"We just arrived on a transport and we are obviously near-do-wells, I would be surprised if no one paid attention to us."
Coruscant - the Undercity -
As the two of you (and Phedra's Droid) begin the walk to the Outlander, the Trandoshans begin to follow without trying to make it too obvious they are following you.
Sighing, Cardis motions Biggs to take a few steps away and answers the comm. "My lord, we have learned that our Intelligence failed to locate Poppara - he is actually on Nar Shaddaa, not Toydaria. We treated with one of his sons, Zonnos, to assassinate the other, Miko, in exchange for the data. Miko was trapped in the cluster. However, we have discovered that Zonnos lied to us about having the data, and another group retrieved Miko in the meantime. We were preparing an alternate plan to acquire the information."
So...shall we run, or shall we gun?" Rylla asks her new companion.
"I don't gun, but I don't think running is going to help here either."
With that admission, Phedra drops off 2b's shoulder and begins rolling at high speed towards the Trandoshans.
Huh, didn't think of her as a proactive type, Rylla thinks as she places both hands on her hidden blasters, her main large gun still hidden away.
Coruscant - the Undercity -
The Trandoshans pause for a moment and reach for their weapons!
Toydaria Space Station -
"How unfortunate...
No matter, Darth Wyyrlock wishes you to attend to him on Coruscant to make a full accounting of what has transpired.
There is news that you must be informed of in person. Make haste".
"Understood." Cardis replies, a feeling of doom in his stomach. Somehow he suspected that a few dead Jedi would fail to make up for their failure in this mission. Someone would have to pay - perhaps Biggs could be offered as a sacrifice. After all, he was the one who'd said he could show them where to go, and that had delayed them. He liked the man, but if it came to his life or Biggs's, he knew which he would choose.
Turning to the others, he says, "We are traveling to Coruscant immediately. There are those we must speak to. Let's go." Cardis walks towards their ship, not looking back.
Coruscant - the Undercity -
The Trandoshans call out blasters out but still pointed at the ground,
Toydaria Space Station -
Biggs eyes light up, "Coruscant?! S*## yeah I want to go. Maybe when we get there you can tell me who we're really working for and whether there's a we at all..."
Praxis just snorts in response.
---
Coruscant - the Senate Building
Your trip to Curuscant was fast and nerve wracking for all but Biggs who has no idea what is in store for him.
You find yourselves escorted from the landing pad to the Senate building where the offices of Darth Wyyrlock arte located by a half battalion of Stormtroopers. Now Biggs begins to sweat, his request for an answer from any of you of course falls on deaf ears.
Wyyrlock is seated in his chair with the back of it facing your group.
"I have been informed of your lack of success. Debrief me Cardis Rin".
Biggs turns to you Cardis but seems wise enough to not say a damn word.
Coruscant - the Undercity -
"Wait!" Rylla calls out to Phedra.
She still has her armaments drawn, but she continues the dialogue with a sense of cooperation.
"Talk? Go on then, start talking."
"We arrived in the Toydaria system and docked with Poppara's space station. Once we arrived, we learned that our Intellignce apparatus had not actually located Poppara - he was not there, but his son, Zonnos, was. Zonnos offered us a mission to locate and kill his brother, Miko, on Endregaard, in the Indexu Spiral, in exchange for the information pertaining to safe passage through the Spiral. The planet itself was under quarantine by the Corporate Sector Authority due to a virus, but Zonnos had a vaccine that would protect us from its effects. We agreed, and were provided a route to the planet Endregaard through the Spiral.
"Once we arrived, we were able to easily infiltrate the blockade and land on the planet. We were quickly able to determine that there were others who had arrived, as we located another ship. We sabotaged it by splicing a thermal detonator into the engine startup circuits, causing the detonator to explode the reactor upon ignition. We later learned that the ship had several Jedi aboard - after the explosion. We explored an abandoned settlement and found that a ground transport had been taken, and headed towards the capital city. We decided to split up - I took the Bloodfin into the capital city, and the others took the ship to investigate the mining towns as we sought Miko.
"Upon arriving in town, I was able to find a place Miko had held court in. It was abandoned, but the message "Fallen Warrior" was written on a wall. This turned out to be a cantina in the city, which I traveled to. I entered the cantina and pretended to be stranded on the planet, same as all the others who were in there. I encountered Biggs, here, who said he knew a representative of Miko's who was in the cantina and could put me in touch with him. Unfortunately, that representative had left. Due to the prevalence of gangs in the area, Biggs discouraged me from seeking him out took me to a safe house while I coordinated with Noss, Taras, and Praxis to meet me at the cantina the next day. That day, we arrived at the cantina and made contact with a Nikto who worked for Miko. He was going to be able to take us to Miko, but Miko was not located in the city - we would have to take a transport to get there. Rather than reveal the ship to the Nikto, we stole a CSA speeder and Biggs killed the swoop gang that was harrassing the driver - after he gave us the cure for Praxis, who had become infected with the plague.
"We then journeyed to the location where Miko was, only to find that another group had already rescued him. Attempting to locate him, we returned to the place he'd held court, only to find it crawling with CSA agents. We then went to see if he was in the CSA administrative building, where we met two civilians who revealed information to us about the CSA patrols, as well as a ship that had blasted off-planet. I was able to get their outbound vector. We checked the wreckage of the Jedi ship to see if the Hutt had died there, but rather than pursue a course through an unknown path, took our route back to Toydaria in the hopes they would emerge there. They did not, however. Poppara was on Nar Shaddaa, not Toydaria, and Miko was returned there. After our arrival, we also learned that Zonnos likely did not have the full route through the Indexu Spiral."
His report finished, Cardis awaited Darth Wyyrlock's response, and left room for the others to chime in. He did hope Biggs stayed silent - surely he had brains enough for that.
Coruscant - the Undercity -
Coruscant - the Senate Building
Darth Wyyrlock remains quiet for a few moments allowing others to speak if they wish to, as his gaze passes over Biggs, he turns white as a sheet but remains quiet.
Wyyrlock sighs, "You're first failure. A significant disappointment. The one variable that has changed in all of this is the fact that this mission did not contain Siar but another."
He stands and a streak of Force Lightning slams into Praxis. He fires the lightning at him again and then once more until the Togruta is a charred smoking mess.
"Now that you have seen the price of failure I am sure that you will never fail me again.
I have unfortunate news, Siar was murdered. Her killers are being tracked down by new agents of mine as we speak. Do you require rest or can I send you to them as back up now?"
Biggs remains calm but his jaw is clenched so hard through Praxis' execution you are sure he cracked some teeth.
Back at the station, Noss glares a farewell at the wookies and thier boss, and stalks back to the ship for the journey to Coruscant.
He broods the whole way back, going over the group's failure in his mind, finally determining that their decisions were sound...but still resulted in a painful defeat.
Finally, facing their Dark Lord, Noss nods as Cardis relates the details of their failure.
When Darth Wyyrlock destroys Praxis, Noss watches calmly, accepting his fate should his Lord turn his power upon himself.
He kneels and declares, "Rest is not needed, my Lord. Your will is our will."
Phedra waits patiently for the Dosh speakers to finish their conversation. Really wishing she had programmed 2B with a suite of languages.
Kneeling, Cardis says, "Noss is correct. We do not need rest, and shall depart at once."
Coruscant - the Senate Building
Darth Wyyrlock smiles pleased by the response, "In the Undercity there is a house of sin known as "the Outlander". Nearby, is a terminal we believe was used to slice into our communications systems and send a coded message to Siar while on assignment already. That was the reason why she was reassigned.
Whoever this slicer was, it is likely they are the reason for your failure after all, with Siar when did you ever fail me before?
The two operatives I sent are a Human female named Rylla Cyn and a Lurmen female named Phedra. They left on a transport perhaps twenty minutes ago.
Do not approach them when you arrive at this club. I wish to see how they proceed to handle this problem. If they run into trouble though, feel free to step in.
Take private transport, I do not wish our presence to be detected using Imperial resources as it may keep our quarry away".
"They're asking for a Cade." Rylla informs her current partner.
"Understood, my lord. We shall go at once." Bowing, Cardis turns to leave the office, catching Biggs's eye so he knows to do the same.
Once they are out of the office, on their way to the transports, Cardis says to Biggs, "You have two choices. Choice one, you stay with us and aid us in our missions going forward until you are either dead or released by Darth Wyyrlock. Choice two, you die now. The decision is yours."
Coruscant - the Undercity -
Neither Rylla nor Phedra know of any "Cade". The Trandoshans appear disappointed but leave you alone thereafter. Perhaps this Cade is a nice side bounty?
Rylla turns to Phedra, "You take point on this, I'll cover you. No doubt this operative will be less inclined to approach with the array of weapons I have on hand. Not to worry, I'll always have my scopes on you".
Coruscant - the Senate Building
Biggs nods, "I'll go with option A, what's the plan boss?"
"Good choice. The plan is that we take an unmarked transport to the club - I know exactly where it is, so we can get there easily. Once we've arrived, we locate Rylla and Phedra, then carefully observe them. Should things get violent, we back them up. Otherwise, we see how they handle it."
"Well well well, found a problem your blaster can not fix aye. Imagine that." Phaedra begins to whistle as she rolls in to the club, quickly moving to find a terminal from which she can make a simple statement. I know who you are, and I want to meet.
Coruscant - the Undercity -
Rylla shakes her head at you and disappears into the shadows ready to do whatever it is she does best you assume.
Phedra enters the "Outlander" and drops her message, as you begin to move about curious to see who will respond to your message the bar keep points to your droid, "Your droids... they'll have to wait outside. We don't want them here!"
Coruscant - the Undercity -
Biggs shrugs, "I'm known for making good choices".
The group finds a nondescript transport and soon enough arrives in the Undercity. As they approach the "Outlander" all is quiet, abnormally quiet in this location, perhaps it is the time of day, late afternoon and the action has yet to pick up.
Noss
Taras
A few beings loiter around outside smoking death sticks but you do not see those who you are supposed to "back up".
The abnormal quiet, puts Cardis on edge, and he whispers to the others, "Keep a close eye out - something may be happening." Assuming those they had come to back up were in the cantina, Cardis leads the group to the entrance. Upon walking in, he scans the crowd, trying to find either of them.
"Droid, singular, do try not to mangle the language. 2b, please wait outside with the hired gun, shoot anyone who gives you any trouble."
Phedra waits for her quarry, wondering if she shouldn't just have 2b shoot everyone in here while waiting.
Rylla raises an eyebrow as the droid ambles back outside.
Does she even stand a chance without her mechanical assistant?
Still, she remains on standby, hoping the small one could do her thing without the required use of Rylla's "problem solvers".
Not 2b ambled out into the crowd and a crossed to where Rylla had posted up. Without saying a word, the droid takes up a position about 6m to the side of the soldier in case it became necessary to open fire on anyone who came out of the "club".
Noss arches an eyebrow at Cardis' observation, "But, something is always happening."
Chuckling at his own joke, Noss crosses into the cantina, fully aware and ready...for something.
Coruscant - the Undercity -
Taras lingers outside as Cardis and Noss head in. Biggs is at their flank. Pushing past you all is a droid, a significantly modified one.
Cardis spots one of the contacts, the Lurmen, she lingers by a holonet terminal on the right side of the cantina.
Coruscant - the Undercity -
As Rylla watches the Droid take a position outside on the street level below where she is positioned, she notices a set of men heading in. They were in a group of four, the fourth stands outside rather nonchalant. Despite his attempt at being "nonchalant" Rylla can tell the man is scoping the place for someone.
---
Phedra grimaces and while still considering whether Not 2B should just mow through these breathers, a set of men walk in who look out of place. Well, two of the three look out of place. They are just a bit too well dressed and too at ease in a place as dangerous as this, as if there's no way anyone here could even touch them.
Noting the presence of the Lurmen, Cardis motions Noss and Biggs to an empty booth and flags down a serving droid. "The lurmen is here, but I don't see the human. She may be outside. Let's wait and see what happens."
Cardis will order a Corellian Ale and surreptitiously watch Phedra out of the corner of his eye.
Rylla, glances at the droid. It could probably handle guarding the entrance while she did some info gathering.
"I can tell a man on a mission when I see one." Her voice is relaxed and her approach is angled to be non-threatening.
"I'm manhunting as well. Care to share, make both our lives easier?"
Coruscant - the Undercity - Outside -
The man turns to you and grins, "I'm on more of a woman hunt. Nice job hiding by the way, you just climb down from the roof or something? No way I didn't spot you otherwise.
So, what are you hunting or who?"
---
Could have sworn there would only be one... hope Rylla is ready for a fight if these are our target. Phedra rolls up and speeds around a bit of the crowd, attempting to lose the gaze of the new people if she had gained their attention.
Noss walks into the cantina with a feral grin on his face....this was his kind of place. You could smell the...fear, the thinly veiled violence just lurking under the skin of everyone there.
He saunters over and flops into a chair opposite Cardis, waving away the waitress when offered a libation.
He scans the room, back and forth...
Cardis frowned as the Lurmen rolled up into a ball and disappeared from his line of sight. The little thing was good at hiding. Shrugging, figuring Taras would let them know if the thing left, orders a mug of lum and sets about studying the denizens of the cantina, looking for any known threats - or anyone who was paying too much attention to them.
Rylla shrugged.
"Crowds are like foliage if you know how to use them. As for specifics of targets, we're moving a bit fast there. How about for starters, we divulge assets currently in play, so one itchy trigger finger doesn't cause unnecessary losses on either side, hm?"
One rather bored droid continues to hold his fire as Till a talks to the newcomer. He has not been given any "trouble" per the mistress's command.
Has to be the well dressed one, wild animal over their probably can't use a terminal with a droid assisting and the other one looks a bit slow. Maybe if I get more info.
Phedra finds an out of the way terminal alcove and attempts to slice into any wireless equipment she can find.
The datapad though is interesting. These people are here for you, as back up.
Coruscant - the Undercity - Inside -
Biggs orders a drink and plays it cool, considering what he escaped and accidentally wandered into here, he's a damn cool customer.
As Cardis scans the room, he sees a human female head to the same holonet terminal that the Lurmen used. By her scan of the terminal, it's pretty clear she's looking for someone and not looking to use the terminal. Well clear to Cardis anyhow as this one is at lest a semi-pro at what she is attempting to do.
She then takes a seat at the bar and looks around.
Biggs turns to Noss, "So uh, how do we know if our guy outside is ok? Should we leave our comms open?"
Coruscant - the Undercity - Outside -
"Divulge secrets? You're the one sneaking around, I'm just standing out here hoping someone offers me a deathstick.
Something about you though does seem familiar to me, what's your name?"
"We'll check on him in a minute. More importantly, a woman just went to the holonet terminal that the Lurmen was at, trying to find someone. She's not an amateur, but not particularly skilled, either. I've seen better - much better. She is not the one we are here to back up.
"She just took a seat at the bar and looked around, giving it as a signal to another person near the door. This may be the slicer. Let's see what the lurmen has planned - remember, we're only to alert them to our presence if necessary."