Heist on Utapau

[CaptainWolfgang]

Kalo looked down put his face into his hand to hide his laugh. "I meant that as an expression, there's not actually a huge window you're going to have to break. But yes, once we're in the pen then it'd be best that you hold up a scientist instead of trying to talk them into opening the device. While you're doing that, I'll be getting a hover cart."

Kalo and Aerena walked to the edge of the sinkhole and boarded an elevating platform that took them downwards quickly. Slowly the sounds of the city was drowned out by the mechanical whirring of machines and cranes, and the cawing of Dactillions flying in the open air of the hole. Kalo wasn't a very talkative person at the moment. He had been trying to lighten the mood, but decided that maybe he needed to play a more serious role to keep everyone on their toes. Other than a few comments on the way, the trip had been pretty quiet.

PRODUCE LEVEL 202​

The lift came to a steady halt, and a blast of steam signaled that it had completely stopped. Immediately before Aerena and Kalo was a couple hundred feet of metal walkways that eventually transformed into a huge underground farm. Lights dangled from the cave ceiling, but the daytime lights seemed to be switched off. Instead, dull red lights lit the farmlands, obscuring the plantlife into unintelligible gray stalks. About a mile inward a farm could be seen, and then the plants extended for another mile beyond that. Though it was too far to tell, from Kalo's report it seemed that the Varactyl pens would be behind all the farmland, where the terrain transitioned back into a metal architecture on the docks.

The docks themselves seemed to circle half of the sinkhole, and an unclaimed landing pad was directly to their right. Directly to their left was the lookout tower, which stood overlooked all the nearby landing pads.

"Take out that droid. I'll make sure no one sees you." Kalo said as he walked off the lift. "Oh, and take this with you. And keep it, you'll need it." he said, tossing Aerena a commlink to wear on her ear.

 

[JessieTaylor]

Aerena smiled and gave a small laugh. She looked down and shook her head, slightly embarrassed. "Oh. Sorry, I guess I tend to take people literally more often than not. And by the way, you said it was a small window, not a huge one." She was silent on the way down to the produce level, partly because she had just said something stupid, and partly because she was feeling more serious. As the platform went lower, she was filled with anticipation. Her senses heightened. She was extremely aware of everything around her, not a movement escaped her eyes and pure energy coursed through her. As fast as the platform traveled, it wasn't going fast enough for her. She wanted to get down to business.
Finally, the platform came to a stop. Aerena looked about her, taking in her surroundings. It looked different down here than she had imagined it. She stepped off the lift after Kalo as she listened to him silently, she nodded to his instructions. Catching the commlink, she put it on as she headed to the left, towards the tower.

 

[CaptainWolfgang]

The tower was a few stories high, but remarkably thin. Behind the front door was a lift, only big enough for maybe two people at a time. Other than the control panel for the lift, there were no consoles yet.

On the top of the tower however, there was a small octagonal room surrounded by different computers. Different landing pad icons would blink on and off in different colors, while a droid looked out over the landing pads nearby. His head panned back and forth like a security camera.

Kalo stood out on the landing pad and fumbled through his pockets before finding a small flashlight. He crept into cover and kept a watch on the walkways and the air corridor, as well looking out for Vandis's ship.

 

[JessieTaylor]

Arrived at the tower, Aerena drew her blaster and cautiously opened the door. There was nothing inside and she stepped into the room. It was immediately apparent that it was a lift. She walked over to the control pad and hit the control to make the lift go up. She waited as it made its way to the top of the tower. Then the lift stopped and the door opened, revealing the room overlooking the landing pads. There was the droid, on the other side of the room. She quickly threw a few shots at the droid and they all struck the head, disabling it. "And Vandis is clear to land, Captain." she reported over the commlink.

 

[Venk]

"Dropping now. Get ready to move!"
Vandis' ship lands, the engines still on, ready to go. He runs out, backpack on and pistol in hand. With his other hand, he taps his radio on his helm.
"I'm headin to Aerena now, then we rendezvous with Kalo. We'll then move out to get the Varactyl eggs. Let's go!"
Vandis stands outside the tower door, waiting for Aerena.

 

[JessieTaylor]

After shooting the droid, Aerena walked over to the other end of the room and looked out the glass, surveying the area from the high vantage point. After a few moments, she noticed Vandis landing, and she headed into the lift. When the lift reached the bottom, she opened the door to reveal Vandis waiting outside. "Well, let's meet back with the boss and roll."

 

[CaptainWolfgang]

"One step ahead of you." Kalo said, standing next to them. He had seen Vandis land and made his way to their location. "Let's go."


With that, Kalo lead them into the farmlands. Even though they were surrounded by green plants, the only colors anyone could see were black, red and gray. The thermal nightlights were a commonplace thing to simulate warmth. Kalo guessed that the farm was raising crops not native to Utapau. Without discussing it, Kalo silently gestured for his crew to follow him.

He'd warned them not to run, it was more important that they have the energy to run after they had the eggs. The 1.25 mile escape through farmland would be impossible if they were detected and already exhausted. As they approached the barn, they could clearly make out the silhouettes of two speeder bikes. Normally Kalo would have been excited, but he knew they would create far too much noise. Maybe they'd come in handy if the escape went sour.

Soon after the group passed the barn however, there was a slight change of plans. The farmland that was supposed to extend another mile was interrupted by a thick swamp. The swamp extended for miles to each side, removing the possibility of going around. The only way across seemed to be a single rowboat.

"We can move through the swamp easily enough, but the problem will be on the way back." Kalo started as he walked to the edge of the swamp. "We're going to be even more pressed for time. We cannot fit the hover-cart AND all three of us in that tiny boat... So we'll have to make two trips." Kalo explained in a hushed voice as he untied the boat from its small wooden dock and got inside.

 

[Venk]

Vandis laughed as quietly as he could at Kalo's statement."Two trips? You're joking, right? We already have a small enough window of time as it is! I say we take the speed bikes. Who's even going to hear it? A farmer or two? Easily taken care off. We'll get in and out, quickly and efficiently."

 

[JessieTaylor]

Aerena shook her head. "I don't like that idea. Better safe than sorry. Yeah, who's gonna hear it, a couple of farmers? But hey, how are we gonna know they heard it unless they run after us on foot, yelling at us to stop? We're riding the bikes. If a few farmers, or even one farmer hears it, they can raise the alarm. What are we going to do, just kill or tie up all the people in all the farmhouses we pass? Nah, we can go without the bikes. And if the alarm hasn't been raised, two trips is fine. Sure, it will take a little longer, but I'm sure it'll be fine. The only reason it wouldn't be is if we had been spotted, and if we get spotted, then we'll be abandoning the hover-cart anyway, so we'll only be doing one trip." she said quietly.

 

[Venk]

"Let's just kill the farmers now, then. Better safe than sorry, right?"
Vandis paused a moment, then continued.
"There is a very real possibility that my ship was already seen. I'm not risking my life, droid or ship for this. We take the bikes and get in and out. If you're concerned about the farmers, then I'll take care of them. I'm not wasting any time here."

 

[JessieTaylor]

Aerena ignored the first thing he said, but her annoyance was starting to flare up at him again, her sense of distrust resurfacing. "Unless you were flying around above all the farmhouses or the pens, I doubt it. Even if they did see it, it isn't as alarming as a couple of speeder bikes heading for the Varactyl pens in the middle of the night with some questionable looking strangers on them. And we are not going to kill all the farmers. And going to all the farmhouses and knocking out and/or tying them up? Who was trying to save time? And what if they wake up and get loose? Then they know for sure that something's amiss. We could have a party waiting for us at the pens when we arrive. Or worse. Why not take the bikes with us, but not ride them unless we need to?"

 

[Venk]

Vandis sighs and looks at Aerena.
"What the **** do you mean it's less alarming? I just landed in a restricted landing zone! That's way more suspicious! Anyone in the city could have seen me going to land there! Going and taking them out is the best option, because it won't waste a whole ****ing hour or two trudging through swampland! Besides, they can't get loose if they're dead. Also, there's only one or two farms here that we'd have to go to, it's not like we're taking out a whole village!"
Vandis unstrapped his rifle and held it in his hands.
"Look, we've wasted enough time as it is. We have to take the bikes."

 

[JessieTaylor]

Aerena turned to face Vandis. "Because you landed in a restricted landing zone! A couple of dumb farmers might think you are supposed to be there! Otherwise you couldn't have landed! If they saw you! And if someone in the city saw you go down here, they probably wouldn't think anything of it! But if you're so **** ing set on taking the bikes, then *ell! Let's do it! What the **** do I care? But we are not killing the farmers. If you're so scared of them, you can stay behind."

 

[Venk]

"Oh, right, I'm sorry, I thought that since I do this as my job, I would know what I'm doing. But no, I guess you, the girl who hasn't even been present for hundreds of years suddenly knows how the world works!"
Vandis laughed and shrugged.
"You think I'm scared of defenseless farmers? Either you're trying to strike a nerve with me or your less intelligent than I thought. But fine. Let all let hubris get in the way and assume nothing can go wrong. I'm sure that'll end fantastically. Now, who's gonna row? We're on a tight schedule, as Kalo had informed us a while ago."

 

[JessieTaylor]

Aerena sighed. "More than simply hundreds, I've been gone for over a thousand years. But I didn't say I know how the world works. I just didn't like the idea of rushing in there on our little bikes, which is just about as good as yelling for all within sight and hearing, 'Hey! Look at me! I'm going to steal some of your eggs!' And we are not going to kill the farmers. I'll steal, I'll cheat, I'll smuggle, but I'm not going to kill. Not them, anyways. Someone like you, I wouldn't have any problem killing if I thought he was going to kill me, but I'm not going to kill some innocent farmers just for some stupid eggs! And I'm not going to let someone else do it, either! That's just as good as doing it myself. And I'm sure you know I didn't mean 'Oh! Farmers! Scary!', or you're less intelligent than I thought. But if you insist on taking the bikes, we are not killing the farmers. So if you are too fearful of the potential consequences of the remaining choices, then you can stay behind. Cover us, like the original plan. Okay?"

 

[Venk]

"Funny, I don't remember you being in charge."
Vandis turns to Kalo, waiting for an answer.

 

[CaptainWolfgang]

(OOC: Hold on guys, I didn't realize you'd both posted so many times and I'm kinda falling asleep, so juuuuust pause things until I wake up from my brief nap. Thank youuuu)

 

[CaptainWolfgang]

"Quiet." Kalo said in a hushed tone with a scowl. "I thought I recruited professionals, not children." he looked at Aerena as he said this, slightly reconsidering his choice of words. "Vandis, I understand the necessity of keeping the farmers in their beds, but if we kill someone then we just turned this heist into an assault, and the last thing we all need is a bounty on our heads for theft AND murder." Kalo was only half speaking the truth of his intentions. These were simple farmers, and they did nothing to deserve death, but the primary fear in Kalo's mind was being tailed when they left the planet, their goods being seized, and winding up in some jail in the back end of the galaxy. "On the way back we might have to take those bikes, but remember there are only two of them anyway. If I can't trust you two to get along then one of you is riding on my handlebars. Now get in the blasted boat."


Not wanting to make any more hostility, Kalo volunteered to row the boat. As the crew rowed out into the swamp he hoped they might simmer down. Aerena had just been thrown into a new galaxy-- Kalo didn't want to be responsible for starting her new life as an accomplice to murder. Vandis on the other hand was just doing what he knew how to do, and Kalo could hardly blame him for trying to make sure the mission went smoothly.


About halfway across the swamp, the boat hit a small bump. Kalo stopped rowing. In the darkness of the cave, it was hard to tell what he had hit until it started rising from the water. An 8-meter Nos Monster slowly raised its head above the swamp water, eyes scanning the dark water. It didn't look like it had spotted them yet. Kalo didn't dare speak, so he held a finger to his lips and lowered himself down in the boat, trying to hide, hoping it would just move on. Attacking the thing could be noisy, they needed to get away from it-- or get it away from them.

 

[Venk]

Vandals scoffed at Kalo's first comment.
"Have you seen her? She's what, 18 tops? No offense, Aerena."
After that, he stayed silent, weighing his options. These people were...annoying, uncooperative and inefficient. He wanted to turn them in, collect the petty reward and seize Aerena's cargo...and saw no reason not to. But he willed himself to stay silent, for the sake of the job. He'd get back at them later. For now, he remained quiet, staring into the night sky. When they encountered the Nos Monster, he took a rock stuck on his shoe and threw it a fair distance away from them, hoping to distract the beast. He then slowly slid down onto the bottom of the boat to avoid its gaze.

 

[JessieTaylor]

Aerena grimaced, instantly regretting having argued with Vandis. At the reference to children, Aerena looked sharply at Kalo, feeling as if it might be directed at her. Kalo had glanced her way at the same time, and their eyes met. No, she didn't think he had meant it that way. Besides, she really didn't want to cause any more trouble and she didn't blame him for the choice of words, they had acted like children. She mentally kicked herself. But at Vandis's comment, her angered flared again, though she willed not to show it. She bit her lip down hard. It was a tough thing not to tell that jerk off.
As Kalo confirmed the course of action they would be taking, she smiled inwardly. It felt good when something was going to go down the way you wanted it to. Then she was just relieved. It might have gotten messy if she and Vandis had continued like that, or if Kalo had sided with Vandis; there was no way she would have let this little escapade turn into a murdering spree. When they came upon the creature which Aerena didn't recognize, never having seen a Nos Monster before, she considered trying to distract it but figured that Kalo would have thought of it, and didn't want to risk putting the monster on alert or something. However, as she followed Kalo's example and lowered herself in the boat, she saw Vandis throw a stone. She hoped this would work.