Umbrella for the Spices

[Jaster Awaud]

Jaster never truly liked Kessel, he never visited the nice places the planet could offer. All he could do was set up his new plans for his Spice Mines in hunt for Ryll and Glitterstem. Officially Jaster company was setting up the mine for medical reasons and the labor force was well payed. Truth was Jaster was skimming from the top to sell the the Hutts and in return get slaves for the mines. Overall through Jaster company stock shot up as he saved millions in cutback of labor cost.

The mine itself was heavily guarded by his Corperate Police who secured all his Official and Non-Official facility's. They were mostly made up of ex-cops and criminals, easier to pay them then PMCs who ask for too much money. Jaster wasn't really that greedy, but his vision was to boosting his company faster and faster. This meant cutting the corners, and as a neutral company, he could do that without the criticism and politics.

Jaster knew his crimes against Sentient Rights would be found out eventually. So a Dummy Corp was set up as the management for the mines as Umbrella it oversit committee. His bases were covered, though he could feel the Silver Jedi and the Madalorians breathing down his neck, but it could just be his paranoia.

"Admiral Awaud?" Stated the site manager, "New arrivals of slaves have just come in, they are two days ahead of schedural, all are accounted for."

Jaster still sat in his wooden chair overlooking the mining site, "Understood, have them ran though procedure and placed as previously discussed."

It was odd to have a shipment brought in early, guess kissing up to the Hutts were paying off.

[member="Noah Corek"] [member="Allana Gan"] [member="Mit Tuxaire"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Noah Corek]

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Allana Gan"] [member="Mit Tuxaire"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Orihime Ike"]

There was a sort of unsaid rule about hired killers in the galaxy. If you wanted someone taken in alive for punishment or because they wronged you, you send a bounty hunter. If someone had wronged and you wanted to kill them silently to avoid any uneccessary attention, you send a assassin. But when you wanted someone killed in a way that broke them and sent a message to the rest of their compatriots that what they were doing wouldn't be tolerated, you hired a merc. So the fact that someone had hired the Omega Pyre, the PMC recognized as the best band of mercs in the galaxy, someone wanted to send a message, a really strong one.

So now Noah sat in a bar, six other Pyre contractors spread out throughout the bar and two of his closest friends and comrades Ilona and Gideon sitting on the stools next to him. They were waiting for a few people that he had contacted to help him with this situation.

 

[Allana S'hadar]

Being chained up in a slave transport wasn't exactly on the top of Allana's to-do list, but then again she hadn't exactly been given a choice. Something fishy was going down at Kessel, as bad situations go, the mining colony wasn't particularly known for its botanical gardens and water parks. The planet reeked of the underworld, so the Silver Jedi weren't surprised when they discovered intel on illegal spice trade on the asteroid, nor were they shocked to find slave labor running the operation.

Now sitting among slaves and her other group members, Allana waited, concentrating on keeping her force aura small and unnoticeable. There were multiple teams working in unison to strike major points throughout the mining facility, Allana's group being one. She had even heard members of the Omega Protectorate had their own assault planned. It had felt satisfying to free the slaves needed to make this whole op work, and soon the rest of the enslaved on Kessel would be free as well. The Padawan was determined to see each and every slave leave the asteroid a free being. Allana knew that she was no where near the Jedi her parents were, but at least this mission would show the Order that she was the one to look out for. Snapping out of her daydreams, Allana returned her attention to the task at hand.


She knew the transport had exited hyperspace, meaning that the group only had to wait a few more moments before they could get to work. None of the intel received had hinted at the identity of the top enforcer on the colony, but she was confident that they would be present on Kessel overseeing operations. Taking a moment to center herself, Allana sat patiently, knowing that soon the excitement would truly begin.

Spoiler

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Noah Corek"] [member="Mit Tuxaire"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Orihime Ike"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Having been smuggled here sucked. A lot. I was young and new to the Force. I was used to fighting with lots of gear and weapons, but I would make due with what I had. And what I had was a decade of combat training and some minor Force abilities. Keeping my presence as hidden as possible was difficult, but I was managing. Not as well as my counterpart [member="Allana Gan"] but I was hanging in there. I had been to Kessel before, when I was sentenced here, but that was almost ancient history compared to where I was now.

I had heard rumor about the Omega Pyre hitting this operation, and I had volunteered because I didn't like slavery when the mission came up with the Silver Jedi. It wasn't so much as noble as it was a code. Droids were cheaper anyway. The waiting was the worst part. Waiting to get to Kessel strained your mind, made you worrisome, at least if you didn't want to be there. I didn't have that problem this time around.

[member="Noah Corek"]
[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Orihime Ike]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Allana Gan"] [member="Noah Corek"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

There was a small grin on her face while she was looking from the room. Out towards the planet and she knew it well. Her mother had been born down there in one of the penal mines with spice swirling all around them. It was infamous in her family and the small atrisian sat there with her legs crossed and mind not going to the other two silver jedi as she worked to make the best of it. Her hair was kept in a short bun with a small concealed knife as she opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow looking over to Allana and Draco. She spoke in a whisper while looking at the man and keeping careful not to give away her talking. "I have only heard stories of this place. My mother was born here... well somewhere here."

 

[Darth Veles]

Avreet disliked slavers. That much wasn’t a secret. Unlike the majority of Sith, the traditionalists who wished to have their palaces and tombs constructed by slaves, Darth Veles was of more progressive mind. Slavery and similar practices presented nothing but barbaric relics of the past for him, ancient ways best left to be buried in the old days where they belonged. There was no need for those in the modern galaxy, which very much explained Avreet’s actions against slavers. Having freed many slaves himself and delivering swift justice to their masters, the Mon Calamari Sith Lord was a strange character indeed, his desire of wiping out the very concept of enslaving a sentient burning brightly. And as always, he wanted nothing in return; unlike many of his fellow Sith, the amphibian stood true to his duty of being a weapon against those who sought to steal the freedom of another, a weapon against injustice and all threatening to plunge this galaxy back into the darkest moments of its history. Unless it concerned other Sith; then even the moderate Sith Lord had to tread lightly and carefully, fighting with words instead of blades.

Another little “mining” operation begged to be disrupted and permanently removed from the galaxy. It wasn’t that hard to imagine the mines being filled with unwilling and unpaid people. Having visited a certain planet in the Republic space, accompanied by the Jedi Grandmaster, Avreet could imagine the situation quite well. Back then and there, his hands were bound, as the Jedi did not want to act and free the slaves, or perhaps she couldn’t; the planet was rich in spices and brought a nice sum of credits to the Republic and its officials. It was shameful and cowardly to ignore the suffering of its people for the sake of not angering the senate, but without any official move of the Republic against an entire planet of slaves and slavers, the Sith Lord and his Jedi counterpart could do little more than watch.

This promised to be different. Without the Republic and its obedient Jedi toys to interfere and protect the slavers because “it is not our place to judge”, Avreet found himself headed to Kessel, posing as another faceless slave to perish in the dark mines. Naturally, he had considered other options as well; to act as a buyer or a security officer. The former relied on stereotypes surrounding his Order a bit too much, while the latter appeared to offer more benefits and if he did things right, unrestricted access into places that were off limits and the ability to pass over several weapons to the slaves. Unfortunately, Avreet did not have the time to get officially hired, which would be solved soon enough anyway.

Serving as an assassin/infiltrator paid off once again and the Sith Lord appeared as another broken man dressed in cheap clothes, kneeling on the cold floor of the transport ship. A man who had given up hope, seemingly resigned to his inevitable fate, his real nature hidden under his mastery of bending light and hiding his presence in the Force; the fact Veles was fully armed with lightsabers hanging on his belt and dressed in a typical Sith fashion remained concealed under an illusion, just as his signature showed another ordinary sentient and not a powerful Sith Lord. The concept of dropping off behind enemy lines and pretending to be something he was not while sabotaging key aspects of the operation was nothing new to him.

Little did he know others shared a very similar idea!

[member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Allana Gan"] [member="Noah Corek"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Flannigan Mcnash]

It started with a slight shimmer, as if the space was being warped and twisted. Then, in a flash of pale silvery light a ship bursts from hyper space its dark expanse of grey hull contrasting with the black of space, and the occasional white ray of dull light leaking from a distant star. On closer inspection you would note that it is indeed a crusader class corvette. The long slender length of metal entered the atmosphere, its wings cutting through the surrounding vapours like a hot knife through butter taking large gauges out of the now swirling gas. It was rounded with panels of light, its head was built off geometric shapes with squares boxes as heads, and with that the long slender craft landed.

"[member="Cadan Tazi"], have us land. [member="Thraxis"], check on the men have half of them meet me at the cargo hold in the next ten minutes." There was a sharp incline to his movement, the rounded plates shuffling together as the cyborg's form adjusted to the movement. "Open communication with management. This is Flannigan Mcnash, come in management." contacting [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"], the sequences of numbers and decimals painting themselves across the screen in neat lines. "Just finished a raid on Dressel, hope you don't mind prune-faced slaves."

| [member="Darth Veles"] | [member="Orihime Ike"] | [member="Draco Vereen"] | [member="Allana Gan"] | [member="Noah Corek"] |​

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Noah Corek"] [member="Allana Gan"] [member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Darth Veles"]

"This is Mining Outpost 3-2, Ground Command, your codes are airtight and Management has approved your cargo," a women spoke over the radio, "please proceed to landing pad Alpha 202, Foremen Ka'Bar will pick up the shipment, Mr. [member="Flannigan Mcnash"]."

A escort of fighters flew out of the clouds and brought up the sides of the Slave Transport. They saluted their wings by having their aircraft wave back and forth, this was a sigh that they knew the infamy of the Pirate Captain. They flew to the open pit mine, the ground was full of uplifted dirt and mixed minerals around the pit itself. The escorts took off to the north where one would assume was the Airstrip they came from.

The ship landed on a metallic pad for large craft, there were others around it. From the craft they could see that there were around 4 other pads capable of holding freighter sized space craft. There were only 2 other Pelta-class Transports painted all black, they were loading the spices mined. The many assorted slaves were being escorted by men in strange uniforms. Ones of unknown design and with glowing red eyes.

A man very noticable was standing waiting for the ship to complete its landing, he was accompanied by at least 20 other guards.

 

[Flannigan Mcnash]

It was with a lone click, and with that the long slender craft landed. The doors opened with a metallic groan opake clouds rose from open exhaust pipes, leaving a noxious cloud in the area. Stepping out and onto the flags, the metallic click and tightening of spring and bolt, the cyborg straightened meeting the man, his men fanning out behind him and moving the solid metal crates onto the ground before [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]. "Behold, the gifts of the Cartel."

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Darth Veles"] [member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Allana Gan"] [member="Noah Corek"]

The men on the ground seemed pleased, even the leader of the group took off his helmet to greet [member="Flannigan Mcnash"]. The man wore almost the exact same armor as the rest, only difference was he had white marking on his armor. He waved his left hand, empty as the right held his helmet, he waved it just above his shoulders. From below the walkway, slaves sprung up to assist moving the metallic creates.

The man in white symbloed armor approached the captain, "Pleasure to meet you Mr. Mcnash, I am Foremen Ka'Bar, Quadrent Alpha lead mining operator, it is a pleasure to meet you," he looked at the sorry bunch of slaves the captian brought him, "are these the latest from the Admirals requesition," he brought his attention back to the cyborg, they will surfice for labor needs, as for the females, I thought we only requisitioned males, guess we can't be picky," he pulled a datapad out of his back satchel and handed it over to the cyborg, "Managment want a word with you and your crew, payment and all that, you remember the way correct?"

After the captian replied the Foremen placed his helmet back on and looked to the slaves, mostly a useless bunch in his opinion. The admiral wouldn't be happy unless they proved themself.

"Line them up and get me scans of their vitals and prep medical," he yelled to his men.

They rushed to grab the slaves roughly, moving them into posistion and in a line. They continued as men in contamination suites started scanning them one at a time. The men behind them began to have the guards hold down the slaves and were injected with something unknown.

The foremen spoke, "My name is Ka'Bar, I will be your Chief Foremen here at the mines, you are being checked for diseases and infections, if found carrying you will be quarantined and cured before returning to work," as he said that one of the medical officer pulled a slve out of line and with the help of guards dragged that individual away, "the shot you have just received is a nanite sensor, you are expensive, we can't have you during on us and thus ground command will be watching your vitals at all times," He saw as only 3 slavers were taken off the the hospital tents, "now stay in line, follow your closest Barracks Guard and we will move to your living quarters."

 

[Flannigan Mcnash]

"Foremen Ka'bar, I thank you for your hospitality. [member="Cadan Tazi"], stay with the ship. [member="Thraxis"], you're with me." he said moving down one of the neighbouring corridors, he had been set instructions and location, he moved with purpose his coat tossed sineway like some awkward cape, catching on the breeze and slight movement.

He moved on and towards 'management', stopping every so often to have a word with [member="Thraxis"], before arriving a distance away from the loading-bay and towards 'managements' office.

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Cadan Tazi]

Once Cadan landed the ship, he would then stay on it, guarding making sure nothing went on or left with out his permission. "You got it Cap'n."

[member="Flannigan Mcnash"]

 

[Allana S'hadar]

"Maybe she should have come along?" she whispered quietly to Orihime, another of her fellow Padawan's joining them on this mission. The Jedi strike team needed any advantage that they could get, but they would have to make do with what the were given. Carefully extending her awareness in the Force, she could sense hundreds of life-forms slowly approaching them, indicating their arrival to the mining colony. Taking a deep breath, she centered herself, focusing on the techniques learned through her training. Within moments her Force signature shrunk, reducing the risk of being spotted by some unforeseen Force-user.

As the ship shuddered, landing on the walkway, Allana directed two subtle nods towards both Orihime and Draco, carefully extending a small telepathic link in their direction. Through the Force, the trio would be able to communicate as long as they stayed together. Her skill in the ability did not allow for long distance communication but she hoped it would work in their current situation. Knowing it was time to initiate the second part of the operation, Allana slowly rose from her seated position. Looking at Draco and Orihime for support, the Padawan approached their sole guard, [member="Cadan Tazi"] if she had heard correctly.

Reaching out with the Force, she wrapped a mental tendril around a turbospanner, lifting the object several inches from the floor. Her hand extended, Allana closed her eyes as she concentrated, the spanner levitated through the air until she threw it into the main cabin, causing an eruption of sound as the tool crashed into whatever inhabited the small room. Hopefully [member="Cadan Tazi"] would pick up on the distraction and allow the Padawan's time to escape the shuttle and get their mission underway.

[member="Flannigan Mcnash"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Darth Veles"] [member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Darth Veles]

Even in the flying metal coffin transporting the fresh batch of slaves to their unenviable destination, the desperate cries of suffering echoed through the Force, appearing as small ripples of darkness in a sea, growing in strength with every passing minute as the ship neared the mines filled with unfortunate souls. Knowing what the poor people had to be going through made the Mon Cal’s blood boil, but he did not mind the Force taking on a darker shade; all these things naturally made the Dark Side stronger, which in turn meant more power for him, increasing the chance of this mission ending well. For now, the helpless anger and hatred of slaves served as a plethora of energy for the Sith Lord to feast on, though it would soon become a deadly weapon used by the enslaved beings themselves to enact revenge on their masters. Or was it justice? Maybe both, Avreet could not say. And so, with the ship shaking upon landing and the roar of the engines dying, Avreet deeply exhaled and inhaled, almost as if taking the Dark Side into his body. He immediately regretted this decision and wrinkled his nose; the ship reeked of sweat and dried blood.

For now, the disguised Sith Lord swiftly stood up as the others did, glancing over the ship’s intestines. His sight occasionally locked with that of another slave, in which case the Sith offered a polite smile, the look in his eyes bearing an unspoken message that consisted of one word; hope. A stride or two carried the Mon Cal behind the backs of other slaves as he found himself a nice shadow in the bay’s corner, continuing his observation from there. Only one guard to watch over the ship, a particularly easy target; yet hardly suitable for what Avreet needed given the man’s been ordered to stay on the ship. It appeared to be the right time for more of his specialty, several Force techniques dealing with light manipulation and photokinetic cloaking. Before it happened, the Sith witnessed something that put a deep frown on his face; telekinesis?! A calmer look replaced the previous expression, large amber eyes darting from one slave to another in search of the perpetrator; judging by the hand gesture, a Mirialan woman. What was her purpose here? And more importantly, her allegiance? The prospect of rescuing a few Force sensitives and sending them to the Academy for training carried a sweet taste of absolute success, while the option of encountering a bloody Rogue or Dark Jedi promised to make this much more complicated.

The piercing gaze of the Mon Cal quickly moved away as he sensed an opportunity. His body started to dissolve and vanish, quickly turning the Mon Cal into a transparent phantom before the Sith vanished completely. Soon enough, he was gone, leaving the ship and everyone on it to their fates. The presence of the Dark Side reigning supreme in the Force became even stronger, providing Avreet with more energy needed for maintaining the cloak of shadows as the Sith moved away from the landing pad, creeping through darkness soundlessly and avoiding guards and slaves alike. Before moving deeper into the mines and barracks, the Sith took his time to determine a few patrol routes of guards stationed in the area. Lacking neither patience nor suitable targets, Avreet slipped into a heavy shadow by one of the walls surrounding them, a poorly lit area. It wasn’t exactly needed considering his invisibility, but darkness equaled safety in the assassin's mind.

[member="Allana S'hadar"] [member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Orihime Ike"] [member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Noah Corek"]

 

[Cadan Tazi]

Cadan quickly looked back at the sound. Although he was the only one standing guard on the gangplank there were other pirates in the ship.

Cadan wore Red Raven Shot Caller Armor, the armor looked like it was kept in the best condition, with only a few cuts and scrapes on it, it also had The Jackals logo on the left breast plate. Wrapping itself around his armor was a brown trench coat, the coat itself was once a fine piece of fabric, but now it was almost as run down as an old slave. The coat was severely burnt and carried multiple bullet holes and stains. Strapped to his right thigh was a DL-18, the words "Sunshine" could bee seen sketched into the handle. He wore two wrist mounted weapons, on his left wrist a M99 Rocket system and on his right a CZ Wrist-Mounted Flame Projector. A Red Raven Gauss Rifle equipped with an Augmented Shooting Tool, was strapped around Cadan's back via leather strap.

As he looked back he shouted out. "Jasper! What do you think you're doing back there!?"

Although Cadan hadn't left his position, he would be distracted by the sound and his attention diverted from the main entrance of the ship.

[member="Darth Veles"] [member="Allana S'hadar"] [member="Flannigan Mcnash"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

[member="Draco Vereen"] [member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Allana S'hadar"] [member="Orihime Ike"]

Metallic boots hit the ground, red eyes guards approved again. Seemingly 10-13 guards approached the pirates vessel, they held collars and chains.

"Hey, pirate man," yelled one of the guards in a deep radioed voice, "anymore for this shipment, we need to move them all to the barracks for final inspection and dust off."

The guards began to crowed around the pirates vessel, they kept their batons on hand and waited for a responce.

 

[Cadan Tazi]

Cadan swung round as he heard the man's voice. He took note of the group crowding around the ship.

Cadan's hand went to the hilt of his Dl-18. He knew that if he swung around his Gauss Rifle it would be a death sentence and he didn't need it right now.

"You will get the goods once I get a message from Cap'n." He stood his ground as the group stood holding their batons.

Cadan opened up a comm to Flanngian. yet his eyes continued to scan the group. "Cap'n, some boys here want the goods. Are they good to take it?" He awaited Flannigans response.

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"] [member="Allana S'hadar"] [member="Flannigan Mcnash"]

 

[Flannigan Mcnash]

"Yeah hand it over." he said to [member="Cadan Tazi"], over the open com, moving down the corridor and finally into the office of management. "Anyone here, don't waste my time if you ain't."

[member="Cadan Tazi"]
[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]

 

[Jaster Awaud]

Jaster was sitting at his bench overlooking the camp from his high perch. It wasn't his preferred posistion as most men of power where placed there. His contractors and men wished this, far away from the slaves, and yet able to keep an eye on any situration.

He turned to see the captian enter the office, interesting to see that the Hutts would send such a presegious member to do a drop off. Though Jaster and the captian did have a preciouse partnership in previous years, maybe there was a catch to his visit. Jaster returned to his view and spoke up so [member="Flannigan Mcnash"] could here him.

"Hello Mr. Flannigan, nice to see you partly alive and well," Jaster lifted his drink in the detection of the bar, "help yourself."

He still joked seeing that the cyborg could not drink such liquids, unless there was something Jaster overlooked.

 

[Flannigan Mcnash]

He instinctively reached out, the latch like digit's splayed apart to grab the bottle before retracting and looking back up to [member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"], there was a sharpness a way the light moved across them, maybe it was anger or just some odd figment of the light. "Myself being here has duel purpose, the former is transportation of the slaves, they sent their best so you'd know they want the best. The latter is we're interested in Kessel, we may try to make a bid for it in the future. You'd receive a mining permit of course, and once we've set up you might be interested in management, but that's the future."

He now moved up and down the room, tracking deformaties across the floor and rug with pointed nails, there was no tiresome or weakness to his movement. "And congratulation on your profits, where do you plan to go from here." He was pacing, force of habit.

[member="Jaster of Clan Awaud"]