Public The Joy of Smuggling and the Zest of Piracy

[Thel Kaan]

Cantros 7​

It hadn't been long since Thel had escaped the Sith oppression in the mines of Orax. His hatred was still raw and overpowering, driving his every thought. The need to take the fight to the Sith Order and liberate his people consumed him daily, but to do so, he would need weaponry, ammunition, and medicine. Without these vital supplies, his Militant Front rebel cell would be slaughtered before they could achieve their goal.

Cantros 7 would be the first stepping stone for the Militants. They had established a temporary base on the planet, strategically located near the Corellian Trade Spine and just outside of Sith territory. This made it the perfect location to arm his rebel cell and stage hit-and-run attacks on systems within Sith space. Thel had chosen a secluded area near one of the lesser-traveled routes leading out of the city. The indigenous Cantrosians, aware of the Militants' presence, were sympathetic to Thel's cause due to their own history of rebellion. Some of the natives even agreed to provide covert assistance by monitoring Sith movements within the system. However, Thel knew he couldn't rely on their goodwill alone.

First and foremost, he needed powerful handheld weapons, so he opted for disruptor rifles. These rifles, once outlawed in many systems due to their ability to disintegrate targets atom by atom, packed a punch against both vehicles and infantry—perfect for the guerrilla tactics Thel planned to employ. Additionally, Thel sought hyper-adrenal stimulants, specialized combat pharmaceuticals that were difficult to come by but would give his rebels a much-needed edge in battle.

In a hidden valley surrounded by towering trees, Thel and his men awaited the arrival of the smugglers. A black-market dealer had arranged the transaction. Thel did not know if he could trust such a man, but he had no other choice. The smugglers would need to navigate through Sith space to reach Cantros 7, a journey fraught with risk. However, Thel was prepared to pay handsomely for their services. The cargo, consisting purely of military-grade equipment, would undoubtedly arouse suspicion from any galactic authority. Once the smugglers arrived in the system, they would contact Thel through his camp's communication system. Depending on their preference, the exchange could be made either planetside or in orbit around Cantros 7.


Darth Strosius Atrix Tarus Undara Kaila Irons Nej Tane

 

[Atrix]

Groundside on Cantros 7, I was having a difficult time navigating the camp and figuring out where my contact for this specific job was. All I could do was ask around and get pointed in multiple directions before getting to a dead end.

Then it dawned on me. I was being directed to a communication system! Duh! Apon this sudden realization I wasted no time to contact my...contact.

<< " Atrix here, I was hired for a job and now im here planetside and im gonna need more info for this job. Specifically payout! Give me some numbers here!">>

Thel Kaan

 

[Nej Tane]

Smuggling was easy business.

Smuggling was easier when you were good at it.

Smuggling was stupid easy when people helped you get away with it. Valery Noble had given him a device that let him pass through Alliance space undetected, but thanks to multiple incursions by the Sith, the tag no longer worked, and the codes were cycled after some time. It was always temporary, and besides-

She probably wouldn't give him another one, what with the criminality and all. Nej wasn't one to stay in his ship, and he was acutely aware that it could've been a trap. So, his stealth ship landed- a secluded, more lonely part of the planet.

So, he took out his handheld communicator, watching the sky for any incoming rockets, or fighters that might've been. X-wings or TIE fighters were both bad news for him, and he preferred to stay out of the line of sight of any government organization as a whole. He clicked his teeth, checking into his comm unit.

"Nej here, lay it on me big guy."

He took his finger off the button and waited for the reply.

 

[Thel Kaan]

After hours of tense waiting, the communication system crackled to life. A deep voice broke the silence that had settled over the camp.

<< " Atrix here, I was hired for a job and now im here planetside and im gonna need more info for this job. Specifically payout! Give me some numbers here!">>

Thel picked up his transmitter and responded to the smuggler known as Atrix. "I'm prepared to pay market value for each unit, plus an extra twenty-five thousand credits for the trouble of smuggling," Thel said bluntly, as was his usual manner. "That is, provided you have all the cargo I requested."

A Cantrosian scout had earlier informed Thel of a figure wandering the nearby forests—likely Atrix himself. "If you find these terms reasonable, come to the coordinates I'm transmitting now. You're not far from the meeting point. If not, come anyway, and we can discuss the matter." There was no threat in Thel's tone, only sincerity. He then sent the location of the camp and settled in to wait for the smuggler's arrival.


Later, another message came through the commlink. The black-market dealer hadn't specified how many smugglers would be delivering the goods, only that they would arrive in due time. The presence of two smugglers instead of one added complexity to the exchange, but Thel knew he had little choice. Beggars can't be choosers, he thought.

"Nej here, lay it on me big man."

"I'm transmitting the coordinates for the camp," Thel repeated into the microphone. "My offer stands—twenty-five thousand credits on top of the market value for the cargo."

Thel was eager to meet these smugglers in person. The risk of betrayal loomed large; dealing with smugglers always carried the possibility of a double-cross. At least meeting face-to-face would reveal once and for all if this was a legitimate deal or, worse, a trap set by the Sith.

Nej Tane

 

[Kaila Irons]

OBJECTIVE: INFILTRATE SMUGGLING RING
WEARING [X] || EQUIPMENT: BIO​

Kaila sat in a stolen cargo shuttle sat down somewhere in the woods of Cantros while adjusting a new commlink to the correct frequency to contact the supposed Militants. Most Sith would no doubt try to destroy these rebels and the smugglers they hired, but Kaila wasn't most Sith. As a Seeker of the Kainate, she regularly processed ancient lore and even used this knowledge to acquire and study Sith Artifacts. The only issue was... They weren't for her, and trying to move them herself would arouse suspicion that she could not afford. The solution? Hire a smuggler to de the dirty work. She couldn't simply put out an ad however, and folk that could simply be bought off with a few credits were unreliable.

So her solution was to go directly to the source and make them an offer they couldn't refuse: Their freedom.

For that, she needed to catch them in the act and hold onto evidence of their crimes to hold over their heads, or she needed to capture one. It had taken some time to acquire a lead on smuggler activity and much of the Apprentice's limited resources, but eventually Kaila was able to get the necessary information she needed to pass herself off as a smuggler and find their meeting place. Thankfully her new armor and two piece cloak had no identifying markings and could hide her monastic tunic quite easily.

Despite hating it, being a nobody in the empire had it's perks. And so she would contact the rebels, who were but a means to an end for now.

<<This is- Oh force, what was the code name again? <<This is Ronin-1, on standby with package, over>>
Thankfully the new mask modulated her voice. There would be no identifying her if communications were compromised.


Thel Kaan Nej Tane Atrix Tarus Undara

 

[Darth Strosius]

Scattered reports of unusual activity especially in regards to traffic was nothing new along the edges of Sith space. Between the shady dealings of Sith themselves and the ever-present cartels feeding off of worlds both within and beyond their borders there was no shortage of suspicious vessels coming to and from. However, being on the eve of war meant tighter security. Security that the Inquisition was all too happy to provide, their nets cast wide to catch any and all unlicensed traffic in and around Sith space.

Alliance spies and rebel sympathetic smugglers could be lurking anywhere and as such it was only natural for the Inquisition to search everywhere in order to find them and drag them out where the threat that they posed could be exterminated. A task that was far easier said than done, with plenty of ships slipping through their patrols and blockades. Such ships rarely got too far without chase however.

The Arbite-class Cruiser emerged from hyperspace above Cantros 7, fresh on the tracks of one such smuggler convoy that had managed to escape off of the Hydian Way and barely miss what would have been a routine interdiction stop. Unfortunately they made the mistake of being too close to Faldos to avoid retaliation. And the mistake of pulling their little stunt when the Lord Inquisitor himself happened to be inspecting the patrol that they just managed to slip by.

"Begin scanning for our quarry and prepare shuttles for landing." His masked gaze leered at the planet beyond the bridge's viewport, annoyed at this unplanned diversion just to hunt a few smugglers. If they were running then they had something to hide and therefore something in need of investigating, but that they would flee to a world so close to his own was an entirely different concern. No den of scum and villainy would be established right on his doorstep without his intervention. "Send word for reinforcements to be on standby, we don't know what we're walking into yet."

Thel Kaan / Atrix / Nej Tane / Kaila Irons

 

[Thel Kaan]

A member of Thel's rebel cell stumbled towards him in a panic. "B-b-boss—" he stammered, struggling to regain his composure, "The Cantrosians are reporting a Sith cruiser has just entered the system!" This was bad news. Thel had been eager to take the fight to the Sith, but a cruiser was too great of a threat for the Militant Front, especially with so little time to prepare. With the Sith presence now in the system, support from the Cantrosians would likely diminish; they wouldn't risk provoking a full-scale Sith invasion of their planet to aid a fledgling rebel group.

Thel knew he had to act quickly if he and his comrades were to get out of this alive. "Kark!" he cursed under his breath before turning to his technicians. "Activate the long-range sensor jammers on the cargo vessel, and see what you can do to boost the range of the jammers on the fighters." If the Sith vessel hadn't yet completed a scan of the planet, the sensor jammers might buy the Militants some time to formulate an escape plan.

"Anything not nailed down gets loaded onto the hauler... and quickly!" Thel's orders sent the remaining Militants into a frenzy of activity, hastily moving equipment, weaponry, and supplies onto their only freighter. None of the smugglers had arrived at the camp yet, and Thel was beginning to suspect this was all a Sith trap. Maybe there were no smugglers, and the black-market dealer had sold him out for some quick credits. Whatever the case, Thel wasn't about to risk the lives of his men by being complacent. "If any smugglers do show up, keep weapons drawn at all times. But make sure we get the cargo onto the hauler."

Amid the chaos at the camp, Thel almost missed the communication system crackling to life once more. Another smuggler, this time with the callsign Ronin-1, was attempting to make contact. Alarm bells were ringing in Thel's mind—three different smugglers for two separate shipments... something wasn't adding up. Despite his growing distrust, Thel transmitted the coordinates to Ronin-1. The Militants had nearly cleared the camp, so if this was a trap, they could still flee before the "smugglers" caused any real damage.

Before returning to his leadership duties, Thel activated his transponder one last time, hoping to reach all the smugglers. "Warning... Si—... Cantro—... Rep—... Sith spotted at Cantros." The interference from the sensor jammers was making long-range communication almost impossible, but he hoped the message had been received by all parties.



Darth Strosius Atrix Nej Tane Kaila Irons Tarus Undara

 

[Tarus Undara]

Tags:

[ENEMIES] Atrix | Thel Kaan ​

[ALLIES] Darth Strosius | Kaila Irons ​

Location: Cantros 7

Tarus' brief tenure with the Sith Order had allowed him to prove himself many things... a great spy when the Golden Covenant showed signs of treachery, a surprisingly good dancer on a moonless night, and a thoughtful teacher at the Sith Academy. He'd yet to consider himself particularly skilled with dispatching smugglers and rebels, so it must have been his keen eye for Sith artifacts that earned Tarus' place aboard the Arbite-class cruiser that was looming in Cantros 7's orbit. The Sith Acolyte, flanked by a pair of procurement specialists, moved with concentrated haste as he neared shuttle that would take him down to the forested camp below.

From its cockpit, Tarus pressed a deep red button on the ship's console, projecting a hologram of himself to Darth Strosius on the bridge. "My team is ready for descent, Lord Strosius," Tarus said grimly. He knew that any form of resistance below would be crushed by their forces, but that didn't trouble him nearly as much as the thought of inadvertently damaging any valuable goods or black-market relics in the crossfire. Tarus had to remind himself of the job they were sent to do - destroy the scum that thought it could roost so close to the Sith's dominion.

Anything he found for the Academy archives was just a bonus.