Open Sesame

[Azar Torsin]

Azar Torsin was back at it again with Lucian along for the ride. What could go wrong? It wasn't like anyone would be swallowing their tongues or anything. Oh wait, no that was a distinct possibility. Azar could only hope that things would go better on this operation, but he wasn't counting on it. Though, if he were being fair, the two of them had been quite effective in their operation.

The rumor had it (and by rumor, he really meant Republic intelligence) that Mr. Borsodi, the owner of the estate, was a wealthy businessman who was supporting Cartel operations directly and receiving a nice kickback of his own. Included in that kickback were a number of smuggled goods and illicit items that shouldn't have belonged to him. The Jedi were going to be allowed to keep whatever Jedi items they discovered and would return everything else to the Republic. Rumor had it there were all sorts of items including spice, stolen art, expensive foods, and other items that could fetch a high price.

The Jedi were here to ruin their day.

Azar was no fool, though, and was more than aware that their attempts at a break-in had very little chance of remaining discreet. The Cartel's smuggled goods run through here. He keeps them in a vault in his basement, which means... he glanced over at Lucian ...we're going to need a way to his basement. The average person might have needed a vault cracker, but that was what Azar carried a lightsaber for.

And the compound is its own militarized zone, he said. Droids and Cartel enforcers patrol the entire premises and he is on constant lockdown in there. No one in or out without appointment, he said.

So our work should be cut out for us, he sighed, ducking back behind a rock on the hill overlooking the compound. If nothing else, at least the mini-fortress wasn't on high ground. They all knew how high ground could instantly end a fight. @Nefieslab

 

[Lucian Volante]

Lucian had to admit that chasing down Cartel members? Well he was beginning to get a bit of a taste for it. There was something to be said about being able to go out, kick down someone's door and fight him to the point where he was unconscious... and have literally half the Galaxy seem to think you were something of a hero for it. Seriously, he remembered a quote that summed it up pretty nicely actually, from some holovid he'd seen at some point.

"It's... strange. Maybe. But who am I to judge?"

So long as tongues stayed attached and in mouths? It was going to be far from the strangest mission he had ever been on, even if he only included the missions he had gone on with Azar himself. Seriously, that had been strange in the extreme and he hoped that it never happened again.

But this was a smuggling ring so he expected to find other unsavoury things.

Huh.

"Well alright then."

Reaching down into the duffel bag he had brought with him, he held up two objects... a line launcher that would allow them to rappel down and a manual grappling hook in case they wanted to try sneaking down there and leaving now trace.

"You want to glide on down there or scale the walls?" he asked with a small frown, "Because I could go for any option really - no preference."

He paused before adding,

"Though I would prefer not to go in through the front door."

@Phoenix

 

[Azar Torsin]

Azar looked down at the estate below them, and then over at the equipment that Lucian had brought with them. They had a couple of options, but Azar wasn't particularly feeling like doing the over-the-wall climbing. But then, they had the issue of being much more visible with the slick-slider. The sun was setting now and the world was growing dark, but he wasn't sure it was dark enough that the two of them would be invisible.

Should probably go the old fashioned way, he grumbled, looking at the manual grappling hook. He grabbed one for himself and waited until the sky was fully dark and darted down the slope toward the base of the wall. He peered up, tossing it through the air and guiding it with the Force until it latched onto the top of the wall. He yanked several times to ensure it was secure before planting a foot against the wall and hoisting himself up.

His bits gripped the wall, but halfway up, his boots gave way against the wall, scraping noisily down the side but not seemingly alerting anyone. He gave it another go until he hoisted himself to the top of the wall, gripping the hook before dropping to the ground on the other side, crouching behind the hedge.

There was no sign of anyone nearby, but there were other people inside. He knew because he could sense others. Perhaps not their precise locations, but numerous people. And there were probably droids as well, which would be harder to sense. What could go wrong? @Nefieslab

 

[Lucian Volante]

The old fashioned way was the way Lucian had been hoping to avoid using if he was being entirely honest with himself. He wasn't much of a dab hand at throwing the damn things and he very much preferred that his tech come with a damn good instruction guide other than "swing and then release". But that was Azar's call and Lucian didn't think that using the line launchers would actually provide a better way in anyway.

They were a little bit loud when they punched into walls to secure themselves.

He collected his own manual grappling hook with a small sigh before hurrying up to catch up with Azar. The other Jedi threw his manual grappling hook first and Lucian waited as he climbed - wincing slightly when he realised that there had been some noise. Thankfully it drew no one so Lucian wound up and threw his own grappling hook.

Lucian would swear, to his dying day, that there hadn't been any windows anywhere near the wall when he threw the grappling hook - but it didn't matter because his grappling hook still sailed perfectly through the air to shatter a window before Lucian, wide eyed and frantic, was able to secure it by pulling it back. In the end it didn't matter and Lucian scrambled up the wall and rope like a scolded cat.

"I hate stealth missions."

He wasn't a Shadow - he flew spaceships at the enemy for the Force's sake! Chatter from the guards around the corner ahead of them let them know that they were not going to be alone for long. Indeed, there was even the distinctive movement sound of some Hutt H1 droids coming their way.

Time to think of a game plan quickly before they arrived.

Spotting an entrance, Lucian hurried to it and slammed the open button... which did not work. Which meant they were without an immediate exit right now.

@Phoenix

 

[Azar Torsin]

Azar winced as the grappling hook went flying through the window and shattered it. He could see the window from his side, but it would have been out of Lucian's view, and by the time Azar saw it fly through the window, it was too late to stop it.

They hate you, too, he said before leaping up and making his way over to the same door that Lucian was trying. It didn't budge, and Azar could hear the droids around the corner as well, which was not a good sign. He pulled his knife out and wedged it into the control panel, scraping at the wires and sparking them together. It wasn't really working...

Buy me some time? he asked, looking at Lucian before going back to making an attempt at the door that was proving quite unsuccessful. It was appearing as though this was going to be a wholly unsuccessful stealth mission. And of course, he blamed Lucian. @Nefieslab

 

[Lucian Volante]

Buy him some time?

Well, Lucian supposed that things could probably not get much worse so it was probably time for some good luck for them right? Grabbing one of the manual grapples, he swung it a few times before launching it up and into the air with the assistance of the Force, sending it sailing over the building to crash down on the opposite side of the building.

There was a small pause in the movement of the enemies... before the sound of the droids moving away was heard, though the sentient guards were still coming. That wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination.

Swearing lightly under his breath, Lucian used the Force to grab a sturdy metal crate and place it at the wall beside the door, ducking behind it as he did so. As it was, the crate was large enough that although the guards had turned the corner expecting to find someone... they actually found no one there waiting for them.

"If you could crack the door open?"

He held his stun pistol at the ready in his left hand and his lightsaber ready to be ignited in his right. Keeping an eye on the enemies, he noted how they were beginning to cautiously check the area.

"That would be great."

@Phoenix

 

[Azar Torsin]

Azar continued to pull at the wires, trying more and more emphatically to get the door open. This was not going well. He was getting frustrated and his blood pressure was going up every moment. He could feel his heart pounding and was vaguely aware of the guards coming up behind them. Shut up, he growled as he continued trying, trying not to let himself become distracted and being a bit unfriendly about it. So, he wasn't perfect.

He couldn't seem to catch a break. The door wouldn't budge, so Azar let out a huff and stepped back from the door and did something a bit more dramatic.

He gripped his saber and pressed the end of the hilt against the door controls. He thumbed the switch as quickly as he could. The blade hissed out and back in rapidly, but it wasn't silent. The door slid open for them and he slipped inside and out of sight, hoping Lucian would follow. Oh, this was going to go poorly. He just knew it.... but there was no one. No sign of guards anywhere and Azar let out a sigh, but didn't relax yet as they tried to stay ahead of the patrolling guards. @Nefieslab

 

[Nard Mores]

Nard's Thunderslug Pulse Pistol was already in his right hand despite the seventeen guards being en route to the disturbance elsewhere in the mansion. His wolf-like mouth opened, ready to interrupt Mr. Borsodi whenever the fat human was done in his tirade "Svallos promised me I'd not be affected by the war!" the human cried as he hurriedly stuffed personal trinkets in his bag. Nard sighed and shook his head, "Where's your ledger," the Shivastenen merely replied, much to the chagrin of the human. "You cartel thugs are all the same! You don't even care about my safety-" his voice broke in panic and depressing realization, "-only my ledger that implicates the other Hutt-aligned businessmen."

Now, Nard grinned, baring his wolf-like large teeth as he raised his blaster, "Smart piggy."

Now, mr. Bosodi startled and dropped his bag in favor of stumbling backwards and falling right over it. "You get it once I'm safe!" he cried, tears already running down his eyes. The cartel enforcer, however, didn't seem impressed. "You said this place was a fortress, yet you want to run with only that little bag?"

The human businessman's eyes widened, "Please-" he wasn't above begging, "-take me with you."

The shivastenen cartel enforcer stopped grinning, "No." A single shot from the thunderslug ended mr Bosodi's life as it struck him right in the chest. Immediately Nard dashed towards the body and the man's bag, searching them for a quick moment until he found the ledger, an encrypted datapad. He knew from the concentration of shifting guards that the intruders were on the other side of the building still, so with the ledger in hand he went the other way to the garage.

He met some guards along the way, but they all knew he was the cartel enforcer send by Svallos as protection detail and let him pass without delay. "There's intruders in the mansion!" Nard growled, "Get them!"

With at least thirty guards, both sentient and droid, Nard had never expected intruders to live as long as they already did. It seemed impossible to breach the compound yet it still happened. At least with the ledger there'd only be a few shipments lost and the supply route itself wouldn't be in danger.

By the time the intruders would reach mr Bosodi's corpse he'd be long gone. It was a hard measure, but if he was made by opposing forces in the war they'd be coming from him until they'd have him in custody and his ledger in possession. Neither would happen today if Nard had anything to say about it.

@Phoenix @Nefieslab

 

[Darren Romulus Reed]

"...and thats," Darren showed his cards "...is a Vermillion Rush, meaning," the gambler scooped the credits off the table and over to his side "...I win again." he cracked a smile at Handeep Borsodi, who harrumphed to himself and snapped his fingers for a drink, whilst Darren Reed dashed a sly wink at Mrs. Borsodi whilst nobody was looking. The younger Borsodi, and heir to the family fortune, and his charming mother had been playing cards with Darren for some time now, in one of the mansions many entertainment rooms.

As he laid out the deck for the next hand, his entertainment was ruined by the sound of a Thunderslug going off in Mr. Borsodi lounge, shattering the gentle atmosphere that he had been fostering for so long. The shot was fired, sounds of the rushed stamping of guards, and Darren rolled his eyes, standing up and picking up his drink. "Everything was going so well," he mumbled to himself, taking a sip of his drink and handing it a waiting droid "...hold this would you?" he asked rhetorically.

"Try not to die." Darren suggested helpfully to the remaining Borsodi' who looked at him in horror. "How?!" the son whimpered, Darren just shrugged, turning down the lounges gentle jizz music, and lighting a stim. It was going to be an interesting afternoon.

Walking out of the lounge, stim hanging out of his mouth, he drew one of his pistols and headed to the direction of the gunshot, to find Nard Mores standing next to the bosses body, gun in hand. "Seriously?" he sighed, deciding to leave the minor issue of murdering their paymaster to one side in light of the current intruder situation "You 'aint going anywhere pal," he shook his head at the Basadi "...you've a job to do, just like the rest of us. Let's take care of these intruders." Darren instructed, spitting out his stim and stamping on it, drawing his sword as he did so with his free hand.

"Capiche?" he asked.

OOC - Gear as in profile.

 

[Lucian Volante]

Great - they were in!

Not so great - some kind of commotion further inside the compound and home seemed to have people in some kind of an uproar. He couldn't tell what exactly because they weren't in the same immediate area as any of the guards or droids. He could feel the swell and surge of emotions in the area however.

"... I don't think this is for us." he mused aloud, lightsaber in his right hand and pistol in the left at the ready as he and Azar stood behind the wall of the doorway, "I think something has stirred up the hornet's nest."

Sighing a little bit, Lucian ignited the lightsaber and took the safety off of the blaster pistol in his hand as he began to channel the Force, preparing himself to use it.

"I'm not taking the chance that they won't find us." he remarked as he edged to the corner and glanced around it, finding the area empty for now and beginning to move from the cover of the doorway to an archway closer to the door leading down to the basement, "It's alright if you blame me for this, you know. Won't hold it against you. Honest."

Despite his words, Lucian was on edge, ready to respond should anyone stumble across them, ready to react to defend himself and counter attack.

@Phoenix @Nor'baal @Ecclessey

 

[Azar Torsin]

Something bothered the back of Azar's mind and then there was shouting and commotion within. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was sure it wasn't good for the two Jedi. His saber hilt was still gripped in his hand as he slipped in further. He felt the cold presence of death nearby that he was all too familiar with, and knew something bad was happening within. Was the Cartel fighting itself? Was there someone else here?

Good, because I do blame you, he muttered insincerely. Within moments, he had followed Lucian until he saw a group of people. Some of them were playing cards and one seemed to be yelling at the other. He wasn't sure who or what it was, but the Force moved darkly around one of them, and Azar wondered if he wasn't the one who had just killed someone.

We need to clear out some of these guards, he said. Any ideas how to draw them away? he asked. Perhaps Mr. Blasters could open fire and lead them on a merry chase. He wasn't sure, but it wasn't out of the question. He also wasn't opposed to new and better ideas. @Nor'baal @Ecclessey @Nefieslab

 

[Nard Mores]

Nard frowned at the cartel vigo who just happened to be there while guarding a fence was usually far beneath them, although it was Darren Reed who was one of Nem'ro lieutenants before the latter's retirement. Figures he'd need base level cash with his gambling addiction. Still, Vigo or not, clearly he didn't understand how this worked. This was a cartel world and if one smuggling operation was brought to a halt there'd be others waiting in line to take over.. that was the assurance of work that criminal empires were built on.

Wait a minute, Nard just realized that Darren Reed was a member of the Syndicate and that sub-faction of the cartel had been trying to overthrow Svallos for years. "You're the boss, mister Reed-" Nard said -seemingly dismissive- and tossed the datapad over to the cartel Vigo, just as the latter drew his vibro-sword with his free hand while also stamping out (and thus looking at) his stim. All of that was to take away from the fact that Nard -at the same time- aimed his thunderslug pistol at the Vigo and shot twice from the hip at the unprotected stomach.

Nard was going to report the loss of a fence, but he wasn't going to do it by dying trying to fend off whoever dared attack the compound. You don't attack a fortified compound outnumbered and none of the guards had reported in having shot the intruders. That was a bad sign and Nard wasn't planning to get shot in some Republic raid.

@Nor'baal @Phoenix @Nefieslab

 

[Darren Romulus Reed]

Darren acted the moment the Cat-like creature moved to throw the datapad at him, his superior reflexes enabling him to sidestep the datapad - which skittered across the floor as Darren took two rapid steps to his right, avoiding the thunderslug shots.

As he moved, he fired three shots at blinding speed toward the Basadii, moving forward to close the distance between them as he did so, and lashing his vibroblade up, at first across the man's weapon hand, coming at it from Ners left, and then further still, sending the thin blade slicing in a cutting motion into the cat creatures lower jaw.

If the shots didn't kill him, distracted as he would be by dodging them, the blade would end the Basadis short career in seconds.

 

[Nard Mores]

Nard had never seen someone move that fast and perhaps in a combat-setting that wouldn't have surprised him, but this guy hadn't even been looking his way. His own shots missing had only barely registered when the first of Darren's shots burned away Nard's armor at his mid-rif, causing Nard to frantically pull the trigger three times while the other two shots of the cartel vigo burned its way through his ribcage. Unbeknownst to him, Darren would have a hard time blocking the first bolt, again aimed at the man's stomach, as even his incredible reflexes and speed had its limits. The Shivastenen would've most likely lost his hand before he could pull the trigger the third time.

Nard had never wanted to fight, but when the Vigo put himself in between Nard's safe escape and a battlefield he had seen no other option that to try his luck against the vigo. Unfortunately Darren Reed's fast cat-like reflexes were faster for the old wolf and he died unceremoniously.

@Nor'baal @Phoenix @Nefieslab

 

[Lucian Volante]

Thankfully... there were no guards.

There was something going on, some great, dramatic, moment he was sure, but the end result was that there were no guards around to stop Lucian and Azar as they entered the basement area. Lightsaber and blaster at the ready, Lucian needed neither as he was free to collect a small backpack that he filled with the contents of a small pile of miscellaneous items that had, of all things, a label nearby identifying them as "Jedi Stuff".

By the Force he hoped that at least some people viewed Jedi artefacts and the like with some respect in the underground smuggling world.

Loaded up, Lucian would still be ready to fight but he would shrug at Azar as they left the basement again to head on out of the house complex as a whole, heading for the side fence.

"Is it bad that I expected more tongues?"

It was probably very bad.

/Thread Exit Attempt
@Phoenix @Nor'baal @Ecclessey

 

[Azar Torsin]

Something in the back of Azar's mind felt wrong. He felt the cold chill of death and looked over at Lucian. No, he didn't think he wanted to keep moving. Something about this was wrong.

Azar wasn't one who was afraid of a fight, but something about this just set him off the wrong way, and he hadn't made it this long by ignoring his gut. No, this fight wouldn't be worth it. They could come back a different day to get what they wanted.

They're inside, he quipped, glancing back before heading for the fence. He had Lucian's back and waited for the two to leave, planning to make his way out if all was clear.

//Exit

 

[Darren Romulus Reed]

The fight was over quickly, ith Nard falling to the ground - Darren easily avoiding the sporadic gunfire of the dying man, his Cantonican Duelling Armour absorbing the force of the one shot that did make its mark. He would nee to replace the armour for sure, but it was by no means a fatal shot. As the Wolf-Creature died, he scooped up the dataslate, and heading out of the room to the nearby balcony overlooking one of the side-fences.

Pouring himself a drink, he noticed the two men heading to exit, and sighed.

He just couldn't be bothered. Raising the glass to the escaping men, Darren allowed them to leave unhindered.

// Endthread (as everyone has exited)