Wanna Steal a Space Station?

[Spark Finn]

She stepped back, instinctively, straightening out the eavesdropper posture. The distancing could've been caution on a few levels. The dude hadn't washed his hands.

Slightly suspicious blue eyes met his cold ones.

"Vacation." He didn't need to know ALL the things. Arms crossed as she tried her most best, stern, serious posture. In an icky men's bathroom.

"What's going on Khal? And don't say vacation. I wasn't born yesterday, even though I might look like it." She straightened to her full, unassuming height and stared him down.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"] [member="Silara Kuhn"] [member="Catalys Maijora"] [member="William Kerkov"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spark Finn"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“No, I meant what are you doing [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]here?[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]” Khal would gesture around to indicate that they were in the [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]men[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]’s [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]bathroom and last time he checked… Spark was definitely not a member of that particular gender. He brushed past her, ignoring her twitchiness and washed his hands with that infuriating casualness that made it so hard to really dislike him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]While washing his hands and while the water cascaded away he would simply hum to himself, letting her question linger down between the two. A clear sign that he didn’t particularly think that he owed her any answers… [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]At least not while she had been clearly spying on him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“What does it look like I am doing?” Khal would finally say as he turned around, leaning against the table while the cloaker fitted itself neatly around his hands, giving them some protection. “Working a job, obviously.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A shrug.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“People hired me to steal a space station, [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]this[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] station to be specific.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Pointed look.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Ya joining me or gonna try and snitch?”[/SIZE]

 

[Spark Finn]

The blond sputtered as her personal bubble space was casually invaded with his brush-by. She ignored his first question. Khal was like an older brother. Someone who easily got under her skin but would also just as easily throw her to the nexus. Okay, so maybe not so brotherly after all.

This time, she let the silence linger between them, speckled-face flitting to the bathroom exit.

"No. I won't snitch." The slicer paused. "On two conditions. You try your darnedest to keep the people on this station safe. My priority will be to keep 'em safe. I want a cut and..." Curious eyes narrowed in his direction. "A look at that tech you have."

Of course the technopath could sense the his vong-tech. Duh.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spark Finn"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A smile.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“That’s [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]three [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]conditions.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Which wasn’t an immediate no, from which she would be able to derive that Khal wasn’t exactly against her three propositions. The Primeval’s forces had been equipped with Incapacitators, they would be able to pass through any shields and even lightsabers wouldn’t be able to block ‘em.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]All in the spirits of minimizing casualties. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]They probably wanted them alive anyway, can’t ransom a dead person.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And only the wealthy or those who worked here had a place on Libertalia, when it first had started out the rooms had been sold by the billions of credits. Which was why Khal knew that Spark wasn’t here on [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]vacation[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], he doubted she could afford such luxury.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“The cloaker will have to come after we are done, the cut will be minimal”- which didn’t say much, because he was being paid an astronomical amount of credits to get this thing done and done personally. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Few people were able to call on Walker’s favors personally these days.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“There is a rogue fleet that just popped up and is trying to [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]also[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] steal the station, don’t know about you, but I can’t vouch for their goodwill when it comes to saving lives. We will have to hack into the systems of the station and force it to attack the enemy fleet.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Scratch of the chin.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I can take out the guards and get you in, can you handle the rest?”[/SIZE]

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

He caught that did he? Good. Quietly, she reached out with the force zeroing in on the up-shot of techno-traffic. There was another fleet.

But that's all she could garner.

Of course, going along with all this, she had to trust this slick son-of-a-gun. Trust that he wouldn't back stab her in the end. 'Course, she may still be a lightweight but she was far from a push-over.

"Yeah I can handle it. Don't kill the guards."

When did she become so protective? She wondered if spending all that time with Coren on missions was rubbing off. If Khal went back on his word concerning the people of this station, she'd change gears but until then, her actions confirmed her all-in attitude.

In order for this massive station to keep running and not end up a bankrupt chunk o' rock, Khal and his mysterious employer needed the current residents. At least, that's what the slicer told herself.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spark Finn"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Wasn’t planning on it, Sparky.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Invisible motion made his face melt away once again, returning the face that had been described a few moments ago. A painful transition for Khal, because for some reason the Yuuzhan-Vong just loved to make everything as painful as possible, but sometimes you had to make sacrifices for the betterment of your purse and that of your family.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Then he gestured to her to follow him, in one fluid movement he raised up the fabric that would keep half of his face implausible to see and then he was out of the door. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Stride was full of purpose, quickened itself, but there was no running.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Running would only bring attention to yourself, and there was already enough attention with people wondering why there was a man with a scarf half over his face walking with cold blue eyes. They found it better for their health not to question it though.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]The guards [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]tried[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], but to their defense? They didn’t have a chance anyway.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Arms jerked as kinetic force appeared out of nowhere, one of the guards was slammed into the wall, the other against the ceiling. Both of them crumbling to the ground, alive but definitely unconscious and in for one mother of a headache when they would wake up.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Kinetic energy formed itself between his hands and Khaleel [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]pushed[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px] in the direction of the door.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Particles slammed into the door and the reinforced durasteel crumbled under the sudden weight, flying against the wall of the security room.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Let’s go, we only got a little.”[/SIZE]

 

[Spark Finn]

She tried to keep her face from twitching into a grimace as Khal batted the guards around. But her pale features full-on scowled as the door was busted down. "You know, I could've just opened it." She moused past the rogue.

Luckily for them both, the technicians weren't inside. Probably running their rounds elsewhere in the station or drunk or whatever...sliding her skinny butt into the chair at the main counsel, she wired in her datapad. He didn't need to know how much of this she'd be doing through the force and how much she'd be doing manually. No one did.

"Don't rush me when I'm working," she mumbled at Khal, already lost in her own world of data mining, feeling, and manipulating. Security codes were found and punched. Firewalls were bypassed. She was in. She had to trust he was watching their backs. She certainly wasn't in a state of mind to pick anything up.

After a few tense minutes she resurfaced. "Weapons are trained on the new fleet." She failed to mention she had also brought up the station's shields. "Fire?"

The question twisted her gut. Even if they were enemies, it would still be a loss of life. She didn't need those war flashbacks right now.





[member="Khaleel Malvern"] [member="Silara Kuhn"] [member="Catalys Maijora"] [member="William Kerkov"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Not yet, we might be able to resolve this peacefully still.” Khal would reply with a shake of the head, regardless of what Finn thought of him, he hadn’t come here to start a slaughter party. Instead he had just wanted to do something [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]extraordinary[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], something that would trump anything that had been done before in the Galaxy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And then he decided to settle on this game.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Warden, we are on standby here. You convince ‘em to pay for our inconvenience yet?” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khaleel leaned against the wall, worried that as the seconds trickled by… that they would have to contend with even more guards and problems. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][member="Spark Finn"] [member="Catalys Maijora"][/SIZE]

 

[Catalys Maijora]

The message was received and Catalys gave the orders to all the dropships. Out of the hangars flowed eight gu-42 dropships carrying 40 soldiers of the Golden Banner, a final--ninth--dropship left shortly following afterwards, carrying Catalys and twelve Gulandi Warriors. The ships made their way towards the station and only in a matter of minutes they finally landed, the squadrons of soldiers flooded inside and quickly maneuvered themselves to take hostage of the civilian life. Few tried to resist at first but there was a likelihood of a defensive being mounted inside the station.

The last droship, carrying Catalys, landed in a separate hangar. The ramp dropped and the Gulandi rushed out to secure the area, there was not a single soul in sight. If anyone was in the hangar they probably received notice of the small invasion and went into hiding. The agent walked down the ramp and took a deep breath, his eyes scanned the room as they adjusted to the light.

"I'm in." He sent word.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"] | [member="Spark Finn"] | [member="Silara Kuhn"] | [member="Maja Vern"]

 

[Ellie Mors]

It was a matter of irony that she was essentially to be considered a hostage in this situation, when in the grand scheme of things there was very little anyone could do to prevent the roles now presented from being reversed. It's a pity she didn't quite care what happened to this place. She'd invested a small sum in this entertainment center during its building, moved in on its grand opening. Hell, she even once was the rather unknown 'council member' that had once watched over the air space. Much of this during her life as a spy, a petty assassin of the Sith sort, under the tutelage of her first master, but those times had come to pass. She'd discovered the thing she'd felt reach out to her, a gift she'd never quite forget, and while the ground shook under her feet rather than prepare to engage the insurgents she did what she felt right.

Clothes fell, all but that myriad singlet and shorts that kept her thighs warm, and over her shoulders slid the gift. If there was a sense of darkness before, it was unmistakable now. She would allow those who invaded on her sanctity to come to her, or otherwise ignore her existence - she cared not. There was a second coming fast approaching, a new sort. Leaning over her bed, which was locked to the ground, she fetched her large sith blade. Let them come.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"], [member="Spark Finn"], [member="Catalys Maijora"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][member="Silara Kuhn"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]If Khal had known that a barely clothed woman with a big sword was waiting on him on a bed? He probably would have been walking in that direction right there and then, but as it stood they were on a station that was enormous. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]4,000m in every direction. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Which meant that Malvern had no idea about the buxom Sith Lady, sadly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][member="Catalys Maijora"] | [member="Spark Finn"][/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Moments passed and still no answer from the mercenary fleet that had popped up out of nowhere, which meant they were either preparing to leave the system or were preparing for an assault. Either way Khal wasn’t in the mood to start a slaughterhouse between his partners, the station and the unknown fleet, so when Cata boarded the ship?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Get us outta here, Agent. Station’s got hyperdrive capabilities, warm it up and use these coordinates.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Then he patched himself through to Catalys again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]We are prepping for a jump, Warden. Have your ships start prepping their engines[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px].”[/SIZE]

 

[Catalys Maijora]

A jump?

It didn't take the agent too long to realize that the Space Station had hyperdrive capabilities. Connecting with the main fleet, "Prep for hyperdrive... Coordinates following shortly." He punched in the coordinates via a datapad held by one of his assisting underlings before continuing onward.

As he passed through the halls he watched as civilians gave up and surrendered themselves, the Golden Banner soldiers rounded them up and began sending them to large open rooms where it would be easier to keep an eye on them and put down any potential counter-attacks. He kept walking, the rifle in one hand, "Ready to go." A message was sent to Walker. Catalys made his way through around the station and the Gulandi followed, due to the civilian nature of the station almost all of the security was automated... And because Walker's friend managed to tweak the friend-and-foe settings they were essentially in control of the entire place.

His path finally found its end, no he was still quite far from his partner. Instead the agent found himself outside of the 'high roller' suites, the place where the elite made themselves at home. So far none of the Golden Banners had found themselves this far, they were still too busy rounding up citizens to secure every room. Catalys gestured to the Gulandi to follow his change in direction, the pace of the agent's footsteps were cautious and intricate, he made no mistake in how his feet moved and placed the right amount of pressure into each step as he approached the doors, gun drawn. The first door slid open... Empty.

The second door he neared, well, he didn't know that a Sith Lord would be inside. Who would've ever expected the company of a Sith Lord? The Gulandi approached with him and the door slid open. The Host Lord's enforcer revealed himself to the one who waited inside, well to say the least... Whatever actions would come next he would not--could not--anticipate.

[member="Silara Kuhn"] | [member="Khaleel Malvern"] | [member="Spark Finn"]

 

[Spark Finn]

The frown on her pale features deepened as she saw the security feeds. Mercs were rounding people up like nerfs in pens. And these were the people Khal worked for? Attention shifted as she felt the hyperdrive of the station warm up for a jump through her mental connection with the station itself.

Her force connection and datapad were doing a job made for a teamwork of people and she was starting to get a headache. The severe kind that would end in a blackout. She had only seconds.

"Khal, what's going to happen to the people on this station?"

The technopath swiveled in her chair, the pounding growing in her head like a dancing hutt. She had only seconds. But in those seconds, she had the potential to turn the station against them all.





[member="Khaleel Malvern"] [member="Silara Kuhn"] [member="Catalys Maijora"] [member="William Kerkov"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spark Finn"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khal blinked at the question, what was she eve-[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Oh no, she did not just![/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]He set his jaw against that particular thought.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I saved your ass back in hell, yours and Qun’s.” Khal would say with indignancy in the voice. “I would think that would [/SIZE]at least give me the benefit of the doubt, Finn.”

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Rub of the jaw, before gritting his teeth.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“The rich will be ransomed, those who cannot afford it will be let go. You think I would have accepted any other assignment?” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Apparently so[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]. [/SIZE]

 

[Spark Finn]

She scrutinized him for one pounding second longer. The blond slicer had trust issues and rightly so. The name Qun brought a pang of rare emotion to her face.

"Okay," she said simply and swiveled the chair back round to the readout screens. The moment of tension, suddenly gone, she took the scoundrel at his word. She didn't answer his question. She couldn't afford to. The last thing she remembered of Khal was a wild man left in hell.

Unless stopped by outside forces, the station would make its jump, now at primed capacity.

Black spots began to dance in front of her eyes. Gritting white teeth, she managed to keep her chin from dropping. Just a second more. Just one more and she could release her hold on the external weapons.




[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And then energy started to be drawn into her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Khaleel Malvern was a lot of things, but esoteric-inclined was most definitely not one of them. The Force was a tool, a way to handle and execute things that could not be done with any other means, this had been his philosophy for a long while.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]But things change, don’t they?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]And they had.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Nobody really knew what had happened with Khal after he had returned from hell, clawed his way out of it at the end of the Netherworld crisis. He didn’t talk about it and people never tried to press him, some things were better left unsaid they probably thought. But things had been learned there, a whole new plane had been opened to him, his eyes… saw things.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Adding his strength to hers was a trivial matter now, when once it would have been impossible. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“I gotcha.” the Underlord would say between gritted teeth, feeling the exertion of his own energy being ripped out and fueled to hers, making it easier for her to take the burden. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Two moments passed… and the Libertalia suddenly vanished, jumped to hyperspace.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px][member="Spark Finn"] | [member="Silara Kuhn"] | [member="Catalys Maijora"] | [member="William Kerkov"] [/SIZE]​

 

[Spark Finn]

With those words of reassurance came the action to back them up. Although she had never borrowed power from anyone through the force before, she intrinsically knew what to do. Like a battery finding a new charge, she soaked it all in. The black spots faded. The pounding in her head lessened.

They made the jump.

She unwound herself from the station's system very cautiously. The last thing they needed was a sudden lurch into real-space ending up in the middle of a planet or black hole. Diverting some major areas back to normal procedures and leaving the minor stuff alone, her mind made it out.

"Thank you," voice was quiet and a little raw. Even with Khal's strength with her own it was a doozy at the end. Gangly-form slumped down in the swivel chair, blond-haired head resting against the back. Too tired to look at the coordinates, she asked the obvious question. "Where are we going?"




[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Spark Finn"] [member="Catalys Maijora"]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Don’t worry about it.” Khal mumbled, while looking keenly at the map. The deal with his partners had been done carefully as to avoid any needless [/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px]annoyances[/SIZE][SIZE=10.6666666666667px], because it was turning out to be quite the lucrative venture and who would want to put that in any harm’s way?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]A few ticks on the screen and the engine was powering up again, moving to its next destination. The Black Fleet had just arrived at the Deep Space coordinates that they were now leaving, they would stay behind as a vanguard - if anyone was trying to follow them? They would first have to deal with those ships, before they could follow further.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“This was just a go-between, Spark. We are going to drop in and out of hyperspace on a few more coordinates, before arriving at our final destination. Deep Space Facility, refitting and recycling station mostly.”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]Scratch of the chin.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.6666666666667px]“Neutral grounds, so we can start ransoming the rich and start putting the others on transports away without having to worry about curious folks when it comes to the station.”[/SIZE]

 

[Ellie Mors]

The door opened, a man entered the Sith Lord's view, her hooded face illuminated by the violet color of her cybernetic eyes. The grip of her well-disguised mechanical hand on the hard-leather grip of her sword tightened as she sized up the intruder, Darth Bane's cloak now covering her rather completely. "Who are you?" Came her telepathic nudge, not bothering to waste her breath on someone she assumed could just as easily be dispatched by a single push through the force. She saw no need to instigate a fight here, now, unless he was planning to rifle through her belongings or delude himself to believe he could possibly keep her hostage. Perhaps it put her at a disadvantage, from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with the woman, or force users in general, but providing the man an out was better than needlessly slaughtering someone she had no reason to kill. As far as she was aware, he was simply lost or confused - perhaps both - and neither would warrant a retaliation from the Sith unless his weapon was pointed at her. "This is a private room, you have no right to trespass here." She added, the sound of her soft rasp still carried by the use of telepathy.

She felt a jolt, a warning through the force, as the station lurched into hyperspace but did not budge, rooted into place with her piercing gaze directed entirely at [member="Catalys Maijora"]. As far as she could tell, based on what the force was telling her subtly, was that the super massive station - or at least herself - was in danger by whatever had boarded it, and that feeling combined with the knowledge that the ship was no longer in its remote location in space told her that the man was either a member of the security force or one who had boarded the ship, and she was leaning more towards the latter as she examined his clothing and appearance. Perhaps the man had hoped that he'd stumble upon some half-naked rich woman or vulnerable young woman locked in her room, unfortunately for him he'd found the living quarters of a woman in her fifties, cloaked in the robe of the Sith lord that held the highest honor among Sith, albeit with an appearance that was nearly identical to how she had appeared in her mid-thirties trading red hair for silver, the only portion of her age that she allowed to show through the alteration of her appearance.

[member="Khaleel Malvern"], [member="Spark Finn"], [member="Catalys Maijora"]

 

[Catalys Maijora]

Telepathy was not a foreign concept to the agent, he remembered a young Jedi used the ability to communicate with him many years ago. Catalys' rise to prominence amongst the agents was due to his ability in dealing with force-users, but he lacked surprise -- the asset that allowed him to capture three Jedi in his prime. Now he was little more than a glorified enforcer, the man who got the job done no matter what and never asked questions. Truth-be-told he had no reason to deal with her, not violently anyway, but now that he was clear she was more powerful than expected from first glance he'd have to do something...

One hand went up to remove the helmet that masked his face, the soft lights shimmered along his silver armour. "I am no one, but you may call me Catalys, it is what my associates know me as." The helmet was pulled off his had completely, revealing the pale face of an Umbaran male.

"I hadn't known there would be any Jedi aboard, of course -- you don't look much like a Jedi." His little quip was referring to her inquisitive nature, not that he had experience with many force-users outside of the Jedi but they were the ones most accustomed to asking questions first. Especially in such a way but that wasn't to suggest that Sith, Dark Jedi, or anyone else for that matter didn't show courtesy.

[member="Silara Kuhn"] | [member="Khaleel Malvern"] | [member="Spark Finn"]