Sundown | Collective Dominion of Eshan

[Evoros]

Reason one why Evoros preferred to work alone: teammates were unpredictable, and that wouldn't do.

No matter how much you felt like you could or how much you wanted to, it was impossible to completely and utterly know you could count on your team. There would always be that possibility that they'd fall behind, that they'd mess up, change their minds on the plan - the alternatives that didn't end in success drew a long list.

And of course, she neither felt like she could nor wanted to trust Itash Mecetti.

Crouched in position behind the trees, Evoros was waiting, primed to move the second she had to like some bird of prey a moment from taking flight. Watching as Janeth got ready, eyes careful and anticipatory. As Itash deliberated. One Co-ru-scant, two Co-ru-scant, three- screw it.

She moved around the brush in his place and caught up with Janeth's attack, cybernetic digits readied seconds before they dealt the killing blow. Down he fell, nice and easy and nobody any the wiser. There was some satisfaction to it (you do what you love, and you love what you do) but there was no flicker of anything on her features besides a mild look of annoyance.

All the same, her smirk was its usual self.
"There'll be time to fix your hair when the job's finished, Mecetti."

[member="Itash Mecetti"] | [member="Janeth Farr"] | [member="Wes Rykker"]​

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Evoros"] | [member="Janeth Farr"] | [member="Wes Rykker"]

"Ain't my hair I was paying attention to, love." Tash retorted without missing a beat while giving a quick glance shaped around the swell of her hip down to her legs. That was the annoying thing about Itash, really, it was very difficult to get under his skin.

Almost impossible really.

But maybe that was the challenge Evoros would try to take up. Get a rise out of him in more than one way, in the end it mattered little. Because the Tapani noble had already passed them and was approaching closer to the fortification itself. It would be a difficult thing, but not... overly so. "Tis a shame you killed him." Tash mumbled even still when both of them caught up with him, crouching down near the bushes and watching over to the hill, the ruins and all the people around it.

"Could have asked him nicely to do us a favor or two there."

Wouldn't have been the first time.

It was the tone that suggested asking didn't actually mean... asking, but rather something more involved than that. "Oh, look." A moment later two guards suddenly exited the fort's entrance. Another patrol on the way towards its route.

Teethy grin pulled up.

"Taste of opportunity... beautiful. We will need both of them alive, please."

 

[H3xle]

LOCATION: Naesha, Eshan
OBJECTIVE: Information

Freelance intelligence paid the bills. Dangerous situations in which any of a dozen bloody fates could befall the operative was the fun part.

"Do you understand the stakes here, Mister Hunter?" A stern voice that should not come from such a beautiful woman with a young face, but it did. Her eyes told part of the story, older than the sum of her years by way of seeing more than anyone her age should. Braden had likely seen similar and was only a handful of years older, if he was any judge of age among the almost universally fit Echani, but he always assumed there would be a stark difference between his experience and those of people who remained in one place their entire lives. This woman broke that mold, and he found that to be far more fascinating than the outward beauty.

He wasn't a freelance operative for the money, and only partially because of the thrills. He loved the stories of it all.

"I do. I do understand." His eyes never left hers. His body was relaxed into his chair, but not slouching. His hands loosely intertwined in front of his stomach.

He was meeting with what he supposed was his handler for this job, his counterpart in the organization belonging to Matriarch Kall. Neither of them were new enough to say any of this, but their roles were understood.

"Good." She passed him a palm sized data reader. He took it and glanced at it. It held a connection code within the local exchange. He memorized it with a few moments of concentration, then passed it back. His eyes went right back to hers, and a small smile graced his lips.

"Anything I find out I'll pass back, I'll work fast and accurately." He left out that it wouldn't be cheap. That went without saying, you only ever got two out of three at most.

"I trust you have a way to gain access, and I also trust that you will be in contact." She left out that her trust only came because she was the key to his payday. He did the work, she released the funds. It was always the same, and the attitudes tended to range the same as well. When you worked heart and soul for a belief, an ideal, you tended to look down on those that didn't. Especially if those people also happened to work for the purely mercenary concern of money.

He could read it all in her eyes, and he couldn't keep the smile out of his. She was so much like the typical client contact, yet was different enough that he wanted to know more. A part of him wanted to continue the conversation, try to draw out her story here and now.

Professionalism, and a healthy dose of knowing when to play the long game, kept him to a brisk nod as he stood from the table and walk to the door. An Echani guard returned his weapons, then Braden walked out of the club and into the sunshine.

He couldn't help but look up at it as he pulled his shades from the breast pocket of his jacket and slid them on. He had a couple hours until Sundown.

 

[Zef Halo]

Good.

No alert, quick and silent kill. That'd do for now but what happens when they need someone alive?

Wes moved as silently as possible to a different position to avoid friendly fire in case he had to shoot.

As the new patrol went out, he barely saw the three hiding in the shadows. Hopefully, fething Mecetti wasn't doing something else in these shadows.

The trio had to be really quick, it would only be a matter of time before the camping group starts asking questions about the killed man. It's going to be real hard to shoot them if they spread out and seem alert. Wes only hoped that would not happen.

If there was a mere sign of that happening, he'd start shooting them off while they were in a good position to be hunted.

[member="Janeth Farr"] | [member="Evoros"] | [member="Itash Mecetti"]​

 

[Mara Kellarov]

Location: Naehsa | Marketplace
Objective: Make Contact with Ibinus
[member="Ashana"]

The agent had become frustrated the more obvious it got that Ibinus wasn't in the area, and now she was overstaying her welcome it seemed. Folks were starting to glance her way, out of suspicion and wariness.

Mara bit on her tongue as she made her way to one of the exits, it was time to try and work out where else Ibinus might be. She made a sparing glance back, just incase - and that's when she caught sight of the Trandoshan.

He stuck out like a sore thumb and didn't give the slightest care to the fact. His eyes met Mara's for a moment, although she didn't linger and continued her walk as though she hadn't seen anything particular. But there was no mistaken the chase was on now.

Turning around a corner, Mara immediately began to pick up her pace. Slipping down into an alleyway and began maneuvering through the twisting maze. It was apparent she had tipped someone off, Ibinus maybe, but Mara was more concerned on how-

In that moment, it finally clicked. The kid...

Mara cursed quietly, realizing she had slipped up and let something so simple pass her notice. Now she had her target's attention on her, and in all the wrong ways. It was time to rethink her plan and work out how to salvage the situation.

That was when she turned another corner and walked right into the Trandoshan.

 

[Janeth Farr]

"Fething hell." Janeth cursed under her breath, but loud enough for the others to hear.

"This is why I asked if you had a plan. See how those details can be of help?" For now she'd withhold further complaints as she moved into position, lest she alert the new patrol of her presence.
She dragged the body with her to hide behind the brush.

If Itash had only explained "Hey, we should take some alive for questioning." Then they'd have a mode of execution in those situations.

If he wanted them to simply react, then he should've brought a serious arsenal Instead of a ragtag team of various skillsets and zero chemistry. Not counting Evoros' schoolgirl-esque gushing. At least Wes seemed to have a brain in there somewhere, even if he was saying nothing and sitting a ways back behind them.

Janeth sat behind another tree and waited this time for Itash to make the first jump.

She wasn't exactly keen on making the first move this time.

[member="Itash Mecetti"] | [member="Wes Rykker"] | [member="Evoros"]

 

[Ashana]

The trandoshan wasn't messing around.

He deployed as simple stun device and swiftly fired it point blank against Mara.

"Ssssleep well..." He hissed. Once Mara had gone out cold, the reptiloid hoisted the woman's body up and over his shoulder. Such an effort proved child's play for a species capable of fighting wookies in hand-to-hand combat. He took her through the alley and further out of sight.

Eventually she'd come to inside a damp, windowless room. With only a small hanging light above to show the texture of the walls and floor. Directly in front of Mara was a metal door which slid open. Ibinus, the Echani, stepped forth as the door slid shut.

The man paced around the edge of the room, his eyes never once leaving Mara. "You're a curious creature, offworlder." He stopped in front of her. "Now forgive the rudeness of our little introduction, but as you might understand I'm not very happy to hear that a stranger is... As you might say, sticking their nose into my business." The Echani weren't particularly known for their colourful vocabulary. They relied on physical contact as self-expression. Metaphors, idioms, and innuendos were rare amongst their conversations.

"Tell me everything." Ibinus crossed his hands behind his back. Waiting for Mara to tell him why she was there and what she wanted.

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Evoros"] | [member="Janeth Farr"] | [member="Wes Rykker"]

"Plans? All you need is luck, darling." Itash mentioned, while watching the dual patrol move away from the encampment and into the woods. "Which is to say... all you need is me."

The dazzling bite of teeth shone bright as the Tapani nobleman detached himself from the vegetation and them. Instead opting to move on forward and disappear amidst the trees, but that didn't really hold for a very long time because the following happened. Suddenly Itash stepped out into the clearing right when the two Thyrsians entered it themselves. They immediately went to their knee, barrels raised and looking down with squinting optics at the errant soul in their woods.

"Who the feth are y-"

"I am your friend." Tash interrupted the stream of conscious with a simple statement that bore down upon them with the insistence of a train wreck on course for ramming. There wasn't anything worth discussing, the statement said. It was a steadfast argument that had no intent on budging on the matter. They were friends and that was the end of the discussion.

"You are..."

"...my friend?"

Now that was more like it.

Itash nodded with a smirk and accepted the outcome as it was his due. "Quite. You two want to do your friend a favor, yes?" That took them a little while to process. After all, friends did each other favors all the time, did they not? If this man was their friend (of course he was their friend, Diksha could remember hitting the town with... this man) then it made only sense to do him a couple of little favors here or there. What else was there really to do here?

"...yes?"

"yes?"

"Yes!"

Once more he smiled, before indicating for his other friends to get out of hiding. "These are my friends, which make them your friends as well."

 

[Mara Kellarov]

Location: Naehsa | Somewhere Dark & Damp
Objective: Get Out of This Situation
[member="Ashana"]

Frankly, Mara had been expecting a blow to the head in order to knock her out. She was pleasantly surprised that the towering lizard opted for a stun device to render her unconscious. At least they had the courtesy of not giving her a headache.

It still didn't put the agent in any good standing, and she was hardly surprised by her new surroundings when she woke up.

Well, doesn't this look familiar...

They always looked the same. Damp, poor lighting, sometimes it sways back and forth for 'added effect'. Part of her wanted to make a quip about being cliche, but she thought better of it. Wasn't really the time for joking, not if she wanted to get out of here any time soon.

"I wouldn't say I was sticking my nose in things. I was just simply looking for you, that's all." Her eyes followed his as he walked around a bit, obviously not particularly happy with the answer.

"Look I'm here because my employers need able bodies for an operation, and word has it that you have connections to some potentially mutual friends."

 

[Evoros]

Evoros barely contained a sigh.

Well, at least they were getting somewhere now.

After a good decade or so of espionage work since she'd finished training, Evoros had a layer of steadiness about her almost as a way of being - difficult to surprise, difficult to disorient, difficult to upset past faint annoyance. But surprise did show up (in her mind, at least; she made a point of never wearing genuine emotion on her sleeve) when Itash went right up to the Thyrsians and tricked them out of their hostility. The method wasn't new to her - it was a staple of hers, not that she would ever be so obvious about showcasing it - but that he could execute it so easily earned more than a flicker of her bemusement.

But she made a point of never wearing genuine emotion on her sleeve. Not her style. So she lifted an eyebrow that could've been bemused or appraising or critical or all three, and said nothing as she moved into sight.

"Alright, friends." Unruffled, Evoros motioned at the Thyrsians. More specifically, their weapons. "Think we'll be needing more firepower?"

[member="Itash Mecetti"] | [member="Janeth Farr"] | [member="Wes Rykker"]​

 

[Janeth Farr]

"You two take care of that... Uh, by take care I mean being friendly." Janeth said. Unsure if she had to somehow keep up the illusion as well.

The Mandalorian walked past the scouts and brought out her macrobinoculars yet again. This time from the ridge she was able to get a clearer view of the base, whilst Evoros and Itash undoubtedly snuck out plenty of details from the patrol. Inside the encampment she noted at least thirteen guards standing still at various points, with another seven patrolling the perimeter and five the interior.

She noticed that there was an entrance moving into the ruin, and that it went underground by the looks of it.

Two guards--heavily armed--stood at the blast door. If she had to guess where they kept anything of value, that's where it would be. Her attention was immediately drawn elsewhere, though. A robed individual. Neither Thyrsian nor Echani by the looks of it. Some type of humanoid, and they carried a lightsaber hilt on their waist belt.

She suspected any information she discovered was already being confirmed by the patrol, but having two sources would ensure that Itash wasn't somehow being played.

She walked back over to where Itash and Evoros were with the patrol, putting her macrobinoculars back away. "There's at least twenty-eight people down there. Fifteen of them are stationary, and twelve are mobile. I also believe there's a Dark Jedi among them."

[member="Evoros"] | [member="Itash Mecetti"] | [member="Wes Rykker"]

 

[Faceless]

Eshan
Objective: Infiltrate the Sundown Outpost

---

So far, so good.

Faceless had gone back down to ground level and, with his observations of the guard rotations, managed to slip in through a shady blind spot that left a lot of possible 'shoot first, ask questions later' situations off the list of possibilities, and his face remaining in one piece as a result. Guards were running about, training and generally remaining on standby beyond the obvious sentry duty at the entrances of the base. The assassin overheard some dialogue here and there, just idle chatter between one terrorist to another, though he wasn't entirely able to stop and take tabs on the whole thing with such frequent movement of the outpost personnel. Faceless stuck to the shadows and kept a low profile, utilizing various methods of concealment until he found what he was looking for. A narrow miss here, a long-winded standing about sentry there until...

Bingo.

With 'Armory' written in Aurebesh, the Assassin had finally found what he was looking for; if there was a spare uniform and weapon to be found, it'd be found in here. Sneaking in through the door after making double sure that the coast was clear, he stuck to the back wall and took a glance around the room; numerous lockers which no doubt contained spare uniforms and equipment to really help blend himself in. What perhaps Faceless wasn't expecting, however, was the single officer-looking fellow sitting within the locker room, going about a routine check of each locker to make sure that every single one was to some form of standard. For a terrorist cell, the Sundown really seemed like an organized bunch that held themselves to a high standard, perhaps it was because of the world that they were operating on that they managed to gather so much equipment and regimental attitude to their operations. Slowly but shortly, an idea formed within Faceless' head.

Listening to how the officer was muttering to himself and a very quick glance to his datapad from where he was standing, it looked as if that the guy was pretty high up in the hierarchy with how much access he had. Originally, Faceless was down to simply go about as nothing more than a simple grunt. However, this changed things significantly, he now had a free access-all-areas to a majority of the outpost. All he needed was to know who the guy was, how he acted and, more importantly, how he spoke. Fortunately, he had that last part down, the rest could simply be done by improvisation, playing it off by the others around him. Were there any cameras observing the armory? No, it didn't look like it, meaning Faceless had the perfect opportunity to take the guy down, stash him away and take his identity.

And that's exactly what he did. Sneaking up behind the guy, taking him into a choke hold and holding it until the terrorist passed out into his arms, he now had the chance to figure out the information he needed. Turns out the guy's name was Herin and with a quick look of his facial features, Faceless began to shift from the Echani he had been mimicking on his way here and took on the look of the poor bloke down on the floor out cold. The next ten minutes were spent getting changed into his clothes, stashing away his own gear and taking on the whole new identity before stuffing the body away in a locker, his own locker ironically enough, it wasn't like anyone was going to go searching in there. It was almost too easy but that's exactly what the assassin like, it was easy. Infiltrating, taking on new identities was something he needed to do almost every day, lest he fell into the pit of being truly faceless, meaning he was ultimately very competent with doing so. With it being his race's key skill, it only made it even more of a natural click-of-the-fingers talent.

Everything straightened out, adopting the face, gear and occupation of Herin, he stepped back out into the outpost, acting as if he had finished the inspection. Through the earpiece that he had rigged up to his ear, the transmission came through;

"Herin, come to the command post. It's time."

Oh kark.

Clearing his throat, adopting the voice of Herin, Faceless replied; "Got it, boss, be there as quick as I can."

He had an entire walk to transmit the data on the officer's datapad to Janeth, base schematics, files and the lot. It perhaps wasn't the full picture but it'd at least be a start.

Time to go talk to terrorists.

[member="Janeth Farr"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Evoros"] | [member="Janeth Farr"] | [member="Wes Rykker"]

Tash nodded after he glanced away from the two Thyrsians.

"Confirms what our friends told us." He signaled back to Wes to join them again, because there was a plot slowly ruminating itself in his brain and that didn't involve a sniper. It was a long-shot, but right now Itash was hearing the coin chim at the back of his head, chiming softly as it turned around and round in the air, while flying.

The dice were out, they were rolling and there was opportunity a foot here, if they were only bold enough to grab it. It was his luck, Itash had learned to sense it at this point.

Knowing when to simply give himself over to chance and let it all roll out.

"I think we should let our friends here take us there." He explained as Wes joined them. "That thing is fortified, so either we sneak in or we allow our friends to help us." The suggestion here was obvious. They would become 'prisoners' under the watchful guard of the Thyrsians, caught skulking around and thrown into the brig.

At least that was the Thyrsians would think.

But once they were inside? All bets were off.

 

[Zef Halo]

It sounded stupid.

And Wes hated leaving his gun.

Especially when it involved getting into a convention of two dozen armed mentally unstable freaks and a Dark Jedi.

But he dropped the gun down on the ground without saying a word.

"Are we doing it or what, friends?" Rykker asked impatiently as he put his hands forward to be handcuffed.

Mecetti had said his word so what the others had to say barely mattered at this point.

They weren't paying.

Hopefully, Tash's desire to be cuffed was part of a good plan rather than enjoying a sexual scenario.

[member="Itash Mecetti"] | [member="Evoros"] | [member="Janeth Farr"]​

 

[Evoros]

By the Force, the Tapani was planning.

The idea made a mad sort of sense. And they could pull it off. Emphasis on could, but the point remained. She didn't like taking risks, but it was only really a risk when she hadn't thought through the odds, hadn't prepared for consequence - and these were consequences she could easily keep from escalating.

Not that she'd need to, of course. Because this would go just fine.

"Patience," she said calmly, hands out in front of her. "We're fine as long as we don't slow down." And you never know, if you rush it could be right back to winging it.
(Naturally, she kept that part to herself.)

A few moments of getting into place and their new friends led the way, dutifully leading them past bypassing Thyrsians. Evoros didn't have to reach too far to don the scowling bitterness of an arrested intruder. Out of twenty-eight inside the encampment, they came across only a handful as they first passed in, met little resistance - but then, this was the easy part.

This Dark Jedi that Janeth had seemed so concerned over wasn't yet one of those she'd accounted for. But she supposed there had to be some things left to chance.

[member="Wes Rykker"] | [member="Itash Mecetti"] | [member="Janeth Farr"]​

 

[Janeth Farr]

"Feth it then. I'll follow your lead." She resigned.

As it stood, Janeth wasn't on board with this little plan of theirs, but it was better than nothing. "Maybe your friends can draw them off? False flag operation. Then we can identify the route with least resistance and sneak on in." A simple idea, but far less simple to execute. Still it was a practiced and proven strategy. Create a diversion and then slip between the gaps.

They were small enough in number that it just might work. If it didn't, then it most likely would end in a blood bath.

"Just tell me what you hope to gain out of this. I thought we were here for an artifact."

No one tells me anything.

She was getting frustrated by the lack of information. Feeling left in the dark. Two steps back from the pack. Janeth might seem like a lone wolf, but she preferred to operate in a small group such as this. Only it helped if the leader was more open about his motives.

Janeth stuck to the outside as they moved on in. Formulating an idea in her head as she did. That is when she noticed something on the outskirts. "To our right!" She brought herself to a crouch, pointing out what looked like movement over the ridge. At least two people. Likely more beyond that.

[member="Itash Mecetti"] | [member="Wes Rykker"] | [member="Evoros"]

 

[Itash Mecetti]

[member="Evoros"] | [member="Janeth Farr"] | [member="Wes Rykker"]​

​

Tash just smirked and didn't reply to any of the verbal cues.

Instead the Tapani let his friends guide them into the encampment. There were questions, always were, shouted warnings and even the rolling sense of alarm for just a fraction of a moment. Until the second of his friends, the smaller one and the one with the screechy voice blew it all off. "S'all good, boys, found us a couple of tourists skulking about." That inspired laughter and that was what Tash needed- the laughter that pulled away attention from the irregularity. It didn't take long for them to return to their duties as the novelty of the moment wore off.

They returned to their duties and the pair of 'friends' guided them deeper into the camp.

Where the Dark Jedi was that Janeth had seen was anyone's guess, but presumably it was at the center of the camp. Because that was where the ruins were located, the ones that held the relic that Tash was so interested in.

Their journey brushed them past it, before they were led downstairs and into a secluded room. It had two chairs, a table and a single viewport that showed feet wandering by as the Sunguard moved back and forth every once in a while. That's where Tash settled himself down, on the table with his hands extended towards the gangly of the Thyrsians.

"Little bit help with the shackles, friend?"

A grin and a smirk, before the Sunguard nodded and detached it from his wrists. He did the same with the others.

"Well, that went well, dontcha all think?"

 

[Ashana]

Ibinus' expression did not fluctuate one bit.

"That is quite presumptuous, don't you think?" He circled the table before finally stopping right in front of her. "Let's say you're right, and we have some mutual friends... What would you propose I tell them, that some woman confronted me with an unverified story?"

He pulled out the chair in front of him and took a seat, placing his hands on the metal table. "I don't think so."

"What you're going to do is simple; you're going to tell me who sent you, why they sent you, and what you expect from me."

He unholstered a small holdout pistol and placed it on the table. "If I believe you... And trust me, I will know if you're lying... But if I do believe you then I can at least see what these friends of ours think."

[member="Mara Kellarov"]

 

[Zef Halo]

Cuffs down.

Arms free.

Like a steam hammer, his right fist thundered straight into his 'friend' sending him to sleep.

Whatever magical, voodoo hypnosis thing these were under gave Wes the short window of time to be able to stun the other 'friend' successfully.

The mercenary was able to catch both of them from free falling and carefully lied them down on the ground. His hands went mechanically to one of the guns, putting it safely on his belt.

He then dragged the two, cuffed them together and tossed them into a conventional closet in the room the four were in. Finally done, he tossed the second gun to Mecetti.

"Lead the way."

How much more could Wes botch this?

[member="Itash Mecetti"] | [member="Evoros"] | [member="Janeth Farr"]​

 

[Spencer Varanin]

Safe house near Naesha

​

The room began to settle down and Spencer looked around to see if any of the guards had left. A guard was by far the easiest way to infiltrate a safe house, though the abilities Spencer had – it would be hard to hide true intent for a long while. Her mind opened and quickly scanned the room, searching for anyone that didn’t belong within their ranks. Everyone seemed to be on her side, still she would make sure that she continued to mentally investigate those around her. Sitting up, she waved her hands towards the guards, the men seemed to relax as well as the young hand maiden at her side. “Force, don’t look at me like that Iris, I’m not a fragile play thing.” The girl played with the fabric of her dress and nodded. She felt somewhat ashamed to worry and dote over the Queen like she was doing. Spencer saw and felt the shift in emotions.

A hand reached out and caressed the girl’s cheek. “Thank you. Go now make sure everyone else is okay.” Nodding quickly, the girl scampered towards the others while Spencer stood and drew a hood over her blonde hair. Eyes darted and she visually scanned the room. Guards were picking up a woman who they had tackled and decided to detain. Spencer stared for a moment and then remembered the information the Collective had given her on the woman she was to be meeting. Stepping forward, she waved her hand towards the guards. Spencer had an air about her that would let [member="Raena"] know that this was the woman she was sent to protect. Arms crossed against her small chest and Spencer nodded towards Raena’s direction. Instead of signing, the Mentalist Master dove straight into the girl’s mind and began to speak.

You’re the contact from the Collective? Don’t need to sign your answer – just think. A smile spread across Spencer’s face. Raena would feel instantly channels opening through the Force, not only connecting her to Spencer, but to the other’s in the room who now stared at her. Everyone here can hear your thoughts and you can hear theirs, only when I allow you to. Spencer controlled the flow of thoughts from the guards in the room. Raena was only allowed to hear when she would need or what Spencer thought would be valuable for her to hear. So, what information have you brought us? Is the Matriarch still alive? Spencer waited, she needed to know if the woman was still alive – if she wasn’t it would be time to bring inferno’s light upon the heads of the Thyrsians. [member="Evoros"]