket cage.

Suddenly the tracker pinged again and Adenn had his speeder. He wasn't close to it, but should be close enough that the next tracker would work. Raising his wrist, Adenn made sure to take a few pictures of the speeder, though they'd be grainy and small. After all, the speeder was far away, and Adenn couldn't get close enough quickly enough. Using his wrist, Adenn shot another tracker towards the speeder, hoping to hit the speeder. The tracker flew towards the speeder and came so close to hitting it, but then it hit something else. Adenn didn't see what though, he was too frustrated that he'd missed, even if the tracker was live and moving away quickly. No doubt he'd hit another speeder or even a bird, but not his target.

Frowning heavily, Adenn flew back down towards the ground while contacting those who had been sending him updates. He sent them pictures of the speeder, sadly they weren't good ones. The speeder looked rather generic and grainy from so far away, no outstanding features were there. Then again, Adenn didn't know what those in the employ of the Amalgam could do. Perhaps they could pull something out, but Adenn wouldn't be able to. Instead he landed once more and began making his way towards the general direction the speeder had been heading, even as it gave off random pings to notify him where it was going. The system wasn't good by any stretch of the word, in fact it was rather bad. But it was better than guess work.

Walking along, Adenn was laser focused on his objective, save Loreena. He practically ignored those in front of him, and often ran those who didn't get out of his way over. Adenn was angry, but he was focused, and his HUD gave updates to himself and those in the Amalgams employ. They were sporadic and very random, sometimes not going for an extended period of time before updating once more. But it was something, and something was better than nothing. Adenn kept that in mind as he followed the tracker to the best of his ability, marching along, dead set on finding the target.