"We could have a lead about the Scion of Adam Cortel, maybe some DNA in the lab. Or Merc's trying to get intelligence on the rebels..." Karvals words tumble out uncertainly.
"Or one of Cortels proto-types? Something that would get destroyed in an assault, but Mercs could get?"
"Yallie, or Zaleos, do either of you have some way of finding out what kind of projects or interest the Moff might have regarding the lab and it's contents. If we can figure that out, we can approach the Moff's men, or if necessary the Moff himself, as mercs with a possible tip on that subject that needs to be verified. Depending on what it is, we can then come out with some kind of vague partial information on the topic, or simply say that the rebel scientist who had the information had the unfortunate problem of dying before we could get the information out of him. I am not familiar with the local politics and tend to focus on other details of study. While I could get the information we need, it would require making direct questions to the Moff's men prior to our approaching the Moff as mercs, and I would rather avoid that if possible; the less contact we have to make directly, the better off we are."
"Good thinking there Nichos. Let me see if I can find out what you are looking for." Zaelos pulls out his datapad and starts checking the database for any additional information.
"I wonder..." Karval tries to dredge up a memory of the ambassadorial balls and after show-parties, if he had heard of the Moff and any pecadillo's and interests he had. Something that could cause him to ignore his better instincts.
Also is the Moff notorious for treating his men as expendable, or mercs who fail to give him information?
"So getting out? Under the cover of the TIE bombers? Or straight out to the Moff and hope he lets us live if we give him little information? We need to be in the Bounty Hunters League or Union, if there is one?" Karval muses.
Me'eona thinks to himself, What kind of scam would have worked back on Nar Shaddaa?
Karval slowly speaks his words tumbling from darkened lips like a mountain of information - irresistable but unignorable; "The Moff, he is arrogant - but cannot back it up. We can take advantage of that over-confidence. Our ruse to be Bounty-hunters working for one of the other families that support him rather than the rebels. He could not refuse to meet with representatives of one of his few allies."
"Breaking it off with one of the few families that support him would spell his doom." Karval adds.
Zaelos nods in agreement. "Plus he is as corrupt at they come. Finding a way to persuade him to permit us to leave should not be too difficult." He nods meaningfully at Nichos as he finishes his sentence.
Karval shakes his head at the dishonourable leader; "Arrogant & corrupt, if he was only competant it might mitigate it..."
'Our people would exile one such as that, unfit to lead his fellows.'
Me'eona nods at Karval, "If we go to the Moff and pursuade him that we are "infiltrating" then we should be able to get in and out. Once we reach the inside, we convince the Rebels that we are really there to help them. It's an old Huttese saying, 'pretend to be everyone's friend when really you are only your own."
"Too True*" Karval says in Huttese. "That sounds like a good plan. We need to quickly pare this down, get some good excuses down pat."
"Perhaps we could say that we are working for a noble whose cousin or close family member, maybe lover, has been taken in by some dashing rebel rogue and was present when the seige began. We will go in to get that person out and plant an explosive devise or otherwise assist in crippling the seige before we leave with said person in tow." Me'eona smiles at Karval's comment.
Huttese
"Then again, I never liked Hut philosophy."
"I would say something more along the lines of passing a lover's note with details of where they could more safely meet. Avoids the sticky issue of dealing with questions afterward of where the lover is; otherwise, seems like a good story. Sappy enough that someone like the Moff likely is going to not want to hear equally sappy details, but realistic and common enough that he isn't likely to doubt it being true. Love, for all that is a rather bothersome emotion that usually just makes people act like fools, does seem to be a rather common thing for people to get caught up in for some reason. I'll let you do the talking though, if that is the story we plan on using. I can sell bureaucratic nonsense all day, but not love and romance." Nichos looks right at Zealos with a perfectly straight face as he finishes the last sentence.
Zaelos fights a rising blush on his face, then abruptly realizes it is a losing proposition. It seems as if my feelings are laid to bare for all to see now. If this be the will of the Force...then I shudder to think of what else is in store for me.
Putting on a mask to hide his unease and fear of how he would handle Yallie for now, he tries to focus on the present, with mixed results. Sensing Nichos looking at him, he returns the smile. "I can understand why you would look to me for experience on such issues, but sadly, I have none. It seems I will have to become a fast learner..." he glances in Yallie's direction, "or have someone teach me of such things."
Sniffing his nose slightly at all these words of love-play whilst there is still work to be done; though deep within there stirs thoughts of Empress Palpatine and his unrequited feelings.
Karval nods his head to Me'eona; "I had enough with the foolish words of the Hutt's back on Nar Shadaa, a honest and true comrade is priceless not worthless. They never paid their arena debts."
"But this could work, we need to ensure that the Moff trusts us, and perhaps we imply we would do some scouting too." Karval wonders out loud.
Me'eona smiles at Zaleos as he feels his embarassment through the force. Turning to Nichos, "Sending a love note to a misguided lover? That might just work. What should we say to the Rebels?"
Romm snaps his fingers as if he remembered something. "Forgot to mention this but it is possible important to your plan. There are two families on Chandrila that are "allied" With Moff Seardan. The Families are Kurotta and Ammerillan. These two families have been at odds with the Moff for some time but they are no fans of the alliance either. However, they have enough influence that if another imperial force with a better claim to the throne were to appear they may agree to switch sides. They have a good amount of sway over the imperial army presence here and more than a enough money to move a bit more. Consider one of those two in your plan."
Karval rolls his eyes; 'Politics, sometimes I hate it. That's why we need the Empress to come to power and restore order amongst these schemers.'
"Thank you Romm, that will save our lives. I take it both families will have some young romantic amongst their number? Then we can use their name." Karval rasps out, before taking a quick sip of water from the steel mug. "Me'eona, I would suggest we tell them what they want to hear... mostly the truth. That we can give them some troop movements, that if they allow us to enter the data-base we can find some information on Cortel's projects, which would affect them as much as us."
"Do either of these families have a vested interest in the Cortel matter? If yes, than going to talk to that family would be a way to tie them in with our mission even more. If not, I say we pick whichever one seems to be the cheapest to buy off and use them to get to the Moff and permission to pass through the Imperial lines. Using any of their names without first getting permission sounds like a good way to alienate them and make the work of the rest of our forces here that much harder."
Karval grunts; "Buying them off might be expensive and time-consuming. Would we want to find some dirt instead, or blatant flattery?"
"Finding dirt is the best way, yes. Which is why I suggested looking for any links they might have to the Cortels. Flattery by itself can work sometimes, but we may need a bit of time in the lab to find what we are looking for, and flattery by itself is too easily reversed in that amount of time." Nichos pulls out his datapad and starts to search through his compiled information on the Cortel family, looking for any links that may exist to either of the mentioned families.
Karval types out on his data-pad;
Plan
Entry
Meet the Moff
Meet the Rebels
Exit
Finally there seems to be a complete plan. You all will find that I favor clever tactics over endless dice rolling and combats any day.
From where I am sitting it looks as though you could pull this off. I try and have the details you need in a bit.
Nichos you find few links from the Cortels to either of the mentioned families. It seems they were all casual acquaintances at best.
Romm nods. "Dirt will be hard to find. There is more dirt on Moff Seardan and all his supporters than there is on those two families. They are quite honest imperial citizens to tell the truth. That's why we payed them little attention. The only dirt is their disdain for the Moff. Given how much they dislike the man, we may be able to persuade one or both to join sides with the empress and work with us to get that data."
Derrek stands up. "Well we should get moving soon. We should meet with either the Moff or one of these two familes and get this thing started."
His face cracking into what would have to be described as a smile, although on most would be plainly neutral. "Good to hear that there are still some people that are honest. Working with Moff's and politicians can be disheartening."
His face returning to it's usual near scowl; "So to the Ammirillan family, see if they will help us? For the good of the Empire and justice."
Zaelos nods in agreement with Karval. "Yes, I agree with Derek. I fear time is growing short on us."
"Would you do the honours and call the Ammirillan house? Thus we can get over to see them." Karval adds.
Derrek nods and heads over to to the holocomm. "Okay I will get a hold of them." A few minutes later with some help from Yallie, Derrek is able to secure a meeting. He returns. "Okay, We are sending the four of you off to the meeting site. They only know you as an interested party of other sorts. Strangely they seem very interested." He hands you a data chip. "These are the directions. A representative of the family will be there to meet you. The are heading over right now so pack up and get on over there."
Nichos takes the data chip and heads out to the car. He makes a copy of the information on his own datapad before giving it to anyone else who may want the information.
Zaelos accepts the datapad from Nichos and, once the group is underway, opens a secure link to R2-L7 still stationed aboard the gunboat.
"L7, I am uploading the latest report to you...please encrypt this and prepare it for transmission as per our arrangement."
With a nod of gratitude and patting his thigh where his knife is strapped he gets into the car. 'Romm is very good, glad to have him aboard.'
I assume Me'eona will catch up when he can so we will continue.
You drive out to a restaurant where you are to meet the Ammerillan representative. It doesn't take long to locate him as he is answered by the family name. You are brought to his table. He looks up at you as you all take your seats. "Greetings. I am Jemer Ammerillan. I understand your an exterior party of the empire looking for dirt on Moff Saerdan. Or something of that matter I believe. I have plenty of dirt to sell for the right price. Please realize I am nothing more than a negotiator and have substantial value to the Ammerillan house so ransom is out of the question. Now, what exactly are you looking for and what is your price?"
Zaelos smiles thinly as he shakes the gentleman's hand, "Let's get down to business, shall we? We wish to form a mutually beneficial relationship between our respective parties. A partnership, if you will. This partnership may grow to be quite profitable for both our parties, however we do require some initial backing at first. There is a certain place we need access to, and your family's support would be helpful in that objective." He sits back, waiting for Jemer (or any other party member) to respond.
Karval moves forward from behind Zaleos, his heavy hand upon the others shoulders; "What Lord Zaleos means to say is, that we are here to broker a mutually beneficial solution to the problems that are being faced." he pauses "To achieve this we will need to talk to the Moff and the rebellion leadership on the planet. We understand that you represent the premier family and would like to remain such." Karvals speaks with a soft cadence belying his usual tones.
Karval pauses waiting for a more eloquent member to complete the specifics.
Nichos just sighs internally, wondering how Zaleos could call himself gifted in the tongue and thinking the group would need to rethink who posed as leader when going to the Moff. "We represent an individual who has reason to see that the current stalemate on this planet ends sooner rather than later and in a way that benefits her and any would be allies here. To this end, we require access to the labs and the rebels holed up inside in order to counteract the strength of the Moff. We seek something that would allow us to pass through his lines around the lab unmolested. The price we are willing to pay would depend on the amount of aid rendered." Nichos understood that saying even that much was risky, but that sometimes the risks had to be taken, and while the man could still guess at a great deal of their task, the core mission was still hidden.
The man leans forward clearly interested. "Tell me, what is your allegiance to the Moff or the Rebellion if I might ask. It sounds as though you have little interest in either so forgive my curiosity but I would like to know." He seems to wait intently for your answer.
"Our allegiance to either of them is secondary. While we do not wish either of them particular harm or help, they stand between us and our primary objective, the lab itself. If we can end up making either or both of them stronger allies, all the better. If they prove to be uncooperative, we will not let their actions disrupt our plans, and will resort to more direct and unpleasant responses if necessary, but we would much rather arrange things to avoid direct confrontation if possible. In the current political environment, such hostilities would only add to all of our miseries."
Zaelos nods in agreement with Nichos' assessment of the group's objective, keeping quiet for now. As he listens to the droning of his compatriot words, another image of Yallie intrudes in his mind. He finds himself again practicing a focusing technique used among his race to banish her face from his mind...for now.
The man doesn't seem pleased with Nichos's response. He wears a rather unpleasant scowl on his face. "So you care little for the political strife of this planet and you see either the Moff or.." He seems a bit sick as he mentions the moff as he continues he seems even more disgusted "the rebellion as potential allies? What use could either of those incompetents be to any of us. And what exactly do you need from us and what are you offering?" He awaits your response.
Zaelos speaks up quietly, "Actually, you are mistaken Mr. Ammerillan. We DO care about the strife that has engulfed your world and indeed all of the galaxy. We are just combating the strife in a different way. We have no use for the incompetent leaders..." He emphasizes the plural here, "of Chandrill." He leans forward, "What we need is as Nichos says, access to the lab. What we can offer is competent leadership for the galaxy...and a chance for you to be part of it."
Nichos doesn't react to the man's scowl, having gotten used to such reactions during his many years of experience. His response is direct and polite.
"I wouldn't say that we care little about the political strife here, as our employer as shown great interest in the matter, and has greater plans in motion to deal with it. From our immediate point of view, however, we have little to no knowledge of such plans, and little direct involvement in those particular plan; our assignment lies in other areas, and dealing the local politics is simply an inevitable part of carrying out our own duties. We would rather keep the impact of our presence here limited for precisely that reason, and thus we seek a more quiet means of accessing the lab than gunfire. Just because we personally know little of local affairs doesn't mean that we don't know others who are more engaged in this particular arena who would be pleased to know that there are individuals here willing to aid our organization in such small things that make everybody's life much easier in the long run. Enough aid to get us through the Moff's forces and back again is all we really need, no more and no less. In return, we would be willing to share whatever information we find that does not endanger our employer and/or provide access/recommendations to others in our work structure who are more directly involved with local affairs here. It may not seem like much perhaps, but even a small ripple can end up causing the biggest of waves if properly supported.
As for those incompetents being of use, I am inclined to agree with you as to their usefulness, but they are what we have to work with, and until a more proper candidate puts themself forward, we really don't have much choice. They may not be much, but with the right manipulation, even fools such as the rebels can be made useful. Of course, if you know of a proper replacement, we would be more than willing to pass such information on to our employer and I'm sure she would be more than willing to consider their role in her future plans for the planet. I can make no specific promises, to be certain, but I have seen enough to know that she is always looking for reliable allies to aid her in these times of chaos and tumult."
The man leans back and a smug smile crosses his face. "Hmm. I see a way we can help each other out." He leans forward. "You have some way to get past the rebel defenses I assume or your only concern wouldn't be getting past the imperials. Now, I cannot trust that you are not with the rebellion entirely. This is going to require a bit of faith on my part but I think we can work this out." He stands up. "I do not know whom you work for but it would be best if we did not talk hear. Now that I have seen you I can bring you to our family villa. We can talk there. Only one thing. You ride with me in my car. Are we good?"
He awaits your response.
You guys have a few moments to decide on what to do. You can either go with the man trusting he will take you to what you seek, turn down his offer entirely, or come to a different arrangement. The choice is yours. It is a simple choice but if you need more facts or have other ideas then speak up.
Leaning forward from the back his towering form casting a shadow across the table; Karval speaks quietly, his low voice rich and gravely "Yes, we have heard - that despite your families occasional opposition to the Empire; it has been to the benefit and stability of the people and the greater good."
Standing straight he says to the others; "I believe we could go with him, it should be to our mutual benefit."
"Lead the way. We can deal with further questions and concerns in a more secure location." Nichos stands up and waits to for the man to lead the way.
Karval looks to the pair of Miralukan's, taking up a position behind then just in case. As he passes then his whispers quietly; 'I have heard of the family they are honest, but if you don't wish to follow?'
The tall Mandolorean prepares to follow and get into the vehicle.