[Mando/Renelo] Kick the rat

[Alora]

Deidra was sitting in the cockpit of her ship, pondering while the bay crew cleared up the hangar bay. She got an assignment from Ral Aran, one she could literally enjoy carrying out. Some crime lord, a scumbag really, but with a lot of human and weapon resources came in contact with the clan Renelo. Somehow the scumbag found out about them. And he offered a deal. Services of the clan in exchange for some information sharing. He had something in his possession, something that triggered both Ral's and Inga's interest. But the offer looked to be more like blackmail. Serve me or I'll deliver you to the Imperium. Mandalorians never took threats lightly and they almost never forgive such things.
- Teach him a lesson, - Ral said to her, when the hologram of the crime lord shimmered and vanished.
And Deidra was glad to. But there also was the subject of information, the crime boss possessed. And the clan needed it as well. It was a series of transmission codes used by cargo caravans of the weapons manufacturers. That’s how the gang leader got his hands on the assortment of weapons in the first place, by listening in to trade info on the comms and intercepting a delivery cargo ships.
So along with Deidra Ral sent out Bardan Kex to infiltrate the gang and get those transmission codes. And maybe find a way of getting hands on the weapons supply as well.
So Kex left for the crime gang's main supply base, which housed their main base of communications as well. Deidra's target laid within the same complex, but it was the gang leader's quarters. "Teach him a lesson" Ral said. She can do that. All she needed was encrypted access code to the service areas of the complex. If Kex could and would find them. So he went off about two days ago. Deidra suspected that he will try to pull this mission off all by himself. But even Ral said that Deidra is a pro when it comes to fear tactics.
When she got "all clear" signal she punched in the accelerator and her ship shot out of the hanger. "Show off" some of the bay crew members said after her, shaking their head in disapproval.
Young Alora was standing at the back of the hangar, watching her aunt depart. She wasn't happy Ral didn't send her on this task. She could do it. But when Deidra said "No" Alora stopped arguing.
Deidra's ship reached the jump point and vanished into the hyperspace.

The flight took just a few hours. She landed her ship well away from the complex, keeping it out of the radar coverage zone. The rest of the way she made on foot. Coming close to the complex she flipped her visor to magnify and looked over the construction. Guards along the walkways on the high steel walls, guards at the gates, both main and minor. She moved her view a bit. There it is. Service hatch, armored one, with a digital lock which inquires an encrypted access combination. That’s her way in. If Kex does his part.
Deidra activated her wrist commlink and sent out a simple signal meaning "in position". If Bardan Kex keeps to the plan, he will send her the access code and she can move in.

 

[Bardan Kex]

Metrak Onnel patrolled the exterior of the Compound's com center, a cushy job and one the aging Mercenary took very seriously. He'd been with the boss since the start, just a fresh thug with a gun. He was a loyal man and that loyalty had paid off as he got older and the boss had taken more power. His route took him by the secondary entrance to the facility, like it always did at this time of day, where normally he'd see nothing out of the ordinary or if he did it would be one of the Comms Operators or another of the mercenaries attempting to have some private time with a slave girl. Today was no different, no one was by the door, and when Metrak check the door it was locked. Satisfied the old man turned, continuing on his rounds. He had missed something though, the faintest of wear marks around the door's control panel.

Bardan Kex cursed silently to himself as he crouched on the other side of the door just out of sight from it's view port. He cursed the door controls that had taken so long to hack, which had nearly gotten him caught, and he cursed the mission as well. Forty-eight hours to set up a false identity, to infiltrate this camp, secure codes and locate the weapons the scum had already taken into their possession. It hadn't been easy and he was more than certain that a number of his 'fellows' were onto his false identity. Worse yet he hadn't properly had time to case the Coms Center's security, though on the plus side he had at least found where they keep the weapons shipments on one of his earlier details. He emerged from crouching behind the door as he heard the old guard walk off. Compared to many military buildings he had been in this one was a maze, re-purposed from various interconnected ranch buildings with attached and remodeled Prefab buildings it seemed a wonder to Kex that anyone was able to navigate the haphazard corridors, perhaps they thought it would assist if they had to defend the location. It seemed however that someone on the staff had figured losing your own personnel was a dumb idea and applied crude marker signs at the junctions. Following the markers Kex would move as swiftly as possible towards the Comms Center's control room, he would do his best to move in a manner that suggested he had somewhere important to be as to not draw too much attention.

"Hey!" called a voice to his side, it was a Guard he had met when he had first arrive and maintained some contact with in order attempt to blend better with his 'companions'. "What are you... Oh, Verrick, what are you doing here?"

"I...was on my way to deliver this to the Comms XO." he'd hastily reply raising the datapad from his hip and showing it to the guard. The other man took the pad and glanced at it when the device chirped.

"Odd normally these are locked from further messages until delivered." the unfortunate Mercenary went to further inspect the device, his eye's widened as he realized it wasn't the same make that was usually carried by runners. "What the he..."

The question was cut off by a swift blow to the man's throat, followed by another grabbing his jacket and pushing the choking man back through the door he had come through. Bringing his leg up and striking out quickly Kex would shatter the man's knee pushing him to the ground, another silent gasp from escaped the man's collapsed windpipe and boot met bone. Hands grabbed the man by his jaw and the back of the head and quickly jerked in opposite directions breaking the guard's neck with a wet, grinding pop. Kex's adrenaline was still up and his heart pumping hard, he'd hoped it wouldn't come to killing just yet. He took note his surroundings, he was in a white tiled lavatory and at one of the sinks stood a man in a maintenance uniform, his jaw was slack and eyes wide in horror. With a sigh, Bardan drew the suppressed slugthrower from under his jacket, he put two through the man's chest and then one through his head for good measure as he lay on the floor. After checking the rest of the room he'd finally look at the message on his datapad.

There was a simple message from Diedra Laar signalling she was in position, he sighed, he should have known better than to try to use the datapad with them running with out comms for the time being. He activated one of the pad's programs sending a simple command to the hatch Diedra waited by, the way was open. A quick coded message from Bardan would confirm it's unlocking on Diedra's HUD.

 

[Alora]

The night came pretty quickly. The sky darkened, shadows swallowing the land. Deidra felt restless. The guards at the complex lit up the lights. Studying the pattern for the half the day, Deidra noticed that they change shifts every 3 hours. Next shift will be in less then half an hour.

When her wrist comm beeped Deidra was slightly surprised. She clicked the button and there she had it - the access codes to the service hatches all over the complex. Kex has done as he was supposed to.

Securing her rifle behind her back, she sprinted towards the complex. The guards there were stupid, lighting only the lights that shined over the inner yard of the complex and small lamps along the perimeter. Deidra slid into the shadows between them and reached for the service hatch. The comm on her wrist beeped softly, sending a short length transmission into the lock. The hatch clicked and slid open. Deidra jumped up, pulling herself into the opened tunnel and closed the hatch behind her. She tapped the comm, sending another short signal to Kex saying "Game time". This meant that she was in and he could go on with whatever he planned for the retrieval of those communication codes. They never worked out any detailed plan, but when discussing it back at their base, they agreed that Kex will take care of the supply depot and communications array, quietly, and Deidra will make a disturbance. But disturbance in her vocabulary was a very wide term.

Taking out her hand gun she switched it to stun mode. And the hunt began.


First one was a an electrician, who came to check the power lines to one of the terminals controlling the lights. He wasn’t found, but he gave Deidra access to any terminal controlling the lighting of the complex.


Second was a lonely guard, who slipped off his post to have a smoke behind the assortment of crates. He vanished just as the first one to be found later hanging from the streetlight pole with his throat cut and his tongue ripped out.


Third was a mechanic. The lights in his workshop flickered and died. And in five minutes a screech boomed over the complex. The poor di'kut stumbled out of his shop, screaming and waving his hands around madly. His clothes were covered in blood. When the pair of guards managed to grab him and pull him down, he stared at them with empty eye sockets and kept screaming with tongueless mouth. He coughed blood, clearly in danger of choking himself to death. He kept mumbling something which could not be comprehended except a single word - "monster".


When the alarms went off and guards jumped out of their bunks and poured into the yard, Deidra was watching them from the shadows. A wicked smile was on her face, hidden under the helmet. Now, when the guards were pouring into the yard, looking for some beast, she needed to find her way into the leader's quarters.