Wake Up

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

“On it!” Kira told Soliael, hopping over the door to land softly on the ground. There was a crunch of grass and sand, as this was just a little section off the mangroves off the beach.

“Come on Cee Two Ten,” she told the protocol droid. Opening the door, she gave a half grunt as the droid seemed to wag its arms helplessly as it attempted to exit out of the speeder.

“A bit of klutzy things.” she said aloud, which was the pot calling the kettle black there. Another chuckle and after a hefty lift and a tug, the protocol droid made it to its feet.

“There we go.” she shut the door behind her. Under the glow of the starlight, C210 seemed to glow.

“Well, he’ll be picked up rather quickly.” ‘ she mused with a wry tone. “How are the droids?”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"They're..." Soliael gave Kira an odd look. "Droids."

He wasn't sure exactly what she was asking, or why she was asking it, the question seemed an odd one.

A shrug pulled over his shoulders, and then with a wave of his hand the two reconnaissance droids went sliding forwards. They odd whirring noise that emitted from them before seemed to be silenced, the repulsor generators that had been making the noise being somewhat directional in nature. if the probes stopped moving it would mean the sound would become more focused, but as long as they kept in constant motion there wouldn't be much of an issue.

The droids weren't really designed for stealth, just getting a look. "Shouldn't take long."

Soliael told Kira as he leaned back against the speeder, his eyes closed.

While the force didn't allow him to directly view what the probes saw through the cameras, it did allow him to extend his own senses through them. It was an odd technique, but it would allow Soliael to get a near perfect impression of everything within the camp, something far better then a simple camera.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira caught he baffled expression her husband gave her. It took her a second before she realized what had prompted his confusion.

"I meant if you needed anything and if they were ready." Of course they were, the man was a whiz when it came to technopathy. It just went to show that Kira wanted to see if there was any other way she could help.

Taking her satchel, the Lorrdian slipped her arms through the straps and tugged it on her back. Her tiny figure ambled over to the towering former false god, where she came to a stop. Bright turquoise eyes followed the drones until they disappeared.

"Here's to hoping pirates arn't that watchful at night." she said, giving a huff of hot air as she blew her bangs out of the way.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He shrugged, his eyes still closed as he focused on the droids. "Pirates are never watchful."

That was of course, wrong.

Soliael however had never really encountered watchful pirates, but that didn't mean they didn't exist. There were the Blazing Claws, the White Maws, The Sons, they were all famous to some regard, though none were really all that well known anymore. The Sons were really the only ones that Soliael had truly heard of having military discipline, and that was due to their status as former military. He frowned for a moment, shifting slightly as the droids entered the clearing.

"There's twenty two of them." Soliael said simply. "Outside the cave."

That was an important clarification.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Twenty- two? Outside the cave as it is?! Kira gave a grimace.

"Well that is going to put a damper on trying to sneak in." she mused aloud, biting her lower lip. A deep breath rose in her chest, cool salty air filling her lungs.

"... and we don't know how many are inside of it." she added, her fingers nervously tapping a beat along her hip.

"Are you able to get one of the drones inside the cave without looking?" she asked. Kira felt restless, and wished she could have been far more helpful than just standing her waiting for feedback.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael shrugged. That was really more of a game of chance then anything else. The drones were silent enough, when moving anyway, but it was tough to get all those people, especially since some of them were Aliens with a more...nocturnal nature. He could try, though, that wouldn't hurt all that much.

The drones shot forward, hovering quickly through the outskirts of the clearing and cutting a path through what seemed like the safest zones. They moved quickly bypassing two of the guards and remaining unnoticed for what seemed like most of the journey. A few of the pirates turned their heads, either noticing a slight whistling sound or simply alerted by something moving in their peripheral vision. They shifted slightly in their seats or turned to look after the drone, each time however they just barely missed what had been floating by.

Eventually, one of the drones passed into the cave.

The space was surprisingly large, more of a cavern really. What was inside surprised Soliael more then anything else. "They have a ship."

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

A few meteorites went streaking across the sky, brief flashes of white barely visible to the eye. Unfortunate that their display would be missed by the two waiting just outside the pirate base. A small gust of wind swept over them, sending the ferns and leaves from the palmtrees swaying.

Kira’s blonde hair gently caressed her cheek, the wayward strands falling from her messy ponytail tucked quickly behind her ears. Ears that perked when Soliael mentioned a ship.

“What kind?” she asked eagerly, bouncing on her toes. What Soliael would find is that it wasn’t just a large cavern, it was a series of caverns that led deep into what would be the water table. The area had signs of wear and tear; it wasn’t an impromptu base of operations. This has been used for decades, maybe more.

There were stacks of weapons and crates, at least another dozen or more inside. A few guards stood at specific points. Some of the crates had labels that were from various starports within the outerim. Could they have been stolen?

Very possibly.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Nothing huge." He doubted it was their main vessel, it was far too small for that. "Gunship, I think."

Telling the class of ship was rather difficult, mostly because the probes weren't close enough for that and getting them that close would have meant discovery. He frowned slightly as he tried to reason out a few things, though he noticed that there weren't any more pirates within the cave. He wondered for a moment, a forward outpost maybe? A storage facility? Staging grounds for something bigger? The former false god thought that the last was the most likely.

"I think this is a pit stop." Soliael told Kira.

"There's only a handful more in the caves." That he could sense anyway. "Most seem to be outside. I think they're waiting for something."

That would make sense, especially since he'd never heard of or seen these pirates before, or rather, their symbol. Perhaps they were headed for the Rishi Maze. That would make sense given their supplies and their lack of a greater ship. They were going to meet the rest of their crew then use the gunship to link up.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

“A pit stop?” Well that made sense. Kira tapped her fingers along her thigh.

“I’d imagine if they were waiting on something, like a delivery -- it would mean that it would happen at night.”

A pause.

“Anything you can see about their cargo?” Funny how Soliael and Kira would go from one end of the ‘verse to the next to go trapezing within a cavern system again. The last time they were in such a situation it was back on Exocron. Small favors that this time around, it wasn’t on frozen tundra and with freezing cold weather.

Whatever the plan was once they had enough reconnaissance, they would have to move fast. The pirates weren’t the only shadows that both Sol and Kira had to be wary of. There were Kowakian Monkey-Lizards, Skar’klas, Tonitrans and such.

Back in the cavern, one of the more interesting matter was the ore that seemed to be stacked at the far end of one of the caverns. It glittered a dark blue, with seemingly aquamarine streaks. Soliael and Kira would not know the name, but this was Exonium.

This was a fossil fuel. In its solid state, exonium coals are easy to ignite and burn for a long time at a high, stable temperature. In fact, the Rishii have long used exonium to keep warm and render fish fat. Its real value, however, comes from refinement. These pirates have found that refined exonium not only made a suitable fuel for propulsion systems but also acted as an effective reactant fuel for their hypermatter drives.

Beyond that, there were other crates. Larger ones. These had a few pirates scanning their contents. It was the technology bit that they had been concerned about earlier.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"No." Soliael answered. "It's all in crates."

There wasn't anything scattered, nothing thrown about, there weren't even any beds. That as much confirmed his theory, at least in his mind. This wasn't an outpost, it wasn't a base, it was a waystation. He suspected that when members of the group required sleep they would simply find a place within the ship or the outside, not in the 'base'. He frowned slightly, shaking his head and mulling for a moment as he tried to consider exactly where they could want to go.

"Maybe they're headed into the Rishi Maze." He pitched the idea to his wife.

It made sense to him in a way. Pirates had never really had a presence in the galaxy, at least over the last few decades. They had mostly been squashed by a number of factors, The Gulag Plague, Governments, internal squabbles. Everyone was too well established now for the Pirates to really be capable of doing anything, perhaps they saw that and intended to move some place where they could establish themselves and gain some true power.

The Rishi Maze offered that.

It would explain the military gear too.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"So... exploratory pirates?" that sounded a bit... well ordinary. For a moment, her shoulders kinda drooped. She had been so hoping for a new adventure. Maybe helping save a few people, try and bring to justice a few pirates and perhaps live back the times when she was a Jedi Investigator out in the field.

"Oh." On one hand, at least this meant that there wasn't anything too dangerous. If they were pirates attempting to set themselves up in the Rishi Maze, well, that didn't seem dangerous at all. At least well, at levels that would deliberately put people in danger on a grand scale. On the other, well, it seemed as if perhaps their little investigation may very well be cut short.

"So nothing dangerous in the crates?" at least from what could be seen. Further investigation would likely answer that. However, it seemed as if this was the moment that could very well be an easy out for the former false god. If he said that there didn't seem to be anything dangerous, Kira would take it as his word. If he said he wasn't sure, odds were, Kira would want to investigate further.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"I doubt they're interested in exploring." Soliael said simply. "Probably more along the lines of conquest."

That made much more sense in the long run. Why would pirates care about exploring?

It was far more likely that they had already sent scouting parties ahead into the Maze to find planets that were inhabited, planets that could be quickly taken over and used as basis and forward operation positions. It was what Soliael would do. He frowned for a moment then turned to his wife, opening his eyes. "I didn't say there wasn't anything dangerous in the crates, I just said everything was in the crates."

Soliael wasn't about to take any chances.

He didn't want Kira running in their all invisible, touching one of the crates, then revealing a swarm of bog swamps that would eat her alive.

That would put a damper on the trip real fast.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Well it was a hope.

"Oh," well that brought the pendulum back to potential investigation. Kira took a deep breath. "Any one of the crates open? Or labels?" granted, chances were that the labels did not match the contents inside. That was the whole point of the matter. Seeing what was inside.

"Or do you think we'll have to send out Cee-Two -Ten?" this was all going by what reconnaissance Sol was able to pick up from the drones. As the drones would flutter forward, their little buzzing barely noticeable by the guards, there were two crates that were indeed open. Luck would have it that this time around, the technology that lay there didn't seem to be dangerous. At least, for Soliael.

They were ion weapons, military grade level for ships. There were also grenades, but the specific kind was hard to determine.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He frowned slightly, trying to concentrate. The technique he was using didn't exactly require a lot of thought, but it did require quite a bit of connection. That connection wasn't infinite, and the farther the drones got away from him and the further they traveled into the cave...well it was difficult to maintain the link with them.

"Weapons." He said suddenly. "Can't really tell what."

There was difficulty for a moment. "I can't...no. It's something big though."

He was simply too far away.

The drones, although handy, had really exhausted their use. Soliael could only sense so far, and he doubted that the camera images they would receive back would be any clearer at this point. The only real option that they had left was to go inside.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Then that meant they would have to go in.

"Just as I thought," Kira murmured. One could already feel Soliael resigning himself to the task; not that he hadn't already. He didn't require a ring to know that his wife would want to sweep that cavern for anything dangerous now more than ever. That was not only the Jedi in her, but her intrinsic desire to do the right thing.

This vacation was certainly beginning with a curious start.

"Okay. Do you think you can get a final fix on how many pirates are in there?" Once they got an idea, she would be able to slip in. Maybe even use the force to knock out a few of them. Soliael had his means as well. Both of them, working together, were honestly rather unstoppable.

Until Kira managed to trip over something.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"Twenty...nine." Soliael said confidently.

At the very least he knew that number was correct.

Sensing life forms had always been rather easy for him, especially if those life forms were wearing armor and weren't exactly trying to hide themselves. The Pirates in their little outpost were confident in their positions, more importantly they were confident that no one was watching them. He had assessed that much from the way that they acted, and the way that they carried themselves through the clearing and everything else. They didn't expect anyone to stumble upon them.

"You go first." He poked Kira's side. "You're sneakier than me."

For all his power and training Soliael had never really focused much on the aspects of stealth.

Perhaps it was because his powers lay elsewhere, or perhaps it was simply because he assumed that his strengths were overwhelming enough that he didn't need to study stealth. Either way, it all lead back to his ego.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Twenty-nine.

Well that was more than a handful, she mused, only to give a slight start when his finger poked at her side. Leave it to Sol to be silly - and for Kira to return the poke.

“I can slip in first.” Kira by far was the most stealthy -- if one didn’t consider the fact that her husband could literally transport them into the cave and then back out if he so wished. Actually, now that I think about it…

“Did you want to blink us in once we set Cee-Two loose?” That was actually the safest route they could take. With Sol having reconned the area, he would know where would be the most advantageous and safest area to transport into.

“Less of a chance of anyone catching us if we do that instead of trying to sneak in.”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He shook his head. There was a risk in simply blinking in like that. He could move through space pretty effectively, in fact, he could do it so effectively that transporting half-way across the galaxy was no issue. The issue here however was sound. When he warped reality there generality tended to be some...associated noise. The sound was rather indescribable, a small pop mixed with a hiss of something. it was the sound of reality itself sort of...warping.

Either way it would give them away here.

"Too much noise." He whispered to Kira, smiling slightly. "Why? Afraid I'll be better at sneaking then you?"

That idea was a bit preposterous, but that didn't mean he couldn't tease her.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

A snort and then a subsequent poke to Soliael's rib told him exactly what Kira thought of that claim. Her bangs fluttered with the puff of hot air she blew out, and a cheeky grin would flash in the night.

"Please," her low voice told him that wasn't no worry of hers. "You can't sneak your way past the kids rooms without Kharyi finding out." Maleah had a keen ability of being able to pick up on her father's movements. Likely it had to do with her Garhan traits, gifts that managed to develop more in the young woman than in the rest of her siblings.

"Bet you I can get in first before you can." the toss of a wager was done to make this a little bit more entertaining. A crock of her finger beckoned the Talith to follow her over to C2-10. Time to prepare.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He could have won that wager in an instant...but was it worth it?

The noise would likely announce their presence quite quickly, especially if any of the guards were of a species that had better than averaging hearing. He frowned for a moment and weighed his options, trying to think of what could happen. Sometimes he wished that he could see the future, but even with that he doubted that the force would show him the outcome of just a petty bet...then again one could dream. He mulled for a moment more then slowly nodded.

"You're on." He nodded again, more to himself this time.

"Ladies first." Soliael said as he waved his arm, Kira already on the move. He followed after her quickly, a slight spring in his step.

This would be new to him, moving with stealth instead of his eradicating his opponent.