Thats no monkey lizard...

[Diocletian Solus]

Location: Nar Shaddaa

Participants: @Critas @Werde

Prompt: Nar Shaddaa is up in flames, and it's our job to make sure it stays that way! Some of the Hutts kept gladiatorial arenas across the moon, and these were often stocked with the worst beasts imaginable! Set these beasts free to run wild on the streets and feast on Imperial peacekeepers! But beware, you might have to fight your way out yourself!

Diocletian had lived on Nar Shaddaa for almost four years at this point. He was familiar with the people and the various factions across the city through personal experience. There had been fights and deals through those four years that taught him a lot about the Smugglers Moon. One of the main lessons he learned was that the Hutts loved their toys. Their main form of entertainment was the gladiatorial arenas. They would have competitions to see who could have the most exotic pets to fight in their arena. Many of their personal menageries were quite the spectacle.

Dio knew that Loobey the Hutt, his old nemesis, had a fairly large stable on the moon. Loobey and Dio had recently butted heads when Dio had attacked one of his unauthorized holding facilities to free a friends son. That mission had gone off without a hitch and allowed Dio and his co-conspirators to get away without being identified. It had not been too hard to squeeze the random Hutt employees to find out where Loobey kept his gladiatorial animals. It was in an industrial sector of Nar Shaddaa that was known for the keeping and maintenance of such creatures.

Dio stood in an abandoned tenement across the street from the entrance to the stable. He had been watching the facility for the past few hours and had figured out their routine. The Hutt employees that worked there all appeared injured in various ways after leaving the building. There was even two instances where emergency medical services had been called that day. Whatever Loobey had in there, it was a certainly a hand full. Dio looked at the chron on his wrist and shook his head, Vala was late, as usual. He really hoped this was not going to become a habit. He considered reaching out to her but really had little time for the inevitable excuses, generally regarding her pet monkey lizard and some sort of shenanigans.

 

[Vala Solus]

Vala loved taking her swoop bike, a 67-X Stormcloud, out for a spin on this moon. Unlike her home world of Mandalore, the artificially created terrain of Nar Shaddaa presented a more unique challenge of twists and turns when throttling full speed between the city levels and towering spires. And unlike the freighter, this actually fits! She hadn’t been on the Smuggler’s Moon very long, but as she winded through the city she could immediately see that whatever was going on certainly was not normal. There were fires, explosions, gang fights in the streets. It was chaos, and she and the rest of the Mandalorians had made it their mission to continue to fan the flames.

She could easily do this for hours, but this time she was already late meeting her brother and she could already hear his grumbling in her head. He was a consummate professional, but she seemed to have embraced a more wild and carefree life philosophy. He’d forgive her tardiness though, at least this time she left her pet monkey lizard Edee back on her star ship. Valan landed the swoop a few clicks away from the rendezvous point in a narrow alley, then quickly secured a an artfully battered-looking tarp over it to make it less conspicuous. It wasn’t perfect camouflage, but it certainly just looked like all the garbage and debris scattered all around it. This really was a filthy city.

Vala jogged the rest of the way, even in her beskar’gam, she made quick work of it and soon found herself darting into the abandoned tenement Dio had sent her the coordinates to. She was really excited her brother would take her on a mission. He had tried to hard in the past to keep her out of his business no matter how hard she pushed, but something had changed since she decided to drop in on him unexpectedly and ended up making something of a rough rescue. Maybe now he thought she was finally ready.

She let out a short distinctive whistle, it was only somewhat muffled by her helmet, but she knew he’d recognize it. Last thing she wanted was to be mistaken for a hostile and have to dodge blaster fire as she rounded the corner. Vala spotted Dio standing off to the side of a window, surveying the stables across the street. “I know… I know… I’m late, you should see all the crazy osik happening out in the city!”

@Critas

 

[Diocletian Solus]

Diocletian didn’t turn around as he heard his sister pounding up the stairs like a Rancor in heat. Then again maybe he was a bit too sensitive. He had been on missions like this many times, but she had not. She was still green around the edges and the seams on her armor still smelled new. He had to remind himself to take it easy on her, but he also knew that she was a Mandalorian and no Sith would take it easy on her. He had multiple old injuries that reminded him of his folly when it came to Sith to allow him to go easy on her.

Continuing to look through his binoculars, he rested a hand on his helmet where it sat on his belt. The twin Jaig Eyes painted there marking him as someone of note. The rank insignia of a Field Marshall was painted on his left shoulder. He was wearing his usual modified heavy beskar’gam with all of his modifications running at one hundred percent efficiency. He had his Shriek-Hawk rifle attached to a two-point harness on the front of his torso and his bowcaster slung across his back. A Strill blaster rode in a low holster on his right thigh and a bandoleer of grenades hung across his torso from right shoulder to left hip. A basic tool kit hung on his hip opposite the Strill and the hilt of a well-used vibro knife jutted up from his left greave.

As Vala approached he said simply and to the point, “You are late…” Not allowing for any real response, he continued. “The target is across the street. I have no idea what we will face when we go in there. There is the front entrance and two side entrances, one on each side of the building. There is no rear entrance or underground. How should we proceed?”

There it was, the question she knew he would answer. It was her time to show big brother that she had paid attention in tactics and could take a situation and map out a stratagem. He waited patiently, continuing to observe the building through the binoculars as his sister spoke.

@Werde

 

[Vala Solus]

Vala went to stand beside her brother, following his gaze out the window. She lacked her own binoculars, so she unfastened the A-10 Long Rifle from her bandoleer and dropped to a knee to look out of the weapon’s magnified scope. As she considered the tactical question he posed to her, she studied the target building, watching to see if there was anything else they would need to factor into their plan.

“Well, the goal is to cause as much chaos as possible, right? If this was a stealth mission, the tactically correct choice would likely be to pick one of the side entrances. But if we’re here to make a mess… let’s make a kriffing mess.”

She relaxed the rifle and stood back up, glancing over Dio’s kit and visible equipment. Good, he has grenades. “I mean, if the other entrances have computerized locks, I can slice them and we can funnel everything into a singular direction.”

Vala almost giggled cheerfully, “… or we can throw grenades at them, for maximum boom.”

The young Mandalorian wasn’t sure her brother was going to appreciate her mirth right at this moment. She already knew what he was likely thinking, and that all of this really was a test to see just how she’d do in the field. Truthfully, she wasn’t so sure herself. Vala believed she knew what her strengths were, and the rest… well, either I’ll figure all of it out or die trying. She wanted to show him, and the Clan, that she was capable. But more importantly, she didn’t want him to think of her as a liability.

“In the spirit of me not making a terrible choice that will kill us all, why don’t you decide what you want me to do. After all, you’re the field marshal.” She knew he couldn’t see the smirk hidden under her helmet, but she expected a smack for her teasing tone nonetheless.

@Critas

 

[Diocletian Solus]

Diocletian lowered the binoculars from his eyes and put them back in the case he had on the floor. He didn’t speak as he did so, waiting for several moments. He pulled his helmet from his belt loop and placed it on his head, attaching chin strap and comms cable at his neck. Turning he nodded to her and activated his comms, “Very well, lets test your theory. The south side of the building has an access door. If the beasts depart in that direction they will be easily corralled and contained. Same for the North side of the building.”

He paused for a moment, watching her reaction to his modification of her observations into a workable plan. “So, it appears we would be best served to split up, each take a side door and funnel our destructive friends towards the main doors. Then they will have access to the street more readily and cannot be corralled in an alley. I will take the North side and blow the front doors upon entry. You make your way to the animal cages and free our friends.”

Dio started walking towards the staircase down to the ground level. Once there he paused in the shadows of the doorway and then pointed to the south alleyway and then to Vala. With that last instruction given, he slid into the shadows to the front of the abandoned tenement. He skulked through the shadows, keeping low and making his way to the edge of the building. Then with a quick motion, he sprinted across the empty street to the North alley and disappeared into it. Raising his Shriek-Hawk to the high ready, he quickly cleared the alley of threats and then moved to the side door on the North end of the building.

Dio reached the door and pulled out his tool kit he kept attached to his belt. A misspent youth in the Underworld of Keldabe assisted his knowledge of how to slice a door. It took him longer than it probably took Vala but that was not his particular specialty. After several moments and more than a few whispered curse words in several languages, the door did signal it was unlocked. Dio opened the door in one quick movement and slid inside, closing the door behind him. He dropped to a crouch and looked around the room.

It was hot in the room, hot on a scale that took Dio’s breath away slightly. Looking to the South he could see the door Vala had entered was closed but he knew she was inside. He quickly scanned the area to the West where he knew she would be working to liberate the menagerie of the Hutt but could not see her. He would have been surprised if he had been able to, Sulla had trained both to of them and he knew she was good.

Turning he made his way to the front doors. There were two guards there on duty, both seemed to be much more interested in the insides of their eyelids than guarding the doors. They were there to make sure no one got in to disturb the animals, them getting out was not on their minds at all. Dio dropped down behind a crate and waited for a sign from Vala that the animals had been released. Then the guards would get a wake up call like they had not experienced before.

@Werde