Breaking and Entering

[Raz Solus]

​

“Okay, this time I call the shots,” She lowered her macrobinoculars and looked over to scowl at Narir, “You almost got us killed last time we tried something this risky,” Raz looked back to scope out the facility again. She could see vehicles coming in and out of the outpost, and she knew they’d be in heaps of trouble if caught. Raz was flat on her belly, up atop a rock protruding out above the valley that had the facility below.

“Looks like the guards are slacking,” She muttered, seeing guards here and there wandering around aimlessly. The Sith had gotten extremely confident in their time of galactic conquest. They no longer thought they had any enemies, and this worked just great for people like her and Narir. She put the binoculars away and rose up to make her way down.

They would have to hijack one of the vehicles going into the base and sneak in pretending to be the transporters. Normally the two of them didn’t do so well with sneaking, but it was critical this time around. Raz slowly began to walk down the incline, spotting a vehicle beginning to arrive and head towards the base.

“Okay, I’ve got a plan,” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, “I’m going to go lay down on the ground on their path and make them stop. I need you to pick them off quickly and quietly. Then we hijack the bitch. Good?” Raz glared at him, “And don’t you dare kriff this up, I’m going to be useless as shit lying there like a sitting duck.”

She didn’t wait for his response and began to walk over. She made sure to take her helmet off, her flowing hair draping over her shoulders to make it very clear this was a poor, helpless woman. Raz promptly dropped to the ground and waited, blinking up at the hot sun with the grumpiest expression.

As the engines revved closer, she got into position, looking more helpless and as if she were doubled over in pain. Sure enough, the vehicle began to slow down dramatically, aiming to come to a stop a short distance away.

@Phoenix

 

[Narir Solus]

Narir didn't have time to argue, but you can be sure he would have if he'd had time. Blaming him for the two of them nearly dying last time was entirely not fair. It was as much her fault, but he knew that wouldn't get him anywhere. Before he had a chance to stop her, she was already limping down the cliff and toward the road, bending over as if in agony. Yeah, because this plan wasn't going to get them killed.

He rolled his eyes and swung his rifle around, watching as the speeder came to a stop. He waited, hoping the pair would get out so that he wouldn't make a mess in the speeder. If he did that, their disguise would be far less effective. It appeared that luck favored him today, and within a moment one of the men was climbing out and beckoning for the other to do the same.

Perfect. He could just barely make out the voices of the two over the hum of the engine, but he got the gist of the conversation. ...all alone... pretty... self... little fun, and with the final words, he saw a hand reaching out toward Raz. Without another second wasted, he squeezed the trigger on his rifle, sending a bolt streaking through the air and into the neck of one of the men. He had no doubt the one reaching for Raz wouldn't be getting his hand back, but if he did, he began to swivel his aim around just in case.

And then there was silence apart from the quiet hum of the speeder's engine. Narir hurried down from his position and quickly began to drag one of the bodies to the side of the road. The blood and burns were going to make using the uniforms difficult, but perhaps there were some Imperial issue ponchos they could put over their armor.

Here, he said, tossing her one from the back of the speeder. He slipped it over his armor before pulling his helmet off. I'll drive, he said as he slipped in and threw the speeder into drive. I doubt this is going to get us past the front door, he grumbled as it came into view up ahead. There were two men standing guard, but no other signs of activity. Maaaaaaybe they could just kill the guards and move straight in.

 

[Raz Solus]

What the hell?

She had expected some investigation, but she certainly wasn’t expecting the men to be creeps right out the gate. Thankfully, Nar was quick on the uptake and popped one of them right away. As for the man reaching right for her, she curled her legs back and slammed them out, colliding directly with his crotch. The blow was enough to make his legs buckle as he fell to his knees. As he was now level with her, she slammed her elbow out and knocked it directly into his face, breaking his nose and knocking him out.

Raz rose to her feet, still fuming as she put her helmet back on. She dragged the body over to the speeder, loading him onboard. Her person was only knocked out, but his uniform was still intact. She looked over at the other one, spotting the burn marks and rolling her eyes, “Typical,” She muttered under her breath as she avoided eye contact with Nar, “Don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree..” She had to remind herself.

As he brought up ponchos, she practically gagged, “I hate those things,” She complained, but she took it nonetheless. Raz put it on, along with the exterior pieces of the uniform from the man she downed. The most important parts were the key cards that would hopefully get them inside. As he revved up the engines, she shook her head, “Have faith,” She gazed ahead, “They’re not expecting bullshit. If there’s talking involved, let me do it.”

They began their approach, the coast looking quite clear for now. There was a side entrance for the loading zones for all the incoming vehicles. From the looks of it, there were two protocol droids and nothing else wandering around to receive incoming supplies. Either they were incredibly lucky or there would be significant barriers coming up...

 

[Narir Solus]

Have it your way, he grumbled. He was more than happy to not do the talking if it came to that. He'd much rather do the shooting. He preferred a straight fight to all this sneaking around... he wasn't a smuggler, after all. But sometimes - most of the time - brain > brawn.

Have faith. He seemed to recall that wherever he'd heard that last, things did not end up well. Some gang leader without a plan telling everyone to "have a little faith." What was that? He couldn't place it? Well, it wasn't worth the effort to figure out. Not when they were coming up to the protocol droids at the front gate.

Hello. I am T6-SO, security and human relations department. May I have your code cylinders, please? the droid asked.

Narir handed over the cylinders stolen from the downed Imperials that contained the shipping orders and waited while the droid inserted them into the nearby data terminal. And time ticked by... Narir started counting in his head and watched as the droid pulled the cylinders free before replacing them. Something was wrong, and he didn't know what.

It appears there is an inconsistency. Your shipment was supposed to have arrived six hours ago. Please redirect to the quartermaster's office immediately, the droid said. But that didn't make sense? The two of them had only taken inside of five minutes to steal the shipment, not six hours. Where had their targets been before that, and how would they explain such a thing.

I will accompany you if you just step out this way, the droid said. Narir glanced over at Raz, his fingers gliding ever so gently over the rifle next to him, but not pulling it. He would give her the chance to talk their way out of this. Maybe they could pass it off as a repulsorlift problem.

 

[Raz Solus]

Raz stared at the droid, quirking an eyebrow beneath her helmet. She was already losing her patience, but she couldn’t very well let Nar have a laugh at her giving up the deception efforts. They had failed at it every time in the past, and she was determined to do it right this time. As the droid began to direct the other way, Raz remained rooted where she stood, “Kriff no,” She expelled, “You’re damn straight we’re six hours late, which means we’re already late for the return shipment. I’m not wasting more time and getting in more shit.”

The droid paused for a moment, shifting uneasily before looking back down at the datapad it held, “Well… it does appear you were due for your return shipment some time ago,” He was stuck and evaluating how to best adapt to this situation. Raz rolled her eyes, clearly having played the role of an Imperial soldier well, “Whatever, can we see the schedule so we can see where we need to go?”

“Why are you not aware of this information already?”

“Because obviously we need to cut out some stops because we’re late!” Raz was raising her voice, and the droid was startled. She breathed deeply, calming herself as the droid tried to assess the situation again. After a moment, it looked up.

“The delivery personnel listed here are Mr. Mak Devans and Mr. Edov Kol,” The droid looked from the datapad, to her, and then back down to the datapad. Raz had nothing to say, biting on her lip.

She hated it when Narir had his way….

 

[Narir Solus]

Narir had to bite his lip to keep from smiling as Raz yelled at the droid. These droids were always sticklers for the rules, almost without exception. It didn't seem their luck was going to be that good. Still, they seemed to be making decent enough progress right up until the droid actually looked at the information about the delivery personnel. He wondered if it would show up on the code cylinders, but they'd been fortunate... that was over.

Narir's hand had been on his rifle the entire time, and now he thought was the time to act... unless he could get lucky again. With surprising speed, he lunged for the droid, grabbing its head and plunging his vibroblade in at the neck. There was a quick buzzing and burning sound before he was able to pry the head cleanly off. He held it for a moment, turning it toward Raz and making it move as if it were talking.

You two are the best at stealth, "it" said, and Narir grinned, dropping the head in the seat as he slipped his blade away. He slid his helmet back on and gripped his rifle as he slid out of the seat and took a quick look around. Everything was still quiet, but he doubted that would last for long. He held up a hand with all five fingers outstretched, indicating he thought they likely had five minutes before the alarm was raised. it wasn't long at all, but it could have been worse.

The buildings in the compound were connected with one on their left and the other straight ahead. The one on the left looked less busy, but that meant the one ahead probably had more valuable information. He moved quietly next to Raz, Left or straight? he asked. There were no signs of guards outside of either, but the one ahead made the hair stand up on his neck. It just didn't feel right, which (of course) probably meant that was where they needed to go.

And then he heard a sound to the left and the faint glow of a cigara. Tisk-tisk, he thought, knowing the Imperials weren't supposed to smoke on duty. But smoke meant guards, and guards meant trouble. Kill the guards and go left or risk straight ahead.

 

[Raz Solus]

She knew the gig was up, the droid more suspicious than ever. It began to inch towards a big red button that looked suspiciously like it would send alarms blaring all over the facility. Raz winched, prepared for Nar to blow their cover by going in guns blazing. What he did instead shocked her, and she stared as he quickly dispatched the droid quietly and without alerting anyone. Her jaw was hanging open at the end of it.

“You just..” She couldn’t finish her sentence as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. She pulled back after a moment, beaming broadly beneath her helmet, “I’m so proud of you! You were actually discreet!” It was comical how excited she was about this, especially as he was always loud and explosive on every single job they had ever pulled together.

However, that didn’t stop her from immediately scowling at him as he made the droid head ‘talk’. She kept her gaze on his as she casually slapped the head out of his hand, rolling her eyes and walking off as their dynamic went right back to usual. As he asked which way to go, she paused and looked in both directions. Like him, she knew straight was the best bet, but they would have to avoid getting into trouble.

She said nothing, jutting her chin towards the path ahead of them. Raz ignored the guards towards the left, striding casually forward so they didn’t look suspicious. As she looked ahead, she counted five people in between them and a door at the end. She sighed, knowing they had little choice. She glanced at Nar and nodded to ensure he was ready before she reached for a smoke grenade and tossed it into the corridor.

As the guards began to panic, she heard a few blasters go off aimed at the ceiling, the other guards rushing in and wondering if they were going to shoot allies. She ignored it, charging directly into the smoke and making a beeline for the door at the end. If possible, she attempted to avoid engaging in combat and slow them down. Her hand fiddled with the key card she took off the delivery man from before, hoping against hope it worked on the damn door.

 

[Narir Solus]

Narir was snickering as she slapped the droid aside, rolling his eyes that she seemed to be sooooo happy that he managed to avoid being loud and noisy. He wished he could have. If they could start shooting people now that'd be great.

But it looked like he might get his opportunity here in a moment. Raz skirted around the guards and straight for the main door, and then she threw a smoke grenade! He heard gunfire, which meant that no doubt their cover was blown, but things were going fine. This was fine. It was all fine. At least the two of them hadn't been shot yet, and he saw one of the blaster shots flash through the air and... did that just hit one of the other Imperials? Wow, that was lucky.

He turned around, swinging his rifle up to cover Raz as she tried the keycard in the door. A shot flew through the air and smashed into the wall next to him, causing him to pull the trigger and send a shot of his own back toward the man who fired at them. And a second and third. It kept the heads down on the Imperial troopers and... the door didn't open. The keycard beeped and flashed an angry red.

Just shoot it! he shouted, spinning and pulling the trigger on the door's locking mechanism multiple times. The door slid open and he had no doubt that Raz was giving him nasty glares, but they were inside. He'd made an attempt. It's okay! he shouted, though who knew whether he was reassuring her or himself.

Plunging into the next room revealed a... had they just shot their way into a women's restroom? How was that even a thing? Did it have another exit to get into the building? He could only assume that it did or else it wouldn't be locked to the outside. There was the sudden sound of a woman screaming followed by... was she reaching for a gun in the bathroom? Were her pants even up? Gun!! he shouted as he dove into a stall only for a blaster shot to rip through where his chest had just been a moment earlier.

 

[Raz Solus]

As she frantically tried the key card, she started to panic at the angry red denial. She was beyond angry at this point, hearing the commotion behind her. Thankfully, the Imperials were too stupid to focus their aim. They were shooting in random directions and doing more damage to one another than anyone else. Raz heard Nar asking her to shoot it, and she was about to argue when he simply shot the thing for her. His method worked, the door blasting open.

“Are you kidding me?!” She hissed in exasperation upon realizing that they did all that work to end up in a god damned restroom. To make matters worse, there was somebody in there at this moment. While Nar dove to the side, she ducked down as the woman began to shoot. Raz was rapidly losing her patience, and she used her blaster to fire ahead, catching the woman in the leg. She cried out and fell, Raz moving in and elbowing her harshly in the side of the head to knock her out at once.

She didn’t pause, counting on Nar to keep firing back and using the doorway as a chokepoint. Raz crouched down and grabbed the keycard off the woman, recognizing that she was high ranking. She heaved a sigh of relief, knowing this card would get them into virtually anywhere. Raz rose to stand, cooking up another grenade and tossing it into the hallway. This one exploded and sent bodies flying everywhere.

“Let’s go!” She shouted as she burst out of the restroom and darted past the mess again, ducking to the right this time. This had been the left path when they were walking in, but it was abandoned now. Raz didn’t look back, darting down the hall towards where she could spot a room ahead. Hoping against hope, she used the keycard, the door opening and revealing a terminal they could use, “Thank Manda!” She sighed as she waited for Nar to pop inside before slamming the door shut behind them.

“Go on, work your slicing magic,” She nodded to him.

 

[Narir Solus]

Narir was halfway on the ground, slumped against the wall, and returning fire at the Imperials as they came to the door. A shot landed six inches above his head as one of the Imperials began firing right when he came around the door, but before he could align on Narir's lowered form, the grenade detonated, sending pieces of him flying in all directions. It offered him the time to get back to his feet even as his ears were still ringing from the detonation.

He followed Raz forward, through the twists and turns of the facility, and was glad to see that it was mostly empty on their route. Perhaps everyone had been drawn to the commotion outside, and left the interior less guarded.

In short order, they'd made it to the control room, and Narirlet his rifle fall to its sling. This might take a minute, he said, which was a nice way of pointing out that they were sitting ducks until he was done. Breathe in... 2... 3... 4... breathe out... he told himself. He pulled his mind from the fight and tried to steady the adrenaline pumping through his fingers as he began tapping at the console. Think, you know this, he told himself as he began tapping at the console's controls and bypassing the security systems.

It couldn't be that simple though. With the chaos of the initial explosions done, shouts of "they're still here" and "find them" began to ring out from the lower level where the two had made their entrance. The first of the guards began making their way up the stairs to the control room and would be rounding the corner any moment.

 

[Raz Solus]

“Might take a minute?!” She cried out in exasperation, “We have seconds! Make it happen, damn it!” She knew she wasn’t helping matters. Raz chewed her lip, looking ahead, “I’ll buy you some cinnamon rolls if you can do this before they burst in,” She heard the commotion outside, but it wasn’t entirely clear to the Imperials where they needed to go. Most of the guards thought the intruders had gone back out the exit, and she heard footsteps storming back out the direction they came. This meant that there was a chance their path out would be clear as they wouldn’t expect them to still be in the building.

After a moment, alarms began to blare in the room they were in, the terminal crying about a data breach. Raz whipped around to look at him, “You’re in?!” It usually meant that, and she aimed her rifle up and shot at the vents above. This opened an instant escape route for them, and it was the only real way out at this point. Activating her jump boots, she launched up into the air, grasping a hold of the lip of the opening above. Raz hauled herself up, pulling up Nar if he were lagging behind.

The two barely made it up before blaster bolts fired into the room. She didn’t even ask if he had what they needed. She knew they had to get out at once and she began to rapidly crawl through the ventilation system. Raz ignored the groups of solders walking through the corridors beneath them, and they had to be especially quiet not to rouse suspicion.

“Just a bit further,” She muttered as she took a turn towards where she knew the exit was.

 

[Narir Solus]

Narir was tapping furiously at the console until finally he got what he needed. He let out an overly relieved sigh and downloaded the data as alarm klaxons began to sound. Kriff, this is gonna be close, he thought as he slapped his datapad back into his belt. Let's go! he shouted, swinging his blaster around to the door even as he ran for the vent.

His boots activated, and not a moment too soon. He hit the vent and gripped Raz's hand as blaster fire scathed by so close he thought he could feel it singeing the air around him. He pulled himself into the vent, sweat beading on his forehead as he pushed forward, glancing back at one point and running straight into Raz's butt. Go! he hissed as they tried to find the exit. With each twist and turn he grew more concerned that they wouldn't find an out or that the noise would alert someone.

His fears proved unfounded. They rounded another corner and arrived at the exit, which the carefully pried away. The grating dropped to the ground on the other side, but with all the commotion at the other end of the building, no one heard it. Narir waited for Raz to drop before quickly following, landing - somewhat unceremoniously - in the dirt with a grunt. A quick glance around put them in the clear.

You owe me a cinnamon roll, he mumbled, and he had every intention of cashing in.

//Thread