Ask Hostile Takeover

[Nathan Braxon]

GEOSTATIONARY ORBIT, SECOND MOON OF CIUTRIC IV​

Nathan lent against the hard wall of the cargo hold that would have to suffice as a briefing room. He had hired the nondescript freighter through an intermediary and though it served their covert purposes well it had few bells and whistles.

The Senator was dressed less formally this time, limbered up for overseeing the attack on the plant from the safety of orbit. The freighter was aligned in a geostationary orbit on the opposite side of Citruic's second moon to the droid plant, powered down to avoid being noticed on anyone's sensors.

The board was set and the pieces were moving. With the plant in his control, Nathan would be one step closer to where he needed to be.

Stamper came over the comm, confirming that the Mandalorians were inbound. The Senator smiled, clasping his hands and waiting for them to dock and arrive. They had done well to honor their agreement this far and if they proved up the task he would more than meet his end of the bargain.

@Rimrald @The Mad Hammer @Mythos

 

[Virgo Armegedon-Lok]

Arriving aboard Oathkeeper, Virgo guided the ship in for docking procedures and set the ship to autopilot while she got ready to depart. With the hiss of the gangplank lowering, she disembarked the ship and made her way toward @Nathan Braxon.

Her Armor was different now, albeit the same armor as before, but no longer adorning the primer it once did. Instead, it was painted a sky blue, reminiscent of the Death Watch of old, but carrying the Badge of th EW. As she made her approach to Nathan, she nodded her head in greeting before removing her helm and letting her platinum hair flow freely from beneath.

"Senator..." She spoke as she took her place for the mission's briefing and set her weapons. "I see the others have yet to arrive." She pointed out casually before pointing out her own curiosity. "How's the Intel looking?"

It was small talk mainly, but Virgo was a stickler for the authenticity and reliance of working intelligence, so she felt the need to lead with that. Would help to pass the time, but also give an inward look into the man's investigative skills as the mission progressed.

 

[Xim Zhan]

The Manda Money docked with ease and Xim Zhan quietly disembarked, his Mandalorian flightsuit swishing about him as he made his way through the ship to the cargo hold. With weapons hanging from his belt and strapped to his thighs, wrist, and back, the man came prepared for trouble and willing and capable of destructive force as needed.

Seeing @Dar'Manda, Xim offered a knowing nod of greeting. He still did not know what sort of opposition they might face, but Xim knew one thing, with the disgraced priestess of Manda on his side, the enemy was in for one hell of a fight. Glancing about, he noted that @Atuu Skirata had yet to arrive. With any luck, the man would bring along a few other Endless Watchers to assist in this venture.

Finally, Xim’s visored gaze fell on @Nathan Braxon, the Senator and underwriter of this little expedition.”Will you be joining us then?” He asked, his eyebrow cocked questioning behind his helm, matching the inflection of his voice as he took in the man’s attire and even his presence aboard the craft.

@Alhon @Rimrald @Mythos

 

[Atuu Skirata]

With his interceptor docked, Atuu made his way from the airlock with his usual equipment on his person and attached his jetpack to his back - who knows when you might need it right?

Finding his way through the halls he would eventually arrive in the cargo area that was serving as a final briefing area. His DW blue paint on his armor, the shriekhawk on his shoulder. He was proud of this group he and the others had reformed. The good work they planned to do, it was all worth taking a moment revel in, but that moment was not now.

"I see I am the last to arrive." Atuu said as he approached the table, clapping Xim on the shoulder and placing a hand on Virgo's shoulder. "Senator." He remarked with a respectful nod.

"Let's hear what the plan looks like on the ground."
@The Mad Hammer @Mythos @Alhon

 

[Nathan Braxon]

Virgo was the first to arrive. Nathan had to admit she cut quite the picture when she removed her helm, platinum hair falling free. He was rarely moved by women, but it happened now and then.

"Favourable" was all he said in reply. He had sensed a fair degree of resistance from her at their first meeting, and he enjoyed not serving up all the details immediately. He would nonetheless have outlined more, but then the others joined them.

Xim Zhan was another symbol of Mandalorian fortitude. Seeing his partners in this venture armed and armoured for battle only made Nathan feel more confident, though the Mando's question made him smile. "Would you like me to?". Xim had also not been an immediate fan of the Senator's proposal, though he respected one who looked out for himself. "I had planned to stay here, where I can direct you best". Taking to the surface, even with his face covered, would be extremely risky.

Atuu finally joined them, the one of their number who had seemed most open to the opportunity he had offered. He welcomed the man.

"The plant is largely automated as you would expect" Nathan began, activating a holographic display. "Built into a cliff side, approachable on three fronts or potentially from above. It's powered primarily from a thermal heat source below".

He flicked a dial on the display and two dozen or so hazy lifesigns appeared on the schematic. "This data is 36 hours old, the only reading we were able to take when we arrived and the orbital alignment was right to permit a scan without detection".

Nathan stood back, cracking his knuckles as he looked at the three of them. "They call them the Night Fangs pirate syndicate. There's at least two dozen of them down there, maybe more if they've had a shift change. They've been running the place for nearly a year, not at capacity but enough to fill their coffers with credits selling droids across the Sector".

Granted there were a lot more of them, but his three collaborators were Mandalorian. They had to count for ten men each. "They don't know we are coming" he added "they believe their location is secret". A deal with his late rival Elspeth Berg had kept them hidden until now, but her knowledge was now Nathan's. "You have the element of surprise" he smirked "and provided you activate this on arrival" he held up a transponder relay "we can use the ship's sensors to give you the edge".

He folded his arms. "I am sure you are going to tell me the plant will be ours within hours?".

@Rimrald @The Mad Hammer @Mythos

 

[Virgo Armegedon-Lok]

She smiled at the Senator's remark before turning to greet her comrades. Xim arrived, rather punctual for once, and Atuu arrived last. Her blind gaze shifted across the Intel as her mind absorbed the information, taking in all metaphysical and emotional aspects as she saw it. It was best to expect at least four dozen just to he safe. She chuckled.

"I'll likely take the high ground..." She slapped the stock of the HB-4 that was slung across her back. "....per the usual."

She then turned a gaze toward ner'vod and offered up her suggestion. "It would be best if I take the front and let you two come in from the sides. Would be an easy task to pick those off that engage the two of you."

Spoiler

@Alhon @Rimrald @The Mad Hammer

 

[Xim Zhan]

Xim shrugged as he stepped forward to accept the sensor, “Not many paying customers come this close to the fight if they don’t want to be in it,” he remarked as he listened to the semblance of a plan taking shape. He seriously doubted this ship would do anything more than monitor, but the idea of orbital bombardment was always one that hovered in the back of his mind.

Secret bases, really a minimal contingency for such a location, “It really depends on how long it takes us to get planetside,” he remarked. The actual siege could be over in minutes, hours, “but I’d be confident to guess we’ll have the mess wrapped up within a standard day.” He remarked before adding an afterthought, “depending on how many other defenses they’ve gotten online.” Pondering silently what sort of weapons emplacements or droid contingency forces a group of pirates like this might just keep for their own uses.

@Alhon @Rimrald @Mythos

 

[Atuu Skirata]

"Under promise, over deliver, Senator. That's one thing I live by..." Attu announced from behind Xim "I would agree we can have this done in a standard rotation, and if we do it faster - all the better, no?" He said with a chipper tone in his voice.

"Any chance you have the capabilities to scan for non-organic beings? I would assume they have some droid contingent working in the factory and I'd hate to scrap your new employees thinking they're combatants... Anything you have on board to get a read on something like that?" He posed the question to the Senator before turning his attention to his fellow mandalorians.

"Virgo taking the front at range, Xim and I hitting them from the sides sounds like a solid enough plan to me." Atuu nodded in agreement with his statement and began to look over his equipment making sure all standard things were on his person and not in his ship.

"Anything else we need to know before we head on down Senator?"

@The Mad Hammer @Alhon @Mythos

 

[Nathan Braxon]

“Perhaps I’ll join you if you’re struggling“ Nathan smiled at Xim. It was a joke, one they hopefully now knew each other well enough to share.

”From what I know, you plan sounds a good one” he commented “as I say, these pirates believe what they are doing here is a total secret. They have been at it over a year; a long time to keep watchmen on top form. It may be they have slipped into a relaxed posture”. In any game, one needed to keep fighting to stay sharp. War and politics had that in common.

He consulted the holo display, altering the setting to show power levels rather than human life signs. It was not a perfect method for tracking droids, but it was clear they only appeared in any numbers on the factory floor.

“Looks like you’ll face mostly men, Atuu” Nathan summarised “they have not been smart enough to reinvest their profits in droid guards. Would have saved them time and manpower, but they are pirates after all. Few of their kind can see over the horizon”.

Nathan nodded to Stamper and the burly man pulled the relevant lever, opening the hatch to a rapid descent escape pod. ”The pod could carry all three of you down, unless you have a better plan” Nathan offered. “It is likely too small to be detected without its beacon activated“.

It would be a rough ride, but what better test of their actual credentials.

@Mythos @The Mad Hammer @Rimrald

 

[Virgo Armegedon-Lok]

Virgo's blinded eyes would shift from the Senator, to Xim, to Atuu, and then back to the Senator before settling back upon the viewscreen that laid out the target and its defenses. Normally, Virgo would be as confident as her ner'vod, relaxed and focused, and likely as cordial as Xim. But not today. She was focused, to say the least, but not relaxed nor cordial. As the others promised it done in a singular rotation, Virgo had her doubts. As of late, things had not gone exactly as planned, and Stolen Flower had been the perfect example. Still, she remained as stoic as ever despite her doubts.

"The plan may be a good one..." Virgo finally spoke as she turned from the holoscreen to the Ejection Pod below. "But rarely do things go as planned." There may have been a lingering jest at the forefront of her tone, but the truth of it still remained in the backdrop of the undertone. "Let us move as if we move against others of our caliber."

The last were lingering words as she climbed into the Ejection Pod, reaching up as she climbed her small form into position and readied herself. They may needed to have acted as if they fought fellow Mandalorians, but no one said they couldn't enjoy the accommodations set forth by the Senator. After all, this was as likely the closest they'd ever get to free falling into war upon the backs of Basilisks. Once Xim and Atuu had climbed aboard, Virgo would give Nathan the nod to release them.

Off they went....

To say the free fall experience was one not for the faint of heart would be a grossly understatement. One could feel the propulsion of the planet's pull in their decent, feel the grip of their seats as gravity took hold of their shell's form against their own as the plummet from space, and just the adrenaline that pumped through their veins as their heart's hastened kept their minds from succumbing to the pressure of that threatened to take their minds to the unconscious realms of their dreams. It was marvelous, mystical, and outright thrilling to experience for anyone, let alone one who saw through the Force.

D20: 14; Mission Successful with Minimal Opposition Hindrance(My only roll for this Mission)

Mere kilometers above the surface of Cuitric IV's second moon, the chute would open and small propulsion of the pod's automatic landing system would level the Pod below sensor range as it fell to its final rest. Once it had, Virgo would unlatch her restraints and climb toward it's hatch as she opened it, seeing the moon's surface as she gazed outward toward the pod's small skid. Looking back, she would make sure that Xim and Atuu were sound before she climbed out and began surveying the area with her mind's eyes. So far, so good. Nothing seemed to say they had alerting anyone.

@The Mad Hammer @Rimrald @Alhon

 

[Xim Zhan]

The ride down was bumpy; although it was no worse than an all but uncontrollable plummet in a shot down fighter. It was a little better though. At least this time they were not on fire. Finally the pod came to a landing with a sudden lurch.

Xim grunted. He felt the impact in his knees. Reaching for his safety straps, he guided them back into the seat behind him before standing up and running his hands about his waist checking his weapons. Satisfied that they were all there, he gently climbed out; his feet sending up a tiny plume of dust as his booted feet hit the ground.

Looking left and right, Xim nodded to his two comrades. “I’ll go left.” He pointed his rifle in the direction of the hills and trees. “Let us know when you’re in place Virgo.”

Setting off, Xim made his way up into the tree. His eyes scanned every tree. His rifle swept the terrain before him. Keying up his comm, Xim notified the Senator, “We’re planet side. Closing in on the target now.”

It took about a half hour of hard walking before the factory became visible down the hill through the trees. Taking up a post behind an aged oak. “I’m in position.”

@Rimrald @Mythos @Alhon