As Fat As A Hutt [The Operator]

[Wanderer]

As Fat As A Hutt

Nal Hutta. A polluted, barren wasteland. Myn really...really hated coming here. It was pretty horrible for any species save the Hutts themselves, but for a Felacatian it was even worse. His heightened senses were constantly assaulted to the point of nausea. But thanks to his lifetime of training, he was able to maintain his composure and still put his senses to good use even on this world. He was waiting along the edge of a desolate marsh a few hundred yards away from Bilbousa and the Guarja Shipyards. This planet has the most aggressive and mutated wildlife in the galaxy, so he kept his senses on high alert as he waited for his contact. Once he arrived they would make their way through the marsh to slip past security and enter the Shipyards. The mission? To steal a tanker with 25,000 tonnes of hi-grade fuel from the planet of Malastare, the Dug world famed for their fuel. That much fuel could certainly come in hand for Komad Industries. Of course the Hutts wouldn't make the task simple. While the shipment wasn't theirs or intended for any of their planets, they had a reputation to protect. They couldn't exactly let a theft happen right on their doorstep. But that is what was just about to happen.

This was certainly going to be interesting. He soon spotted a shape, attempting, to move stealthily towards the rally point. Myn sighed, but he knew not every species was as natural skilled with shadow work as Felacatians. He stood and waved the figure over, "Hurry up before you're spotted. There's barely any cover out there anyways."

 

[Jason Webb]

Another high risk high reward mission with shadowy individuals, excellent. Tristan has now found himself on the world of Nal Hutta, with the mission of stealing a tanker. Of course he has been contacted by an independent faction, and is on the way to meet with their operative. The filters of his helmet have cut on purifying the air into the dry, clean air that he was so familiar with.

Gravel crunched under foot quietly as the mercenary slid along a shadowed area outside of a city and a shipyard, which he and an ally were preparing to infiltrate. Minor modifications to his armor had made it much more practical for sneaking, but it was still designed as combat armor rather than for stealth. Tristan’s HUD was buzzing with activity from dozens of bugs and other creatures, even the pollution is creating minor problems. He turns the nonvital systems to the background, focusing primarily on natural senses such sight and sound.

Suddenly someone stands up, causing Tristan to cringe and back up, partially drawing his blaster before hearing. “Hurry up before you're spotted. There's barely any cover out there anyways.” After hesitating for one second he took several quick steps forward then jumped forward, rolling once then sliding down the side of the embankment. The entire movement took a couple of seconds, ending with Tristan propped up one hand next to is contact, “The Operative.”

Unsure how to begin this meeting, removes his helmet and rolls over, facing into the swamps that line Nal Hutta. Running his fingers through his hair Tristan starts to speak quietly “I assume you’re the one who I’m supposed to meet? We’d be killing each other already I assume. Call me Tristan.” With the last part he maneuvers the helmet back into position that it could be replaced easily.

 

[Wanderer]

"If we were enemies, you would already be dead." Said Myn casually and then shrugged. "No offense."

The Felacatian stared at the young mercenary with his catlike eyes. His tailed moved back and forth as if on edge. His pointed ears listening for any sounds out of the ordinary. He held out his hand to the man, "You can call me The Operator. No need for any name other than that, but I do have a lot of them. Since you're here early, let's go over the plan. We are going to move through the marsh beside us and to a sewage pipe along the wall of the shipyard. Sounds easy, but the marsh is filled deadly creatures; even the Chemilizards will take a swipe at you. After that we will wait for the changing of the guard and then emerge from the pipeline. The tanker is about a thousand meters from where we will come up and its under heavy guard. We will have to disable security feeds, turrets, and silently take out any remaining guards. We then get on the ship and I falsify the departure signal. The rest is as easy as a one-legged Twi'lek. Remember we are relying on stealth, precision, and teamwork. No meathead business. But if we sound the alarm then feel free to blast anything that moves."

 

[Jason Webb]

Tristan grimaced at the comment, not sure if he was bluffing or not. He is well aware there are many others with superior skills but at the same time is quite confident he could put up a fight against almost anyone. None the less silence can be key when working with someone unfamiliar.

He reaches out his gloved hand and shook, nodding to the name. Drawing his katana and running a finger down its blade, he soaks up the plan laid out by his partner. It's tempting to use the Verpine, though it is rather fragile and this sword is definitely not going to break. Blasters are loud and susceptible to water, leaving the katana and ACP gun as best options for now. The marsh’s inhabitance could severely limit their progress if allowed to, so the best idea seems to be to move quickly. None the less, something could always go wrong. Tristan pushes the doubts away and stands up. “I have anti-security blades and data breakers, so we can jam up comms, open doors, disable alarms, tune out security cameras and all that good stuff if pretty easily once we get there.” Talking about it made it seem easy, but once they were in speed was the only way not to trigger reinforcements. Only a fool would only let a blurry security camera or silent comms go unchecked for very long. That tanker is worth a lot of credits though, so the risk is definitely worth the payout.

“Let’s be on our way then. We can scope out the area once we get there, plenty of little tricks to help that part out. As long as the sewage pipe doesn’t come out in an open area then this should be a breeze.” Tristan takes several steps forward, feeling the mud and water slosh around his boots as well as the weight of his weapons in hand.

 

[Wanderer]

Myn nodded. It was time. He signaled silently for the young mercenary to follow him carefully. He didn't draw any weapons, gun nor blade. He never used weapons unless he had to, he never really used anything besides his hands and feet. He had killed hundreds with them alone, but he always carried dual vibroknives and a holdout blaster just in case. As they moved through the thick, polluted mud of the marsh they used as much cover as possible; dead and warped trees, rocks, anything. Several times some scout ships flew overhead, patrolling the area rather than looking for them specifically. After nearly a half hour of wadding and walking through the mire, they reached the cliff's edge and the massive sewage pipes. Myn silently signalled for the mercenary to come closer so they could talk. When he got close enough, he whispered to him. "It will take sometime for me to use the particle knife to cut a hole large enough for us. We won't be seen or heard by any guards, even if they are right above us. But for some reason the smell of burning metal attracts the local wildlife. If we have any company you will have to take care of them. Go take position near that rock and remain concealed in case of anymore patrols, but watch my back!"

Myn turned and made his way to the grate. He whipped out the particle knife and began slicing. Soon the smell of burning metal filled the air, but other than that it was silent. About a two hundred yards away, a creature splashed into the water. It was quickly making it's way to the strange smell and crouched figure. However it noticed another figure behind a rock. It slunk forward slowly and predatorily, then... it erupted from the water barely ten feet from Tristan.

A Dragonsnake. One of the most dangerous and fearsome creatures on Nal Hutta. Their claws are razor sharp and their scales were stout enough to withstand most melee weapons, even some small arms fire! Myn knew he would have to help Tristan if they stood a chance. And they had to kill it quietly or the whole operation was damned. Whipping out his vibroknives he yelled as loudly as he dared, "Duck!"

 

[Jason Webb]

Tristan moved through the swamp as quickly as he dared, darting behind, under, over and around the dozens of objects in their paths. They were pretty well hidden but he did not want to see exactly how well. The amount of pollution in the water was sickening, countless pieces of debris floated by on their way to the grate. His head was filled with thoughts as they waded. Several minutes later they reached the sewers, and The Operator promptly motioned him forward and explained the situation. Tristan listens intently, then takes position behind a rock while his partner and the particle knife do their work.

He scans the area attentively, watching for any sign of danger. Nothing too threatening seems to be attracted yet, just some rodents that he scares away by tossing rocks at. A glance back to operator, all good so far. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all—

Wait. Something big is closing in on their location.
Damn, spoke to soon I guess.
The motion blip on his HUD becomes closer, then stops with a few meters of the rock that Tristan is hiding behind. The mercenary lifts his head over the rock carefully and slowly, attempting to get a glimpse at what had approached.

A large lizard like creature is lifted up on the other side, scanning the area for the source of the smell that brought it here. Tristan is in awe of the creature for a split second, before hearing a voice saying to duck from behind. He immediately sinks to the ground, reaching for the Verpine rifle that is strapped to his side. The Verp is silent in every way, and would be ideal for killing this over grown lizard.

Returning the sword to its sheath and bringing his rifle up, Tristan moves backwards carefully. Once the creature is exposed, he pulls the trigger repeatedly. The only noise is the thumping of the projectile against the scales. And the thrashing of the “Dragonsnake” , as his cybernetics are identifying it as, making its way towards him. The scales seem to be dented and scratched by the bullets, and Tristan estimates that it will only take a couple of good hits on the same location to break through. The kinetic energy given by Verpine is almost unrivaled when it comes to similarly sized weapons, and known to do heavy damage even to armored targets.

None the less, the dragonsnake has different ideas, and continues to swim forward towards the subtle muzzle flash of the Shatter Gun. After emptying a ten round magazine into the scales of the beast, Tristan moves backwards quickly, almost sprinting to the next rock with his antagonist picking up speed behind him. If we were not trying to be stealthy, a well-placed missile would take care of this thing, or even a shot from a disruptor...

Tristan pushes the thoughts away and snaps the next mag in his weapon while standing up, firing off rounds as fast as the trigger will pull.

 

[Wanderer]

The Dragonsnake was angry after the little human had fired at it and was now quickly closing the distance with impressive speed. Their scales were strong enough to resist multiple shots from blasters and blades were almost useless against them unless you knew where to strike. If he had more time, Myn knew the mercenary would have been able to penetrate it's scales, but it was almost on top of him and then the young merc would be in trouble. Luckily Myn had finally closed the distance. Executing an impressive frontflip he landed on the thing's back. Pulling out one of his vibroknives as the beast began to realize something else was on top of it and started to thrash. He quickly slammed the blade into a soft spot between two scales at the base of it's long neck. The knife severed it's spine. The beast gurgled softly as it's head and neck fell into the water. It was paralyzed and would soon drown as it sunk beneath the polluted waters. Myn got up and wiped off the blade of his knife before placing it back in its sheath. He walked over to the mercenary and held a hand out to him to help him up.

"Well, that was exciting." Said Myn with a smile. They were both covered in the foul smelling mud of the marsh, but they were very much alive. A Dragonsnake was no easy prey. In fact if Myn had not thoroughly researched the planet, they might not have known the beast's weakness and walked away. He nodded to the man, "I managed to cut through. What do you say? Should we got out of this polluted swamp? Of course we will be going into the sewers, so it may not be much better."