Skirmish Liberation of Dantooine: Raid on Planetary Pirates | Pirates vs Diarchy

[Ova Ziss]

Objective #1: Security Raid on Enclave
Location: Grand Declaration Ceremony on Bastion
Tags: Liin Terallo | Serina Calis | Kaljak Rakham | Mr. Usher

The voice of Kaljak roared into the comms. It wasn't a bluff: Mr. Usher had friends. Ova visibly cringed at the sound of his voice, knowing that the demands on his dwindling credits were about to increase tenfold.

"That'd be Captain Rakham to ya, Ziss! Won't go havin' some two-chit bureaucrat soilin' my good name! Now, ye ask what I want?"

Ova walked with trepidation to an entirely different monitor: one that was a good distance away from where Liin was seated. Mr. Usher would see Ova stand up. He stood facing one of the monitors.

So it IS Kaljak.

Ova pushed the communication button, transmitting his holo-image onto the droid that was positioned near Kaljak and his men.

"I asked you twice what you want, actually", Ova said. "We thought you couldn't hear us, Captain".

Dantooine had been dealing with the thieving, scheming, mostly-drunken antics of the Scarlett Armada for some time. Ova knew Kaljak Rakham, and had dealt with him numerous times as an executive of United Trade Authority here on the planet. Kaljak had a swoop gang on Dantooine Space Station - and they were making a mess of things there, too. Kaljak's usual method of thievery involved strolling into wherever he wanted, taking whatever he wanted, and then coming back a few moons later to do the exact same thing.

Dantari salvage merchants would put up with Kaljak, but Ova would not.

And while the preceding Governor chose Liin Terallo's way of diplomacy and consessions - what Ova called "kid gloves" - Ova did not think quite the same way. Ova was taking a hardline on piracy in time for the Governor race, and he wasn't about to negotiate with a bomber.

Ova Ziss gritted his teeth at Kaljak's disrespectful displays, and that of his crewmates. Kaljak laughed. He danced. He made a mess. He mocked Ova's planet, his history, his company. All of the previous times that Kaljak stole from Dantooine flashed before Ova's eyes, all at once.

Oh, that karking tears it.

"An' the price for such an insult to me will be costin' ya.....30 kinrath eggs, and as many bushels of Dantari crystals you can fit in my flagship's hold. That be me demands."

"Why don't you try asking the kinrath nicely for their eggs, Kaljak?"

Now, it was Ova who was laughing. He knew the pirate wouldn't dare.

But...Kaljak wasn't laughing, and neither were the pirates.

"Wait, you're actually serious. - If that's what you want, then I'll deliver your goods myself. And the credits that Mr. Usher is asking for, too."

"Send yer bleedin' Jedi. Ain't 'fraid of no saber-swingin' twit who thinks they're a legend."

"Oh, yeah?" Ova took it as a challenge. "Well, maybe I wi--!"

Crash. The observer droid shorted. The screen imminently turned black: "NO INPUT RECEIVED". The security droid was deader than Csilla.

Serina Calis "Serina, kindly show our unwanted guest the door", Ova said coldly as he pointed emphatically to the monitor. "Take him alive. Kaljak has a bounty on his head."

Ova walked to the other screen, sat down beside Liin, and casually said to Mr. Usher, "Do you see what I'm dealing with here? - Are you in? - Either way, a Jedi is coming to the Enclave to welcome our guests. Along with every TAB droid the government controls on Dantooine. The crystals are one thing, but bombing the Archives? It's a little much."

 

[Liin Terallo]

I observe the banter back and forth between them. I was doing more than listening. I was taking in their body language while keeping myself poised and still. Mister Ziss was composed for merely a short while before he began to get up and walk away to another monitor. Did he expect that I couldn't see him from that vantage point? Or that I could not hear him as well? With his bolstering voice, it was very difficult to not over hear him. Most especially as he got more and more emotional. It tended to get him a little overexcited, I see. And like a child in a playground trying to confront a bully, he immediately points out the backing of the others with him, almost to the point of using them as shields.

"Mister Ziss, Mister Usher and Captain Rakham, is it? Why not act like grown adults instead of like children fighting over a toy, hmm? I am sure that a more civilized approach will bring much more favorable results for everyone. The destruction of those caves and the contents inside of it would serve no one in the end. Do you not agree? Now given that this planet is changing hands, there are new rules being put into play within it's territory for those that are citizens and those that are not. Diarch Reign, Mister Ziss; what are your laws on trespassing and burglary?"

Tags: Ova Ziss Mr. Usher Diarch Reign Kaljak Rakham Serina Calis

 

[Ova Ziss]

Objective #1: Security Raid on Enclave
Location: Grand Declaration Ceremony on Bastion
Tags: Liin Terallo | Serina Calis | Kaljak Rakham | Mr. Usher

"I apologize, Director Liin Terallo . Mr. Rakham is a--" He felt a kick from under the table, although whether it came from Liin or Diarch Reign was unclear. Ova cleared his throat. "Mr. Rakham is an...eccentric character. We see him frequently at our swoop racing track. ...Drunk...", Ova muttered.

"Trespassing and burglarizing the crystal caves is quite a serious crime", Ova stated simply to Director Linn, and also sounding out on the comms - more for Mr. Usher's benefit than for Kaljak. "On Dantooine, the kyber crystals don't belong to anybody. Companies and people pay to harvest the krystals themselves. Then, we schedule miners one at a time. If we overmine or bomb the kyberite then it won't grow anymore, like what happened to the Sapith crystal and others."

"The crime that I'm concerned about is the bombings". Ova spoke seriously. "Even the attempt at that is quite serious. If the kinrath start roaming the countryside, or if the Enclave Archives are damaged, then this will become an interplanetary problem. Right, Diarch?" Ova knew that the Diarch would very likely nod in agreement. Terrorism practically required a military response. That had been the law under Mandalorians, Jedi, and Sith. "I'll have no choice but to call the High Marshal out of orbit."

The High Marshal is a notorious Sith Commander named Darth Nathrax , who is known for his brutality in response to enemy attacks.

"I didn't want to bring that up, but...he's most definitely hearing these comms."

There was a tense pause. Kaljak Rakham and Mr. Usher could see from Ova's face that he was not bluffing, and was quite serious.

"Come on, Mr. Usher. You don't have to be a co-conspirator. One hundred credits thousand now, two hundred thousand later..."

 

[Mr. Usher]

OBJECTIVE 1/2
TAGS: Kaljak Rakham | Ova Ziss | Liin Terallo​

---

“Send yer bleedin' Jedi. Ain't 'fraid of no saber-swingin' twit who thinks they're a legend.” He growled menacingly, “An' Ovvy-boy? Don't try me patience!”

A Jedi would be bad news for Mr. Usher - sithspawn experiment that he was. The meat-husk nearby flinched as the pirate captain blasted the observer droid. Things were escalating quickly at the enclave. The already meat-sparse husk drew two small blaster pistols, bisecting itself into two halves when each spread itself thinner to grow a second leg - resulting in two near-skeletal bipedal husks with a single arm and blaster, taking defensive positions near the entrances.

Stretched this thin, these frail husks lacked the physiology to speak, but would at least uphold his part of the bargain to the scarlet Armada, even as his negotiator- husk near the cave entrance played the other side; all the while the Combat Hulk slowly lost biomass holding off the intrusion from the south entrance.

Mr, Usher found himself caught between what would soon be a multi-front conflict, even as the negotiator attempted to ease the conflict, though it seemed the prior history between Mr. Ziss and captain Kaljak was a sticking point.

"Come on, Mr. Usher. You don't have to be a co-conspirator. One hundred credits thousand now, two hundred thousand later..."

Three hundred thousand credits was beginning to sound enticing, despite the significant drop of the expected million from his cut.

Then again, if he took the credits, he could stiff the pirates with the bill for the bribes and machinery. They were a dangerous enemy to make - but the way things were going they may not be in a position to retaliate any time soon.

"Let's say I'm amenable to your deal. Are you expecting me to take the credits, step out, and trust your Jedi, Sith, and Diarchy friends won't blast me to bits?" The negotiator husk stepped slowly near the north entrance, leaning out to peek at the flame trooper unit just in the other side of the booby-trappes entrance.

Admittedly, that wouldn't be a terrible outcome for the hive-mind of Mr. Usher - the majority of his biomass was offworld and if he could get a transfer of credits and 'die' here with this husk, he could probably make a clean break from suspicion and lay low for a while.

---

 

[Ova Ziss]

Objective #1: Security Raid on Enclave
Location: Grand Declaration Ceremony on Bastion
Tags: Liin Terallo | Kaljak Rakham | Mr. Usher | Serina Calis | Kyra Nex

Ova Ziss nodded. "Yes. I can call them off."

He reached for the allied communications speaker, so that he can speak to Kyra and Charred Dominion. "I know this is strange, Charred Dominion - Serina - but...stand down against those husk creatures. Stand down. I need you to break for the Enclave. Kaljak is heading there. Take him alive."

"Satisfied, Mr. Usher? Are you in?"

He waited patiently for the man's response, and he was prepared to do scant talking afterwards.

Kaljak Rakham was a dead man.

## EXIT THREAD - Continued in the duel here! ##​