The Train Job

[Xin Boa]

15:12 to Gu'to, Ryloth

Once the behemoth of a train started it wouldn't stop for six hours. In that time the five hundred metre long vehicle would have crossed half the globe. It served two purposes. For the rear sections it was affordable travel for the lower classes who couldn't take an airspeeder or shuttle that far. For the forward carriages it was a quaint journey with comfortable seating, fine wining and dining.

Their target would be sat roughly half way up the train. With three armed guards. A further twelve guards were stationed in the train and once it got moving there was no stopping it. And if they alerted the authorities an entire platoon of soldiers might be at the other end waiting for them.

Xin's partner for this impossible task was described as a hot head. That sounded like exactly the sort of person who could compromise this mission. Six hours to steal a case cuffed to a man without anyone being the wiser.

The loud speaker signalled it was final boarding.

[member="Noviac Caligo"]

 

[Noviac Caligo]

Noviac coughed loudly. He looked like any other dredge, lumbering lifelessly onto the final car - his normal armor now replaced with a rather drab jumpsuit, one dedicated to what seemed to be Joala's Port Maintenance (written in aurebesh, naturally); he couldn't help but wonder where the hell they go the disguise. On that hand, he wasn't entirely sure who organized the whole plot; here he was, trying to keep his head down, next thing he knew Fester had him poised for a hit job. Great, just perfect. The loud speaker blared again, stragglers packing against him as they flooded, again, into the last car; it was by no means small, with small bed compartments latched near the rough for those small enough among them to slither within for the duration of the journey; and elsewhere, it was roomy enough to afford at least twice as many who'd stepped onboard - not that it mattered much to them, they still crammed into the back, barricading Nova against the back wall. Needless to say, it was pissing him off, but he didn't have much to offer in exchange - be it a simple request not to crush him, or a thread; his partner, Xin Boa, a nautolan, clearly didn't trust him all that much.

Nor did Nova trust him, but he kept his mouth shut on that particular aspect; instead, the goal was fairly simple. Infiltrate the train, something anyone could do, and locate their weapons stashed aboard - well, at least Noviac's. He'd been given instructions separately, which had been tailored to his particular talents ... and his particular weaknesses. Worst case scenario, sure: blow it all away - but until then, keep his head down; he could do that, especially for what he was being paid, even after Fester took his god damn cut. And here he was, shutting his mouth, trying to catch a sight of Xin through the mass of bodies - humanoid and otherwise; impatiently, he was already shoving himself free in order to breath. Subtlety can go to hell, they should've given him an oxygen tank for this. Three cars down: that was where the rifle was. And the body armor. Maybe some other goodies, too, he'd asked, politely, for his employer to surprise him; or maybe he'd be sorely disappointed. Maybe they'd take it wrong and only give him a knife, or worse, nothing. OR maybe he was, for once, dealing with professionals; you never can tell.

[member="Xin Boa"]

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Noviac Caligo"]

Xin was a few cars up. The press of bodies was slightly less oppressive, but not by much. He had boarded the train with one ticket, but carries a second that permitted access to the carriages where their target sat. Less security boarding through the cheap carriages.

The nautolan wasn't dressed in his typical spacer gear. One of his first tasks was to pass the booth occupied by the rodian and his guards and he couldn't do that if he stood out. He wore more traditional nautolan clothing. A set of loose mauve robes and more metal binds on his headtails to try and cover some of the tattoos.

There were a few options running through his mind. But they needed eyes on the mark to galvanise a plan. His train of thought was distracted by someone moving to block his path.

"Bloody squid argh!" The human stumbled and swore more profusely under his breath.

"Oh I'm so sorry," Xin apologised after having stamped on his ankle hard enough to have broken it. He hoped he hadn't. "You stepped out suddenly and I think I tripped over you."

The human waved him away, but refused to meet his eyes. Xin grinned as he walked away. Turning over his shoulder he caught sight of his partner moving between carriages.

 

[Noviac Caligo]

And there was Xin; it was hard to miss him, the drab interior of the tram made him pop out in an almost flamboyant fashion. Nova offered him a stern nod before attempted to continue weaving his way through the packed crowd, shoving and twisting his way through the sea of bodies until had already passed the nautolan. There was a small compartment up above the bunks, where small, personal baggage could be stuffed away without a second thought; he climbed up on the foot a bed, lined by a short railing (lest the passengers roll off in his sleep) - the inhabitant shooting him a drowsy glare - and began searching through. A silver kloo horn case - that was the description; sure enough, he found it - heaving it free, weightily dangling it by a limp arm as he awkwardly set it on the floor. Red package. There was another, to which he returned to the roost to claim, earning a light smack on the ankle from the disgruntled sleeper below, to which he responded with a stern kick to the ribs, after which he was silent. The red package, he didn't see it at first, until he craned his head, spotting it slipped above a couple of loose beams that spanned the underside of the chamber. He already knew what it was: directions.

Up ahead, there was a small, secluded entrance that led into a maintenance catwalk that ran along the front-end, wherein between the interior wall and exterior frame small crawlspaces existed between open windows and electrical outlets, allowing access to the wiring. It was cramped before the ducts opened up, however, it would be the most privacy he could afford, short of the occupied bathrooms in the back. He felt the two of them, sneaking in their together, might garner more attention than perhaps necessary. Just a few cars ahead, right past Xin, too; how perfect. Passing through the crowd, however, his former bunkmate began barking obscenities as he passed; the efficiency of the prods making Nova's blood boil. He clutched his fingers at the air, soon after the passenger's head slammed against the edge of the bunk, and he rolled back into the sheets unconscious, without another word - a bruise bleeding through just above his brow. Serves him right, the bastard. He made his way through the next few cars - some security-esque folk giving him a curious eye until they recognized the package: an instrument, nothing unusual.

Damn right, it's nothing unusual.

By the time he had caught up to Xin, he motioned to the forward passage - namely, the aforementioned catwalks and offered him the red packaged: one of densely-wrapped paper clinging to what was, clearly, a datapad. "You can read, can't you?" he asked, without so much as a courtesy or even a smile; no, he was all business ... and a little bit pissed off, too. His mind was on the money.

[member="Xin Boa"]

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Noviac Caligo"]

"Me alien. No read so good," Xin replied. Unfortunately biology prevented him rolling his eyes. The nautolan followed where Caligo waved him towards, eyes on the datapad. He grunted as he scrolled down through the instructions.

"Interesting. Two options for getting the goods off the train. No contingency plans for getting us off of course."

The passage was narrow and Xin was conscious that his voice seemed to carry. The case was locked and needed the finger print of a guard and a four digit code. He could deal with the code easily enough but they'd need the print. If the contents could be removed without anyone noticing, which seemed a challenge, they could wall off with it.

If not there was a fifteen kilometer bridge in a few hours. A sticker on the back of the datapad could become a tracker and the box thrown out the window. Obviously not that delicate. Otherwise there was another locker towards the front of the train it could be stored in.

"Getting access to that case without shooting up the place in the first place....no guidance. Guess we go see what we're dealing with?"

 

[Noviac Caligo]

A moment of silence had caught Noviac, who had gently set the case down to rest while he rolled his shoulders; he wasn't sure if the opportunity to stretch would linger on in a few moments. "Of course, though subtlety is more your strong suit, eh? Before we go in, plan: say there's a bunch of guards. No, let's just say there are guards; keep it simple. Worst case scenario, armed; in which case, the flow of pedestrian traffic through the upper carriages until we hit our target. Best case, none, but I doubt that; they also might have a few men stationed along each area, sending out feelers for trouble; and in this case, they'd either be blending into the crowd, or off to the side - no trouble, no overbearing armaments. Maybe even alone.

"That would be the ideal scenario for getting that print; say that it's what's in there. Go in, take out the guard; say we do it perfectly, quietly. If he doesn't report in, suddenly the clock starts ticking; more people are coming this way. With no firepower, we need it make it past them - we knock them out, they stop reporting, trouble is obvious. Next thing you know, we're in the heart of the hornet's nest with bad guys on all sides. One slip up - we're in hell.

"Then, say there are a bunch of armed guards; dealing with them stealthily still raises too much attention. In which case, I vote for hard and fast; or we go outside the train."

He paused to cross his arms and sigh, kicking up one foot over the other until he resembled a tall, jumpsuit-clad pretzel. "And that's without all the potential effects of our environment - how the cars are set up, systems they may have in place, cameras, droids ... we're going to be thinking on our feet regardless, unless you have a plan."

[member="Xin Boa"]

 

[Xin Boa]

[member="Noviac Caligo"]

Xib was thinking. He wasn't really a master strategist. Mostly he followed other people's plans and brought a bit of luck to the table. Stealth guards worried him. He hadn't thought of that. What if there was an innocuous passenger sat in the carriage with the mark with a holdout in his jacket? There would always be at least one guard with the mark, even when he went to the refresher.

"How do you think you go about disconnecting the carriages?" He asked. The emergency stop levers didn't work automatically. They just sent a signal to the driver. The train had engines every other carriage to keep the massive locomotive moving, but if they disconnected the last two and cut the power they would stop eventually. Could make tracks to some cover and call for a pickup.

"Got a seat in his carriage. Think I'll go watch for a little while and see how many we're looking at. Not like we havent got a few hours to pick our moment."