Those Nasty Old Loose Ends......

[Herr Vanderhing]

In the Viceroy's palace on Cato Neimoidia, Viceroy Herr Vanderhing sat comfortably in an observation room on a Neimoidian Mechno-Throne. In the room were over a dozen bounty hunters and assassins and the like of varying skill, the Viceroy hadn't cared much about skill, he merely needed to get the word out of a bounty. An old Trade Federation officer had been sticking his nose where it hadn't belonged, he discovered things that he shouldn't have and thusly needed to die.... The Viceroy hadn't cared much about the chap, an old man that the lower working class praised as a hero. Not even a Neimoidian, nor greedy or ambitious, treating the lowly drones on Pure Neimoidia with as much respect as he treated the Viceroy. It was an insult!!! But his digging up of...... information that the Viceroy would prefer secret was a problem, but it gave him an excuse to finally order the fellow to be executed without causing a working class uprising. The Viceroy stared down at all the thugs and scoundrels in the room, his mechno-throne scuttling it's crab legs across the floor from the left side headed towards the right.

"Gentlemen..... Ladies...... I have brought you all here on a very special mission!!!" The Viceroy gave a greedy smirk then continued on "You see..... I have been having, a-a-a bit of a pest problem!!!.... And I'm in need, of some exterminators....." The Neimoidian folded his fingers together and gave a gnarled smirk. The Viceroy's Advisor and Settlement Officer Genf Orkay began handing out holopads with picture of the man. He was elderly, bleached hair, wrinkly skin, and a warm smile. Above the photo were the words WANTED and below was DEAD below dead, in fine 'print' (or rather small typing) were the words "To be killed mercilessly along with anyone and we mean anyone affiliated with him. He is held up in an old Confederacy base on Mustafar. Warning intelligence has informed he's with armed guards and may have stolen Trade Federation assets such as battledroids and such. You are not to destroy anything within the base and if you are to find anything relating to Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray or other Seperatist leaders you are to bring it back with you to Viceroy Vanderhing where you'll be awarded handsomely". Also on the datapad was how much he was worth 750,000c as well as his name Piter Stentmin

[member="Myles Vylumnar"] | [member="Jai Katan"] | [member="Evaelyn Zambrano"]

 

[Jai Katan]

R

 

[Myles Vylumnar]

Myles stood alongside the other bounty hunters, seeming out of place with their loads of gear contrasting to his lack of it. Not really his type of crowd... Myles almost felt degraded standing among the likes of these guys, but a man does what a man must. Although Myles was not a cold-blooded killer, he often took bounty hunting jobs as a way to rid the galaxy of undesirables. In this case, he understood the need for political control and order, even if it meant silencing certain individuals.

He took a look at the holopad, contemplating the information given to him as he developed a strategy in his head. He remained silent, while the rest of the gather quietly mumbled and grumbled amongst each other.

Piter Stentmin...

A WHILE LATER...

The Stargazer flew in above Mustafar. The fiery mining planet glowed below as Myles brought the ship in to land.

"Kaz, make sure nobody comes up on the ship while I'm gone. If they do, you know what to do." he said to his Toydarian companian as Myles landed the ship on a nearby landmass, not too far from the location given to him by the Viceroy. This job would have to be quiet, or at least as quiet as possible. The Viceroy did not want any damage to be done to any Federation assets, and that included the battledroids his target had captured. He would have to somehow disable them... But how?

[member="Jai Katan"] | [member="Herr Vanderhing"] | [member="Evaelyn Zambrano"]

 

[Jai Katan]

Jai stood amidst the crowd, contemplating what to do with the 750,000. He realized that this was more money than he'd ever had before. This would make him rich. He had to get this bounty.

As he departed, he couldn't help but feel nervous as he saw the amount of people that disembarked from the landing pads around him. He jumped into his Z-95 and exited Cato Neimoidia's atmosphere. As he calculated the hyperspace coordinates, he contemplated how to do it. Blasters? Too random. Detonators? Too much collateral damage. That was something he didn't want. This would have to be poison.

Mustafar, some time later.

Jai exited the Scriecher, as he had come to call his ship, from a small landing platform, about 3 kilometers away from the target. He had calculated that with scanners this old, the range would've been much smaller than standard. But there remained the problem of droids. How would he be able to access the target without damaging the droids? Vent shafts? Too predictable. Or wait? What if it's so predictable that they would never expect it? Perfect. But now, getting past the entrance was his problem....

[member="Myles Vylumnar"] | [member="Herr Vanderhing"] | [member="Evaelyn Zambrano"]

 

[Evaelyn Zambrano]

Evaelyn Zambrano attended the assembly on Cato Neimoidia like all of the other prospect killers. In this instance, however, she did not go by the name of Evaelyn Zambrano. A slightly more subtle moniker was adopted, from her bounty hunter days. To those select few who would know her by name, they would know her as Dziana. Elyn, as was her nickname, wasn't usually one to blend in with the crowd. Her fierce, blue hair and well above average height saw to that.

Thankfully her Advanced Agent Tactical Armour ensured that she was not so easily identifiable. She was just another pair of helmet and armour. The rest of her loadout seemed pretty standard as well. SAR-1 Dual Weapon Assault Rifle, complemented by the SK2 Ripper pistol holstered on her right hip and an ornate phrix axe on her left. As if she wasn't already armed to the teeth, she came with a pouch of explosives as well. A hidden compartment in her armour held her lightsaber for safekeeping.

It was indeed time to murder. She didn't seem to worry about the competition, but underneath the surface she was analysing her immediately surrounding group to get an idea of what she was up against. Knowledge, as it turned out, actually was power. It still frustrated her. She had felt blissful in her philosophy that simply power was power, yet now it felt like there was so much she did not know. It was almost as exhilarating as it was frustrating.

She then devoted all of her attention to the information provided about her target, and assigned it to memory. As soon as the mission briefing was over she turned and began moving out. There was no need to delay. She wasn't here to make friends. Her ship waited for her on a platform not far away. There was really not much else for her to do than get going and get on her ship, course set for Mustafar.

Evaelyn's ship wasn't the fastest in the Galaxy. It wasn't bad by any means, but she didn't know how it held up against the small score of other bounty hunters. That base was about to be invaded by a very individualistic force. They came with one purpose, yet none were to keen on sharing, so they were alone. There were many approaches she could take on this job. It was a race against time in any case. Perhaps it was that looming knowledge that emboldened her. Perhaps it was a misplaced sense of feeling untouchable. Perhaps it simply was pure stupidity. In any case, Evaelyn radioed in her arrival and requested permission to land on the platform of the facility where Piter Stentmin was said to be located.

She didn't wait for a response, and simply assumed it would be granted. As soon as her ship touched ground she would walk out and move towards the facility with calm determination. There would likely be a welcoming party to meet her. They would likely be armed and not too keen on receiving guests. Time would show if she could do something about that. It was risky, but she did not come without a bargaining chip. Evaelyn, or rather Dziana, made sure to make her approach without any weapons drawn. Do or die. Probably die...

| [member="Herr Vanderhing"] | [member="Jai Katan"] | [member="Myles Vylumnar"] |​

 

[Myles Vylumnar]

Meanwhile, Myles sat in cover unseen by the complex. Under the guise of a rock, Myles evaluated his situation. The facility was not as heavily guarded as he thought; A few ground patrols, probably a half-dozen watchtowers. To put into perspective, the place almost looked like a prison and factory rolled into one. The outer walls surrounded a main building and a landing deck. The building itself was sort of large, consisting of a few rooms and hallways. The heat was starting to get to him. Myles would probably start looking into some protection after this job. Luckily for him, he did not come fully unprepared. While he was not a slicer himself, he carried a few tools to help him with such an act. He'd be able to slice if need be.

Assessing the situation, Myles decided it would probably be best to go in covertly. He knew he would have competition anyway, and they were probably already here. His plan was to let them do the heavy lifting, and then get away with the prize. Waiting for the right moment, he managed to stealthily pick off one of the ground patrols and dragged him off behind a rock. Searching him, Myles found a keycard, datapad, and comms.

Donning the outfit of the patrol, Myles assumed their position as he watched a new ship fly in over to the landing deck. The comms buzzed in his ears, speaking about a foreign ship entering the facility. Must be competition, he thought. It was smart of them to try and walk their way in inconspicuously. To most, it'd probably seem dumb, but Myles saw the genius in it.

As he reached a separate entrance to the facility, Myles used his keycard to enter through the doors without anybody seeing. He strolled through, using the datapad as a map of the complex. He saw that his current position was at the East wing. Now, he'd just have to slip past and find Stentmin.

It began to seem like hiring a dozen and a half bounty hunters for the same job and telling them they'd have to compete was probably not the best of ideas as even more ships entered Mustafar's atmosphere. The sudden increase in traffic would likely alert the target or cause some suspicion...

"Hey, you!" called a voice. Myles froze, his attention darting away from the datapad.

[member="Evaelyn Zambrano"] | [member="Jai Katan"] | [member="Herr Vanderhing"]

 

[Herr Vanderhing]

The Viceroy merely watched on as all the bounty hunters left the room, he rolled his eyes at the fact none of them had actually said anything to him. Each probably wanted to be that strong silent cliché he thought. His mech no-throne scuttled over to a fireplace with him on top, and a service droid waltzed in carrying wine for the viceroy. He poured himself a glass, a smug look etched into his face and held the glass between the tips of two of his fingers. He admired the fireplace, looked deep into it with a gnarled smile

"Oh Mr. Stentmin, poor sweet simple Mr. Stentmin........ you really shouldn't have done this!!!" The Viceroy held up his glass to give cheers "To you Piter!!!" He began to chuckle and it slowly transformed into a greedy cackle that echoed his palace and into the fire
___________________________________________

On the planet Mustafar, the outside of the facility wasn't too overly protected..... A few hired goons and a lot of battledroids (but those things are easy!!! Who counts them?!?!) The only real problem that the facility held was that stationed above were over a dozen Droideka Sentries sniping out any who dared trespass. It didn't take long for the battledroids to notice [member="Evaelyn Zambrano"]. There were four of them that saw her, one walked to her and said "Hey!!!! You're not supposed to be here!!!!" While the other three exchanged confused looks to eachother. Closer towards [member="Myles Vylumnar"] another four battledroids heard the "Hey you!!" And went to go investigate, raising their weapons. There were several entrances to the building, each holding armed thugs defending them that [member="Jai Katan"] would need to deal with.

[member="Myles Vylumnar"] | [member="Evaelyn Zambrano"] | [member="Jai Katan"]

 

[Jai Katan]

Jai was wondering how to deal with the Thugs guarding the door, when he remembered the gas he had in his satchel. Not powerful enough to kill, but strong enough to incapacitate. As he stood up from behind his cover, the thugs reacted by reaching for their guns. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jai said as he held up his bluff, the fake detonator. The thugs put down their guns and put up their hands. As he tied them up, he grabbed the schematics of the base off the guard, most likely the head of the job. He quickly scanned it over, finding the vent shafts. He would have to act quick, the schematic also showed the guard patrol schedule. The next one was in five minutes.

[member="Herr Vanderhing"] | [member="Myles Vylumnar"] | [member="Evaelyn Zambrano"]

 

[Myles Vylumnar]

Myles quickly pocketed the datapad as a patrol of Droidekas called for his attention. As the four droids approached him, he stood still and acted natural.

"Identification." demanded the robotic voice. Searching through his pockets, Myles pulled out the keycard which was picked off of the guard he impersonated. Luckily, the droids lacked any sort of scanners to distinguish that the keycard didn't belong to Myles. They did, however, recognize his identification codes.

"You're supposed to be on patrol. Return to your station."

"Uh... Um- Sarge called me to his quarters! Said it was urgent and that rotation was swapped!" he lied on the spot. For a moment, the droids were silent. After a couple seconds which seemed to be an hour, they finally started waddling past.

"Carry on."

Sighing, Myles continued forth. Opening up the map on his datapad, he deduced that his target would likely be somewhere near the Control Room. He'd have to hatch a plan to get there and kill him first, then deal with the rest. First, he'd have to shut down the droids. Shutting down the power was too obvious and wouldn't work on droids. Luckily, there was a room labeled 'Droid Bay' on the map. If all the droids were connected to the same network, he could probably slice into their network and shut them all down simultaneously! However, there was also the issue of him being seen. He'd have to get to the Surveillance Room and shut it down, first.

Things were starting to get more complicated by the minute. Time grew scarce by the second, especially with his competition piling up. Quickly, he made his way to the Surveillance Room. He cracked open the door, stepping inside.

"Hey, your shift's up. I'll be taking over from here." he said.

"Huh- you're early! Wait... you're not-"

*BANG!*

One of the two guards sitting in chairs was interrupted by a rifle butt to the back of his head.

"Hey!"

The other was soon knocked unconscious as well, both of their bodies limp in their seats as the surveillance cameras flickered on. Myles closed the door behind him. All that was left for now was to figure out how to slice into the surveillance terminal without triggering any security alarms...

[member="Jai Katan"] | [member="Herr Vanderhing"] | [member="Evaelyn Zambrano"]

 

[Evaelyn Zambrano]

[member="Herr Vanderhing"] | [member="Myles Vylumnar"] | [member="Jai Katan"]

Up came the battledroids. As expected they did not seem too keen on her presence here, but she considered the fact that they had not yet opened fire a sign that she was still in the game. "I need to see Mr. Stentmin. I have some information I know he will want." she said, in a steady and determined tone. She did not seem shaken up by the droids' approach. After all she was not their enemy. Or was she? "It's urgent." she added hoping that somehow this plan would work. She wasn't sure if the droids were able to pick up on it, but she tried to give off the impression of someone who was expecting to get paid for the information she brought. It wasn't far from the truth, even though Evaelyn was motivated by more than simply credits these days. The message was for Stentmin, and Stentmin only, something she would promptly inform them of if asked to just hand it over.

"If he finds out what I have to give him doesn't reach him before it's too late, well, I imagine he might deactivate you... Or you know what, actually he might be too dead to do that. Huh" she said in hopes that it gave them a little incentive.