Seek and ye shall find

[Kian Karr]

Kian watched as Roshki left the cockpit enroute to her quarters. Kian turned back to the controls and did one final check before closing his eyes and slipping into a meditative state. He had gone over the plan several times now, but you could only ever plan for so much. Now they would have to react to whatever wrench got thrown in the gears. Kian smiled to himself at this thought and let out another deep, calming breath.

_________________________________________​

​

Kian moved along the exterior of the building, his hood pulled up obscuring most of his features. People payed him no mind, they were too busy going about their own business, worrying about their own lives. Besides, why would anyone worry about the office building. Most of the building was empty, and those offices that were full were of little importance. Kian didn't care about the officers within the building though, it was the location of the buiding that was important....and the fact that it shared a sewerage connection to the naval academy. Kian didn't want to chance the academies security....but this building was virtually unguarded.

Slipping into the back alley, Kian plugged into the security terminal on the door and brought his comm up to his mouth.

"Roshki, how are you doing?" Kian asked over the secure line. Kian had left their ship in port and they had split up to their respective assignements. Kian would need to gain access to the academy, while Roshki would need to get into position before he set off the distraction. As Kian finished saying the words, the datapad chimed as the software overrode the door security and it slid open. Kian slipped inside quietly and glanced around. No one? No security guards, no droids. Kian's brain, prone to paranoia, didn't like it. But, reminding himself that this building wouldn't necessarily need security, he made his way toward the basement.

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"]​

 

[Roshki Belawiiks]

I wrung out the mop, muttering obscenities about the Kel Dor before continuing to clean the floor. My comlink squawked, and I looked up quickly to make sure no one was around. Then, straightening up, I pretended to rub my face while muttering, "Dandy. Abso-karking-lutely dandy. I've learned twenty different ways to scrub the toilet, eight different ways to clean a window, and the precise way to mop the floor." As soon as we'd dropped out of hyperspace, I had changed into my cover outfit, folding up the necessary papers and hiding them in my, erm, bosom, before seeking out the supervisor of the janitorial crew. After getting the most boring lecture, I was eventually given supplies and set out on my own.

I faked a yawn as a pair of officers passed by, not even sparing me a glance. Once they were out of earshot, I added, "And the only person to look at me was my supervisor. If my hands didn't smell like bleach I'd give you a thumbs up on the cover. Oh, one sec."

Grabbing the mop again, I cleaned the floors some more before pulling out a datapad containing a checklist and marking something off. What, no idea -- for all I knew I could have checked "Go on a date with an evil overlord" off. But it didn't matter. I then pulled up the map the janitor supervisor had been so kind to lend me.

Hem-hawing around for a moment, I raised my hand up to my mouth, pretending to study it. "Double Kay, I'm on the floor below the office. Lift is just around the corner, so give me five minutes to get up and in. I'll send two clicks if I make it, one if I don't. Now, be quiet." With that, I shut my link off and put the datapad away.

I pushed my cart of cleaning down to the lift, pressing the button and boarding. Once inside, I swiped my card and typed in the floor above, crossing my fingers. Come on... The light turned green, and the doors closed. Yes!

My knuckles turned white as I waited for the doors to reopen. When they did, I practically flew out of there. But, I forced myself to calm down, whistling absently as I looked for the right office number. Ah-hah! I stopped in front of the door when suddenly, the sound of footsteps coming down the hall echoed back to me. Kark! For a moment, I began to panic....But then I realised this could work for me.

Drawing out my keycard, I waited until the steps were right around the corner before sliding it in. As expected, the lock made an angry beeping noise, the little red light glaring at me. "Come on, you stupid thing!" I huffed loudly, aggravation permeating my body language. I tried to swipe it again, but with the same result. "Come on!" I hit the box before yelping, nursing my hand.

"What seems to be the problem, miss?" Ooooh, this voice was sexy! Unfortunately the owner was not. Short and stocky, the Zabrak officer looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

This could still work. I let out a sigh, waving my card around. "This stupid thing won't let me get in."

"And why, May I ask, do you need to get into the Supreme Commander's office?"

With a straight face, I replied, "Well, duh, I'm breaking in so I can steal all of his top-secret stuff!" After a heartbeat, I grinned. "I'm Kilaroh Beswiiks." Handing him my ID, I added, "I just joined the janitor crew. Mr. Treyiv asked me to clean the SC's office, since the person supposed to do it skipped work."

The man studied my ID for a moment, then looked back up at me. "If that's the case, then why isn't your keycard working?"

I shrugged. "I guess he forgot to give me a better one. It was kind of last-minute."

Holding my breath, I waited to see what would happen. It seemed to take forever, so I sent a little persuasion. Everything seems to check out. And if she was really planning on breaking in, why would she say so?

I didn't know if it was my persuasion or my acting, but eventually the officer handed my ID back and pulled out his own card. "I'll go ahead and let you in, but you better just clean and get out. Understand?"

"Yes sir!" I snapped off a salute, which earned me a raised eyebrow. Smiling sheepishly, I said, "Sorry. Must be the place."

Ten seconds later, I was in the office and the guy was on his way. Digging the flash drive out of my bosom, I abandoned the cart in a corner of the room and turned mmy comlink back on. Sending the two clicks, I moved forward and got to work.

[member="Kian Karr"]

 

[Kian Karr]

"Scrubbing toilets huh?" Kian asked and glanced down at his waste covered boots. "Perhaps you should scrub my boots when this is all over." Kian mumbled to himself, not sending it out over the comm. "Copy that kid, next time you go in through the sewer and I'll scrub the toilets." Kian said, this time over the comms before Roshki called for the comm silence. Kian smiled to himself as he continued forward.

This wasn't the first time Kian had found himself trudging through a sewer, and he certainly knew better to consider it his last. The life of a Jedi Shadow and all that. Pulling up his datapad, Kian glanced over the schematics once more. Looking up he saw the metal grate in the sealing not far away.

That was the place.

Pulling his lightsaber form his belt, Kian ignited the blade and slashed the hinge. The door swung open with a groan and he stepped back as "debris" fell to the wet floor beneath him. Disengaging the blade, Kian clipped it back to his belt and pulled on his gloves. Leaping up into the pipe, Kian pressed his hands and legs against the walls and began to slowly climb his way up. This particular pipe lead directly into the basement level of the building. Reaching the top of the pipe, Kian braced himself an got a grip on the grate. If he had read the schematics right the grate would lead him into the lower level of the Naval Academy.

Lifting the gate, Kian peered in. The room was fairly dark, as was to be expected. Workers rarely if ever came down to this level, it was automated and the workers that were present were droids. Dropping down from the pipe, Kian landed in a crouch. The droids were too busy going about their menial tasks that they didn't even notice the shadowy figure dropping to the ground. Making his way toward the far right of the room, Kian needed to find the access to the ventilation system. As Kian brought up the schematic he heard the two clicks. Roshki was in position and likely beginning the download of the itinerary.

"Good job, kid." Kian said to himself as he found the access to the vent. By the time he got to the security room, she'd likely be finishing up and then it would just be time to escape.

Simple, right.

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"]

 

[Roshki Belawiiks]

[SIZE=12pt][member="Kian Karr"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Hey, I was pretty good at this whole “computer sabotage” thing. Or whatever it was called.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]After sending the two clicks, I’d plugged in the device and began to search the computer for the itinerary like Karr said. My fingers clicked over the keys as I searched for what was necessary, for once not gloating in my own smugness. If there was one thing I’d learned, it was that the only time you were allowed to gloat was when the job was completely, irrefutably finished. You know, the whole “If everything seems to be going well, you’ve obviously overlooked something” adage. That, and “Anything that can go wrong, will.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Anyway.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]My plan of attack had been to open each file and skim it for anything dirty. And by dirty, I meant that which could be used against Mr. Supreme Commander, not the other dirty. The thought process being, if it was important, the file would be locked. It had been boring at first, with simple meetings that were transcripted or whatever. After a minute, though, I finally came across my first locked file. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Bingo.[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] On second thought, maybe not… The file’s name wasn’t very descriptive, and it didn’t specifically scream “This is the itinerary!” But on the other hand, it could have been. I chewed my lip and sat back for a moment, thinking. To copy or not to copy? If I copied it, that meant I would also have to copy all of the other locked files – and the flash drive could only hold so much space. But if I didn’t, my luck would be that that file was what we wanted. And then where would we be? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Right. That does it.[/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] I quickly began to copy it to the file and, while that was happening, continued to search for other locked files. I’d just started my fourth file when my eyes darted up at the door, doing a brief scan of that before returning to the screen.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Wait a minute. [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]I froze, my eyes widening slightly. Slowly, I looked up again, not even moving my head. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Dammit![/SIZE][SIZE=12pt] There, in the corner, was a little black object which I was willing to bet was a security camera. If, you know, I was a betting gal. Doing the whole “raise your wrist and pretend to scratch your nose” thing again, I clicked my comlink on and hailed the Kel Dor.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]“Uh, Double Kay? I think there’s a camera in here. And, well… I think it kinda saw me. Please tell me it’s either not a camera, or it’s on a loop. Because I’d rather not go to prison. Jail is so much better, and this stuff kinda skips the whole jail, you know?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Alright, so it also might have been a smoke detector or an alarm, but I really wasn’t feeling that hopeful. You know, the whole “overlooked something” kind of thing.[/SIZE]

 

[Kian Karr]

"It is probably a camera." Kian said over the comm as he crawled through another air duct. Coming to the vent he was looking for he peered down to see a single guard sitting at the security consoles. Perfect. He though to himself and stretched out with the force. Feeling the man's mind, Kian began to think very hard about a trip to the bathroom, lacing the thought into the man's mind with the force and his innate abilities at telepathy. After a few moments, the Guard stood up and walked out of the room.

"Don't worry....in a few moments the whole place will be on lockdown!" Kian said dropping down into the room below and settling in at the security console. "We won't have a lot of time, so get the files downloaded."

Kian said running his hand over the console in front of him. "I'm going to lock it down, your door and the turbolift at the end of the hall will be able to take you to the roof, but that will be the only things I leave unlocked." Kian said as he began to punch commands into the console. "When you open the roof door it'll draw the guards to you.....you might have to hold them off for a while till I get the ship to you." Kian said and then quickly added, "Don't kill anyone....they serve the Republic!" Kian wasn't sure if he really needed to tell Roshki this or not but he thought he'd add it anyway.

Punching the last command, the alarms of the building began to go off and the doors began to seal shut. Kian leapt back up into the vent and began to make his way back the way he'd come in.

[member="Roshki Belawiiks"]

 

[Roshki Belawiiks]

[member="Kian Karr"]

"Gee, thanks for the confidence booster, Double Kay!" I let out an aggravated grunt and hastily began to copy more files to the chip. I listened as the Kel Dor began to detail my escape plan, my heart sinking when he said I'd have to square off against soldiers and guards, though that turned to indignation as he told me not to kill anyone. "Do I look like a murderer to you, Double Kay? Anyway, I expect plenty of compensation when we get back. You know, my commission!"

Complete and utter bantha poodoo -- I knew that the Jedi Order wouldn't give me a dime for this, particularly since I knew beforehand what I was getting into. Duh. And I really wasn't expecting a commission or any compensation, though the thought was nice.

No, I was making an attempt to deflect any suspicion from the precious Order, though the gods knew why. Usually, where there were cameras there were audio recorders, so I figured that by pretending I was a hired espionage agent, the good ol' Republic folks would look elsewhere.

The chip pinged just as the alarms went off, alerting me that the chip was full and it was time to go. Well, fine, then. I was done here anyway.

Tucking the tiny object back in my bosom, I ran out of the office and into the lift, keeping my head down. My ears were hurting from the obnoxious sounds, and I couldn't wait to get out of here. As the doors closed, I began to spastically punch the buttons for the roof, muttering, "Come on, come on!" Finally, the lift jerked up, and I did a little fist pump. "Double Kay, the hawkbat is getting ready to leave its roost!" I had no idea what that meant, but it sounded cool, and this whole spy-thing was really contagious.

Eventually, the doors opened and I darted out onto the roof. Letting out a whoop, I ran to the edge of the building and looked for the ship.

"Put your hands up and turn around slowly!" a voice barked. A prepubescent-sounding voice...

I let out a sigh. "Nevermind. The hawkbat's been snagged." As I turned around, I came face-to-face with two youngsters, two or three years younger than me. "Oh, hey there, little kids. Ya want some candy?"

"What?" asked the girl, a quizzical look on her face. That, though, was soon replaced with a fierce look as she raised her weapon at me. "I mean, don't move! The authorities are already on their way!"

"So don't...Don't go anywhere!"

I raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Seriously, kid? Look around -- the only way I can go is down there. And I dunno about you, but I'm not too keen on breaking a limb or three." The boy scowled, but I continued. "Besides, how'd you guys manage to find me here? The building's on lockdown!"

"We saw you run out of the elevator and onto the roof. Considering the alarms, we thought it was suspicious."

"Well, that makes sense. But why are you pointing window scrubbers at me?"

Both quickly lowered the scrubbers, clearly embarrassed. "Well..."

"We didn't think you'd recognize them as window scrubbers."

I laughed despite my situation, which clearly threw off these two. "Hah! I had to clean toilets today! Don't think I don't know my stuff!" I moved to rub my chin, now that I knew there were no real weapons present. "Let me guess -- you guys did something, and you had to clean the windows up here. You saw me, and then you followed me, hoping that I wouldn't realise you guys weren't armed."

The two exchanged glances, and I knew I was right. "Do I look like some poor shmuck? The Black Sun wouldn't have hired me, otherwise!" I feigned horror, covering my mouth. "Oops. You kiddies didn't hear that."