The Droids We're Looking For (Dominion Mission)

[Bardan Kex]

The Beviin Orar, Roche Asteroid Field

The bridge of the ship was alive with activity as the frigate navigated the Asteroid Belt that the Verpine called home, helmsmen worked to follow the Verpine fighter sent to guide them in while sensor operators kept a keen eye out for any sudden displacement of one of the large astral build ups. Comms officers remained in constant contact with both their escort and the colony of Korpil, the source of their prize. Beside him the ships captain sat as still, and as silent, as the grave. To Bardan it seemed as though the man barely even bothered to breath, the only source of movement coming from his unhelmeted head as his eyes darted around the bridge. "I can read the situation better with out one of those damned-able HUDs." he'd said when asked by one of the other new comers to the ship about the habit, for his part Bardan had just shrugged, too each their own. The former Jedi Knight stood silently beside the Captain, his gaze drifting back to the now not so empty void, though he found himself staring past the fighter, past the rocks and ice as his thoughts drifted. He thought briefly of home as they drifted, of his two children and his wife, he thought of how this was the first time in recent months he'd been able to leave the Mandalore System. While many of the other House leaders had been to war or on various assignments in the name of the Dominion, he'd found himself running logistics and assisting his aunt in supervising production on Kalevala. Punishment from Mand'alor he knew, for losing the bet of who would be the first of the friends to marry. Foolishly he'd bet on Caed.

"Duke Kryze." he heard the Captain say and turn his head to the man, he hadn't looked away from the view port. "We'll be anchoring in a few minutes, I'll begin prepping the Marev."

"Very good Captain." he replied, turning from the spot and striding from the bridge, thoughts of things other than the mission pushed far from his mind.


-----

As expected the flight from the Beviin Orar had been brief and uneventful, though at the Captain's insistence the two Galaar fighters remaining from the ship's typical complement had made the brief trip in escort. "Only fitting for a dignitary of your status." the Captain had insisted, to Bard it reeked of unnecessary pomp. The Duke stood adjusting his fur cloak, more pomp but that he could abide, he'd worn one like it since Ral had found him. The man had insisted. He looked around the interior of the craft as it set down on its landing struts, helmeted eyes falling on familiar members of his House Hold Guard and the unfamiliar new comers, the test pilot Serena Rau and Ji'Kel Vizsla, also a former Jedi, who'd volunteered to come along. He nodded to them all as he made his way down the line towards the slowly descending ramp.

-----

With the formalities out of the way the party was lead to another portion of the hangar, where a small bulk lifter was awaiting being loaded. At the base of the transport were four large crates, unmarked save for the sigil of the manufacturer. Before he could speak they were directed to the side, where three rather large objects sat under cover. The lead Verpine, Director Nalikilli snapped her claws and two of her workers ran forth, pulling the covers from the objects. Over their shared comms he heard several of his men draw in a sharp breath and heard Serena Rau let out a low whistle.

"As requested three initial Prototypes, and I took the liberty of having four more prepared but left unassembled, to familiarize your teams as they go over the plans." as if on cue one of her underlings stepped forward with a case, opening and presenting it. A datacard sat safely with in, Bard hardly noticed it however.

"They're magnificent Director." he said, taking several steps forward and placing a gloved hand on one of the large War Droids. He signaled for one of the other Mandalorian's to secure the case. "They match the legends nicely."

"You are too kind Duke." the insectoid responded in a raspy hiss-like voice with a brief but showy bow.

"You may begin loading them." he said, turning back to the Verpine.

The test pilot broke ranks and approached one of the War Droids, her gloved hand running along its surface. "So this is a Basilisk..."


@Kori Buor @Dark Lord Kyle

 

[René]

It had been a while since Ji'Kel had been on a Dominion mission; well, and official one at least. It was an honor for him to be serving under the command of the Duke of House Kryze, and to be transporting the recreated Basilisk War Droids of the past. The Chiss had initially wanted to introduce himself personally, however he knew from experience that his background and reputation proceeded him most places he went. The other test pilot that was there, Serena Rau, the SuperCommando had never met nor heard of. She was sketchy, that was to be sure.

Finally, the shipent had arrived. While the Verpine leader discussed it with the Duke, Ji'Kel watched Serena carefully as she inspected one of the Basilisk Droids. For whatever reason, the Force was giving him bad vibes about the woman. He loosed his DP-09s in their holsters, before walking over near the the Duke and examining one of the magnificent pieces of true art for himself.

"Magnificent, aren't they? All the power... it's incredible."

@Bardan Kex

 

[Bardan Kex]

"Very much so, legends brought to life." He would say to the test pilot, feeling a brief unease in the force around her person. The Verpine went to work as they were instructed, their machines fire to life, their loaders moving to get the crates managed and on board the short hauler. Director Nalikilli stood close at hand, bemused and deeply flattered by the reaction of the three Mandalorians. Bardan cocked his head the direction of the other former Jedi as he spoke, vocalizing what they all felt. He nodded his agreement with the man, "They could be quite the boon."

He inspected the war mounts, particularly their nose mounted weapon systems, the cannons and missile launchers mounted there the primary source of the war machines power. He was very excited to see them in action as he oversaw testing on Kalevala. "Only the Blaster Cannons are presently in operation." Nalikilli said as she stepped closer to the trio, "Well those and the claws." His eyes turned to the massive talons, the horrors they could inflict already shaping in his head. "Anyway, if the three of you are ready we can run you through their operation."

------

The three of them were lead away while the Hauler was loaded, each of them given a run down of the capabilities of the Basilisks and the method of piloting. It was surprisingly similar in operation to a starfighter, the controls mostly the same. The biggest difference was the linking of pilot and machine, the Basilisks being droids, had rudimentary brains. They were bestial in nature from what he'd read on the originals and the project details as they'd been fed to him over the long months, it allowed a bond to form between pilot and droid not unlike that of a hound and its master. If the hound was a several thousand pound war machine armed to the teeth.

Each of them were run through what rudimentary simulators they Verpine had developed for their own test pilots, it made their stay longer than he would have initially liked, how ever it would allow for them to begin getting a feel for them before they began the initial evaluation. Each of them able to bring an expertise to the field, Rau representing those Mandalorians with a proficiency in fighter craft, while Vizsla and to a lesser degree Bardan himself, were here to represent the steadily rising numbers of Force Sensitives in the Dominion.

-----

Hours later, Beviin Orar

The area was alive with activity as a select portion of the frigate's crew worked in hand with the Verpine to secure their cargo for transport, crates with the incomplete War Droids were securely stowed away, while the three completed models were tied down in inactivity before being covered. The Marev and its massive wings shielding them further from view. Bardan stood watching the commotion from one of the gantries the guard with the datacard and Ji'kel standing beside him.

"Now for the hard part, getting them home." he patted the two men on their shoulders. "The hanger will remain under guard as get underway."

Serena Rau had been dismissed by the Duke the moment they'd made it back aboard the ship, she'd pushed herself hard in the brief amount of time they'd spent at the controls of the simulated war droids and it had only left her with a burning desire to more with them, and so the Duke had sent her to try and get some sort of rest. She was excited beyond belief that she'd been selected to test these droids, out of all the pilots in the Dominion, her! She was so excited she didn't notice the person slip into the refresher behind her, quietly and remove the dataspike from her helmet.

"I have it." said the voice of the intruider as they slipped back out unnoticed. "We'll be underway shortly."

"Confirmed, we'll be waiting."


@Dark Lord Kyle

 

[René]

The simulation that the Verpine had designed for the majestic war machines was very helpful for Ji'Kel, as it allowed him to get a feel for the ancient "beasts", if one would call them that. The combination of his Force sensitivity and relatively good piloting skills allowed the SuperCommando to get into a groove quickly, figuring out the various mechanisms and they way in which the Basilisks flew. He noticed Rau seemed very eager, even for a Mandalorian seeing the war droids for the first time. She even begged to spend more time on the simulation, although the Chiss could feel iritation coming from the Duke as the process used up more time that could have been spent getting the droids to the testing grounds.

Ji'Kel was no fool; he actually doubted that nobody would try to attack them and sabotage or steal the Mandalorians' precious cargo; whether they be spies or pirates, it didn't matter. He was in a state of perpetual hightened sensitivity, unlike the pilot Serena, who was so jumpy that the Duke dismissed her. Even though Bardan wanted the hangar under guard and Ji'Kel was probably the best person for that job, he sent the Duke a telekinetic message: I'm worried about Rau. I'm going to tail her. If she isn't a spy, she's certainly the perfect target for stealing information.

With that, the Chiss followed the pilot, and stopped just before turning a corner in he direction of the refresher.

"We'll be underway shortly."
"Confirmed, we'll be waiting."

The SuperCommando heard the two voices over a comm, and immediately realized whatever it was, it probably wasn't anything good for the Mandalorians. To alert Bardan, Ji'Kel sent a flare of emotion through the Force as a signal to the Duke, before jumping around the corner, lightsaber in hand. In a brilliant flash of yellow, the intruder's arm dropped to the floor as they screamed in pain. As they dropped to the ground against a wall, the Mandalorian muttered,

"Well what do we have here? I hope I won't have to torture you too much for answers..."

@Bardan Kex

 

[Bardan Kex]

He'd received the other former Jedi's message on his way to the bridge, the man's paranoia was well founded after all this was something that could change the wars to come, there was a reason the Basilisks were something their people had been forced to abandon in the past. He sent the briefest of acknowledgements as he stepped onto the bridge, it was full of commotion as the crew went about prepping for departure. "We are moments away from departure Duke Kryze, we'll make for the jump point on your order." the Captain said actually turning to face him as he entered. He waved off the strict formalities and the Captain turned to look at his crew. "You may move out as soon as we are ready Captain, no need to await my order."

The man simply nodded in response. For the briefest of moments Bardan looked out the window, there were plenty of places an enemy could still attack them before they reached the jump point, even the Verpine couldn't keep track of everything. He cursed his negative thoughts as he received Vizsla's emotional pulse in the force, it had been too easy so far. I'm on my way. he sent back through the force. "Captain, be on alert as we move through the Asteroid field." he ordered, turning from the bridge.

---

The man turned, reaching for his blaster as he heard movement before the arm disappeared at the familiar snap-hiss of the former Jedi's Lightsaber. He fell back, hitting the wall and sliding to the floor as his arm came up to hold the stump that had been his arm moments before. He took in several ragged deep breaths as he looked up at his attacker, another of the Dominion's pet force sensitives. They were disgraces to both the Mandalorian people and the Republic. "You'll never get answers from me Jetii." he hissed through his clenched teeth. He was prepared to die for their cause, he clenched his teeth hard, breaking the poison capsule with a pained laugh. "DEATH TO THE FALSE MAND'ALOR!" he managed to shout before the poison kicked in.

@Dark Lord Kyle

 

[René]

Ji'Kel loudly cursed in Mando'a and deactivated his lightsaber as he stared at the lifeless body of the would-be saboteur. Above all else though, the man's insult had pissing the Chiss of the most, more than the lack of info. To call him Jetii infuriated the Mandalorian; it was a good thing the spy had killed themselves, otherwise whomever was manning the security cams would have had to watch quite the messy interrogation. Luckily, the dying man's words had proved valuable information.

The fact that he used the word Jetii betrayed his knowledge of Mando'a, meaning he was likely Mandalorian or otherwise affiliated with some, and his last words showed that he was most likely part of one of the small terrorist groups who spurt to undermine Mand'Alor Ral Vizsla's reign. The man had another operative working with him, which Ji'Kel gathered from noticing the commpiece in his ear and remembering the spy's overheard words. The Chiss left the saboteur's body and proceeded down the corridor; when he ran into the Duke, the ex-Jedi would relay all the information he had discovered so far.

@Bardan Kex

 

[Bardan Kex]

Bardan shook his head as Ji'kel ran him through his brief encounter with the enemy agent. It was trouble some, that they had managed to get someone on this particular mission and he wondered if they were Deathwatch hold outs. After some thought he rather doubted it, they'd never refereed to Ral as a 'False Mand'alor' before. The walked down the hall back towards the fresh corpse, he'd kneel over it as some of the crew began to gather, inspecting the corpse and any possessions. His armor was plain and not unlike most of the suits worn by lower ranking personnel, only minor upgrades, the weapons were similar standard issue. The only thing that stood out was a small dataspike he'd have to inspect later but he assumed it was likely data related to the mission. He stood, gesturing to approaching security personnel to deal with the corpse. "Ji'kel, I need you to return to the hangar, a spy is likely only the start."

Though i didn't become immediately apparent to Bardan or the crew of the Beviin Orar, he was correct in his assesment, the spy was only the beginning. He'd returned to the bridge after parting ways with Ji'kel, quiet in his thoughts as he played over what could be coming. If the enemy was smart they would have just used a bomb, however he had the feeling whom ever this was wanted to be much much more showy. And showy it was to be.

The asteroid field that the Verpine called home was fairly large and too deter possible invaders the Verpine had seen fit to make their colonies near the center of the field giving them a 360 degree screen and plenty of oportunity to discover approaching enemies. It was great for a race that tended towards pacifism. For those coming and going how ever it was a great opportunity for pirates and the like, security patrols were few and far between.

When they'd finally struck it took only a few moments for the bridge crew to respond, they were already on doubled alert, the defensive weaponry opening up just a little slower than it took for the first run on the ship to start. Another advantage to an asteroid ambush, scanners were usually busy with activity. The attack craft were familiar, the familiar arrow headed design shared by so many Mandalorian Craft. It seems their spy was a Mando'ade after all. The only thing differentiating their attacker's fighters from their own was the Republican Livery adorning their craft. He'd heard about such hold outs. "Keep them off the ship and keep moving to the jump point."

"Affirmative!" responded the ship master, noticing that the Duke was on his way off the bridge. "Where will you be going?"

"I have an idea." Bardan replied a wily grin on his helmeted face.

---

He'd radioed ahead to Ji'kel to let him know to expect him, and despite his hesitation to include Serena before she could be cleared of her being compromised, instructed the test pilot to meet them both in the hangar. He greeted them both swiftly. "We're under attack, our spies' friends." he said, fitting his modular armor with the systems he'd need for his possibly incredibly dumb idea. "Republic Loyal Mando'ade it seems. Wasn't aware there were a whole lot of those left."

He continued to mount the extended life-support systems to his armor, locking in the breathing tubes. He strode towards one of the machine beasts, activating it. It roared to life linking with his helmet and providing a rudimentary HUD for piloting, its massive claws opening and closing. He climbed aboard. "It seems fate has given us a chance to test the reborn Basilisks in live fire." he turned to go back through his pre-flight inspections, the Wardroids were more than capable of flight in their current stage, but their weapons would be limited. "Remember, we've only got the blaster cannons and claws. Should be more than enough to deal with this rabble."

"Sir..." began Rau, still apparently shaken from the discovery her suit had been compromised. Through the force he could feel her and Ji'Kel questioning the decision to bring her on the mission. He waved a hand cutting her off.

"Besides my Viszla friend here, you're the only other person remotely close to being qualified to fly. Don't make me regret bringing you."

@Dark Lord Kyle

 

[René]

Ji'Kel parted ways with the Duke after briefing him on the spy, per the higher ranking Mandalorian's orders. The SuperCommando ordered a double guard of the Beviin Orar's precious cargo, while he surveyed the hangar from a catwalk above. After a few minutes, the Chiss's attention and that of the guards was drawn to a pair of Mandalorians, similar to the spy earlier, who began to take aim with blaster rifles from a catwalk at some engine fuel. Luckily, they were stopped in a quick skirmish and quickly arrested, only for them to both commit suicide. However, during this commotion, one of the guards, the second in command of the vessel, breifly stole away towards the three already constructed Basilisks, inserting a small, barely noticeable object into the control panel of one of the Basilisks. With everything going on, nobody noticed.

Ji'Kel met Rau and Bardan by the Basilisks, still unsure as to why the Duke was allowing the test pilot to fly, but not questioning him. He hooked up the breathing tubes of the Basilisk to his helmet and ran the standard pre-flight checks as the half a dozen enemy ships assaulted the larger ship. One was shot down by the ship's guns, but left the rest for the trio of wardroids as they exited the hangar. Unaware of the virus slowly taking control of his vehicle, Ji'Kel manuvered his Basilisk almost perfectly, a smirk appearing on his face as he ripped apart a ship with the claws. It was clear that the enemy hadn't been expecting the somewhat outlandish decision to use the metal beasts, and weren't prepared for the fight. The Chiss downed a second fighter, the Duke having taken down two himself and Rau, one.

As the trio steered their Basilisks towards the hangar, Ji'Kel's personal commline shut down as the droid began to move by itself. As his vehicle dove towards Serena's, the phrase, "Death to the false Mand'alor!!" roared into Bardan and Serena's comms in the SuperCommando's voice, although he hadn't said it or heard it himself; instead, the Chiss was frantically attempting to regain control of his Basilisk. Luckily, he did, and Serena Rau screamed as her Basilisk was was almost torn apart. The ex-Jedi regained control long enough to land the Basilisk in the hangar and shut it down, but was left wondering what would happen next as a group of Mandalorians, seeing what had happened, approached his wardroid with blasters raised and ready to fire.

@Bardan Kex