Recruitment Campaign (Siobhan)

[Valiens Nantaris]

Colonel Raeder, who sadly would never become Grand Admiral of the Republic, was shown the message an hour or so after it arrived. His department was a vaguely defined, nebulous affair which did...things which weren't widely known. Still, he was just the right contact for Siobhan.

He looked at the message. It was blunt, but that worked to its advantage. Spymasters usually got sick of other people pussing around. He sat down to reply.

Ms Kerrigan,

I had not heard that you had left the Jedi. I believed you were still on mission, but since you are now with Omega it seems something has happened.
The Dahomey incident is one which the Republic does not formally acknowledge as inside our juristiction. The actions of General Amherst are reprehensible, but the Republic is facing difficulties in containing the incident quickly. Were a third party hypothetically to suppress the insurrection and bring the rogue to justice they could expect considerable favour and reward from a grateful Republic. However, said third party would be wise to avoid excessive civilian casualties or a long engagement.
Of course, the Republic does not in any way sanction third parties to intervene in such situations, but were it to happen without prompting it would be viewed favourably.

Colonel Raeder

Which naturally meant 'Go ahead, but we didn't ask you to!'

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan read through the message, which came in a couple minutes later. The Weakest Link was on soon - apparently she would have to tape it again! She noted that the Colonel had not directly responded to the query about how much the Republic would be willing to pay in return for their services.

She imagined that perhaps the spooks did not want to get their hands tied by making a clear commitment...or were they supposed to haggle now ? At least it would be less bloody than haggling on her homeworld! When she thought about it, that image seemed rather comical!

Regardless she called Tegs. She'd want to be informed and knew more about this negotiation business anyway. "Got a reply from our Republic friend. Pretty much says that if we deal with the General and his cohorts without excess damage it'll be awesome, but it's a deniable op, they didn't ask us and if we mess up it ain't their problem. The usual, I guess, no surprises there. Says we'd get a considerable reward and favour, no specific sum though. We naming one now?"

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tegaea looked up, nodded. "Yeah, plausible dependability. Colonel Raeder and I go way back, the only decent officer I ever served under in the Alliance - before they became the Republic and I left. He'll keep his word, I don't think we need to push the point. He'll owe us a favour, that's for sure, but the best part is that we can get some of the gold mining activities on Dahomey into our orbit. Great work, Siobhan."

She pondered for a moment. "What do we know about enemy numbers? I need to get details about the enemy - do you have anyone who can help with that? I have my own people around, but none on Dahomey. I want good intel on the enemy before I charge in."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan frowned. "Hmm. Way I get it, the RTF was mainly there to train rebels and stuff, assassinate warlords, do recon. Think they had a couple bombers for a while before going dark. Heli says they 'recruited' a batch of criminals in Lower Coruscant to 'em out of the way." Press-ganging social miscreants into national service was a time and tested practice. "With specops types providing leadership for the rebels. Not much more than 30, I imagine. The Ministry doesn't exactly advertise theiir covert campaigns but Dahomey's a low priority zone. Besides, a couple got killed when he pulled of his coup."

She checked a few notes. "I'll do some digging. Know a few people in low places." With that Siobhan vanished back into her office and a few calls, which this one won't be fully writing out, alas. While Siobhan didn't know anyone on Dahomey - until recently she hadn't even heard the name - she did know some people in the arms dealer business (or people who knew people) who'd be in a position to supply. Arms dealers big enough to deliver a sizeable quantity of guns on short notice, but small enough for the Republic Authority to claim they need not investigate them. Siobhan imagined that a few civil servants and military types got their share of Dahomey gold to keep it that way. In general, these conversations were a bit less pleasant and humorous than the ones with the Cathar Heli.

"No, Crowley, I know you had nothing to do with any blasters going missing on Anaxes...and if some conveniently ended up in your hands you wouldn't know they were Republic property! And you couldn't know that the Anaxes government was so corrupt any grenades sold to them would end up in the hands of fanatics. Now, numbers! You're not a doctor, there's no supplier-customer confidentiality, just supply and demand." A few threats did not go amiss either.

"You really don't wanna know whether I can flay you alive...with my mind. Look, I know you sold a couple repeaters to Aziz and, see, I ain't with the Jedi anymore." This meant that she was no longer held back by a Code, or rather by the fact that they'd kick her out if she overstepped it too many times. "Not a threat, statement of fact. I'm in business now, if I tried to hunt down everyone who sold guns to people who tried to kill me or everyone who tried to kill me...I'd never get laid! So...you provide help, I forget about it and go hit other people. Yes, that's a reasonable fee. See! Checking my mail now. Pleasure doing business with you."

It was about an hour later, after a few more calls, that Siobhan returned to Tegs' office. "Right. Got some info on equipment down there," she passed Tegs a datapad. "Looks like a lot of of blasters, grenade launchers etc. went 'missing' after Anaxes. Couple primitive mortars as well. It's mainly infantry equipment though. Looks like the warlords had about a dozen old tanks between 'em, but no spare parts. Natives use sluggers a lot, easy to maintain. Also some info about purchases the biggest warlord made before he got axed. Based on the quantity of the data, Dear Leader wannabe might be able to equip a couple thousand. Maybe 4-5,000. properly equipped ones. Course, he'd be press-ganging more people into his army and give them any primitive crap they can get their hands on, but I figure that's the hard core."

She sat down on the edge of the desk. "In other news. The fruit basket that Republic investigator's head was sent back in contained blood oranges!"

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tegaea looked over the information, considering it. However, at the last point she laughed. "Really? Blood oranges? Appropriate."

"I've done some calculations on what we can bring to bear. Victory is certainly possible, but we need to be very careful how we do things. I've discussed the matter with Cira, and we have on hand five companies; 250 men that we could send. However, we have superiority in weaponry and we will hopefully have the element of surprise on our side."
She called up a holographic map of Dahomey, zooming in on one particular continent where deserts gave way to grasslands and dense jungles.
"Here, the city of Acra, there's where the centre of the rebel movement is. The plan is that we go in with ion charges from the air, land on three sides and head directly for the leader's palace. We let them run if they want, but mainly we take down combatants, try to minimise civilian losses. Our fighters keep air superiority and strafe any relief or escaping enemy. If this goes as planned the enemy will be broken up quickly. We'll also contact their enemies and get them to rally on the city and help us."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan gave the plan her due attention, but didn't seem that troubled. Go into a god-forsaken war zone, face possible death and beat the bad guys, go home and order pizza. One might call Siobhan a far too nonchalant, even careless action junkie and there'd be a certain degree of truth to that evaluation. But then, this was her life.

Besides, Tegs was the one with the plans and Siobhan trusted her on that - the Rogue Knight's skill lay more in hitting things really hard! Granted, as the saying went, few plans survived first contact with the enemy and things usually went to hell, but she could improvise. Explosively. By throwing statues and speeders around. "Sounds good to me. Their enemies better not stab us in the back once we're done with Amherst. Gotta be ready for that case," she said after Tegs was finished. Her cynicism was deeply-ingrained, but she seemed confident of their chances to win. "You and me, back in the field again, swooping to smack down scum. Brings back memories, doesn't it? Like Cixi," she frowned as she considered the point further, then amended slightly. "Ok. I could do without the planet falling back into even worse chaos after we leave part. I'll go get ready then ...and get rid of these bloody robes."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

"I also hope that there's less bureaucratic nonsense this time than on Cixi!" Tegaea commented. She was not one for paperwork and rules at the best of times, let alone when it got in the way of things being useful!

"Now, continue to gather all the information you can, but the true intent of OP doesn't leave this room except with Cira. We are going on a 'training exercise'. Pilots and crew will only be told the destination after we've made the hyperspace jump to our first staging area. We will hit them like a bolt from the clear sky and eradicate this general once and for all!"

She stepped forward and gave Siobhan a kiss. "Oh yes, take those robes off and get into something more comfortable...you'll have to model the alternatives for me later..." she added with a grin.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

"They had real flexible dancer chicks, at the victory party," Siobhan remembered. "Should've taken some with us - it would've been very humanitarian." Considering that almost right after they left the planet it got invaded by the Showans and flung into a war that made the incompetent despotism of the Jedi King pale in comparison. Sure, need to know basis and all that.

Siobhan laughed. "You're insatiable." Well, that was a bit like the pot calling the kettle. "For the record, running around in a skintight leather catsuit is right out," she joked. In the multiversal cinema in the void, where countless fans - as everyone knows, void spirits have nothing to do but watch - watched our brave heroines and their dashing exploits, there was a collective gasp of disappointment and some spirits demanded a retcon!

She pulled Tegs closer and kissed her deeply. A hand caressed her cheek, then trailed down her back towards her arse. Clearly Siobhan was getting in non-PG 13 mood again (of course, violence was good and would never hurt the kiddies that might read this!).

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

"No catsuit? What a crime...never fear, plenty of time for that around here." Tegaea gave Siobhan a kiss and then pulled back slightly. "Unfortunately, we've got work to do for a few hours. Come and get me at 1700...and I'll show you where your apartment is...and mine," she promised with a wink.

So poor Siobhan would have to wait a while longer, and might choose to use the time constructively to learn things about Dahomey....

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan looked a bit sulky. "You're a very, very cruel boss," she grumbled somewhat and then departed. Apparently this job meant that occasionally she was expected to work and read things!

No matter, for the remaining two hours Siobhan busied herself by looking up facts on Dahomey. During her surfing the holonet activities, she downloaded a translator for the local dialect. If luck or the Force was with them, the device would actually work and not just produce gibberish and nonsense, like so many net translators did. She also checked some maps of the area around Acra and sought out some information about the warlord groups still fighting the rogue General. If the not that reliable news reports and the info she got from the black market were to be believed.

To round it all up, she spent her time constructively by looking up picture of the semi-mythical "amazons" that according to rumours were supposed to have guarded the sovereigns of Dahomey. Apparently at one point in history the planet had not been an anarchic warzone...the warrior women certainly looked very..strong and flexible!

Finally Siobhan returned to Tegs' office. "Right. Your very dedicated employee returns!" she said. "Downloaded a translator for the dialect down there. It's a weird form of Basic. Some info on the local warlord groups still fighting our General Rogue friend there. Looks like there's still been fighting a bit further away from the capital. So, shall we?"

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tegaea was with her secretary when Siobhan returned...not in that way either! They were doing business things. Said secretary smiled ever so slightly when Siobhan entered, like she was amused by the other woman's sudden appearance. Nonetheless she excused herself.
Tegaea smiled. "Great work, Siobhan! I've been in contact with some ex-pats from Dahomey to get an idea of how things work there. I've also discovered the locations of the major mines and other installations important to the locals. After Amherst is neutralised we will deploy forces to occupy the mines to prevent sabotage. I've coordinated all our troops together. We leave 0500 day after tomorrow."
She rose. "Now, shall I show you your quarters...and mine?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan seemed to have expected....Tegs getting it on with the secretary. Of course, if that had been the case she might've been annoyed about having to work while her boss got fun...and more than that petulant about not being invited as well. She gave the secretary a look as the woman passed by her - she was quite cute, after all.

"Great. Does that mean I'll be getting a raise? If we get lots of gold," Siobhan joked. This one finds that Siobhan should take a deep look inside herself and realise that exploitation of mineral resources on underdeveloped planety by private corporations is a bad thing! Wealth belongs to the people...that is the demagogue of the month. Hmm. What would I do with it? Guns, whiskey, chicks..new speeder, maybe a console.... the Gamestation 5 was out! Siobhan was a person of simple tastes.

"Right, let's go, gladly," she said just a bit eagerly, but then patience had never been one of her strengths. "Hmm. You know, guess maybe I should hire that slave girl we rescued...Mara. For help with the...paperwork."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

"Each successful mission has the net profits shared out amongst those who took part, in proportion to their rank. That's on top of your normal pay, so yeah, you'll be getting five percent of the net profit from this mission...it's a pretty tidy sum!"
Of course, Tegaea would receive ten percent, but the privileges of rank and all that!

"Uh huh, paperwork. And some 'extra curricular activities too? I don't care what you do, Siobhan, you've got an allowance to pay for staff. Just remember before you go and sex her in your office that she's been through a lot, so don't give her orders about that."

She led Siobhan to the elevator and down a few stories. There a skybridge led across to a smaller apartment tower. On the fourth floor from the top Siobhan's apartment was a spacious affair with good views and an enclosed balcony. It had one bedroom, but a large living and entertainment area as well as a big bathroom.
"This is yours," Tegaea said.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan looked just a bit offended and disgusted at the implication that she might compel the former slave to pleasure her. Sure...if the girl was willing once she'd settled ddown, but Siobhan wasn't some slave-holding piece of shit like Aziz. "You know I wouldn't force that on her. I've...been through the same sort of shit. I might not be the most lucid, controlled person in the world, but I got some standards," she said seriously. Kaelin - still had to find and kill her! -, the energy vamps and Nar Shaddaa hadn't been a walk in the park either.

Siobhan seemed to visibly brighten up when they reached the apartment. "All of it's...mine," she said a bit incredulously. For some time she was rather quiet, taking in the view - the bedroom, living and entertainment area , spacious bathroom - and then walked onto the balcony, looking down at the view. It was certainly a lot more spacious than her lodgings as a Jedi. One wondered whether she would decorate it - interior decoration wasn't her thing. Indeed, she had never gotten around to decorating her old lodgings much, maybe also due to her inherent pessimism.

"It's awesome. Thanks," Siobhan smiled. It had a...bigger bed. She frowned slightly, fidgeting. Things were going well today - when one excluded that a bunch of Jedi had died, but then they had sort of brought it upon themselves - based on Siobhan's particular brand of logic that meant something very bad would happen quite soon.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tegs lightly punched Siobhan on the arm. "Settle down, Kerri. You take everything so seriously! Lighten up a bit!" she chided happily.

When she'd finished the tour Tegaea looked thoughtful. "It's not too bad, I guess. Come and see mine."

Siobhan's apartment was nice, but Tegaea's was magnificent. Built over two stories and having a giant bedroom, gym, entertainment area and a 'special' room Tegaea used for her private pursuits. It was all very tidy and clean, with everything being stowed very logically.

"I personally would have been happy with something smaller, but Cira insisted, so here I am!"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

"I am not uptight. I'm quite lightened up," Siobhan protested, though Tegs' chiding seemed to have the effect of getting her to stop angsting.

At Tegs' place Siobhan took a moment to admire the great deal of space she had. She seemed to take quite an interest in the special room. She laughed a bit when Tegs said it was too large. "Aww, poor Vice President of Omega. Got too much space. Hazard of climing up the corporate ladder and becoming respectable," she teased, lightly swatting her on the shoulder. "You know, I could think of many things you could do with all the space. So many rooms...so much furniture to try out." No, Siobhan wasn't subtle at all. The rogue Jedi stepped closer to Tegs and gave her a kiss.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tegaea's strong arms held Siobhan's hands behind her back and pushed her gently against the wall. "Oh, I have so many things for us to do, pet. That is...if you don't have something you'd rather do?"

And since 2 line posts aren't considered good form, it might be a good time to discuss the fact that Fondor's industrialised surface ensured that most living areas were enclosed so as not to allow people to suffer too much from the polution. It would also be a good time to add that the planet's 31 hour rotation was just in that annoying zone where a normal say would be too long, but not long enough to break into several. Thus, the planet ran on a 31 hour day, but had an extra weekend day every two weeks.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

There were certain individuals who would consider 2 line posts to be more than sufficient! It should be noted that, in reaction to al-Jilani's very objective news report, a few dozen protesters had gathered in front of the Jedi Temple, waving "No blood for gold" and "Stop the fighting for the 1%" placards. It was not quite clear whether they operated under the delusion that the Jedi had anything to do with events on Dahomey or were simply protesting there because they thought the Jedi would be more tolerant of demonstrators than the guards of the Chancellor. Maybe they hoped that the Council would use its power to deliver peace now.

Siobhan pressed back into the wall, smirking as she kissed Tegs. Apparently she made a habit out of sleeping with her bosses, but then Siobhan was a good minion - and they were so overworked! "Hmm. There was this real important thing I wanted to do...what was it again," she made a farce out of trying to remember. "Y'know, I think I've forgotten. Can't be that important then. I'm sure Mistress will help me remember my duties! She always...motivates me."

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Tegaea kissed her and then gave her a light slap on the cheek. "A good leader always motivates her subordinates with rewards and punishments to make sure they stick to the right path. I think it's time for your daily review, Ms Kerrigan...."

And since this RP seems once again to have veered off into the forbidden lands of adult-ness, we must unfortunately fade to black, returning the next morning with the two in bed once more. This time at least there was no need to be up early because they were about to land. Rather, Tegaea was able to order breakfast and enjoy a leisurely sleep in with Siobhan beside her.

When breakfast arrived it was brought by the secretary, who did not seem at all worried by Siobhan's presence or lack of clothing. The Secretary however showed no inclination to join in, continuing to look mildly amused.
"Anya's a good friend of mine, and was working with me when I was an independent mercenary," Tegaea said. Quite unconcerned she stripped off her bath robe in front of the other two and pulled on some shorts and a shirt. It was left entirely unclear if they were ever more than friends, or how much they 'worked together'...probably to keep Siobhan guessing!

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Siobhan, who was just as scantily clad in a flimsy robe, gave the secretary a one-over. She's cute, she thought. Ok, apparently I can't even wake up without my thoughts going there. She smiled at the secretary, looking from her to Tegs and not being particularly discreet about the fact that she was ogglings her muscles and her backside. But then, subtlety, tact and discretion were words that had been crossed out in her dictionary. Are they banging? And she brings her breakfast in bed. No doubt thoughts of decadent orgies filled her mind.

"Ok, I see. Nice meeting you and thanks for breakfast...any friend of Tegs is a friend of mine," she said a bit lamely but with sincerity, she stretched out her flesh hand, "Siobhan Kerrigan. Used to be a Jedi....got an offer I couldn't refuse. I was very motivated," she joked, giving Anya her best smile as she started to dig into her breakfast with gusto, levitating an apple from the tray and biting into it. Very motivated. Heli's right. My lines are awful. Still, better than nonsense about sand! Need to check for good bars. Good, seedy ones.