The Exchange: Leave the Gun, Take the Spice

[Breeso]

​

The wind blew gently on the mountainous planet of Ventooine, flinging various leaves into the air and then letting them fall back down on ground. It was another one of those lazy afternoons when everyone just wanted to stay home. While that might have been applied to the natives of this fine planet, the guests here had a lot of work before them. In a shoddy building next to a mine was an office of a crime syndicate known as the Exchange. While most employees in here were hard at work in the mine, some were inside the building, taking a break, or awaiting further instructions from their bosses. Some of these miners were reading CNN articles, as it became quite popular in the Exchange as of late. Members of the Exchange felt that it was nice reading about someone who should be a beacon of justice, but instead abuses his power so publicly it allows their illegal operations to go through unnoticed.

Amongst these exhausted miners was a duo that clearly didn't belong here, a Zabrak (@Maul ) and a Chagrian (@TheHook1 ). They were waiting for the overseer of this mining facility to give them further information about their mission. After a while of waiting, a secretary called these two to come inside a smaller room, office of the overseer. The overseer, a man with messy brown hair, glasses and a stressed look on his face, sat behind his desk. He was filling in some papers, but looked up when the two walked inside. "Oh, great, finally, you are here." he said, his left eye almost twitching. "Listen, you were given a mission and you will get a nice reward IF you complete it. So, we were given permission to mine our spice here, which is cool, huh? Well, some arsehats beg to differ. They're stealing spice right under our noses! Outside, you will find an ATV unit along with some supplies and coordinates to the... competition's mining facility. Find it, destroy it, kill any witnesses... and don't leave any evidence. Their bosses will know who did it and will fear to cross us again, but there is no need to get any legal authorities our way. Any questions?" he asked, blinking rapidly every few seconds. "No? Good, now off you go! I'm a busy man..." he said without waiting for any of them to reply.

 

[The Captain]

Goon work was not Vol's area of expertise, and he usually preferred mind over muscle in most conflicts. But he knew that no one was currently in charge of the growing Ventooine operations of the Exchange. And if cracking heads got him closer to running this rock, he was more than willing to pitch in. Thankfully, the Zabrak that he was assigned to work with looked like a more than capable fighter, being as well armed as he was.

Vol spent about half of their short mission briefing trying to deduce if the gentleman running the mines was a spice-junkie or merely stressed. Either way, the plan he laid out seemed simple enough; get in, kill everyone, destroy the place, and get out. A smash and grab operation.

 

[Maul]

Ardu kept glancing at the Chagrian whom he was supposed to be working with. It was easy to see that the man was no fighter. So why would he agree to a mission like this? Was he just stupid? Did he have some hidden agenda? Whatever it was, Ardu didn't care. Whatever the Chagrian was up to meant nothing to Ardu. Nothing mattered as long as he got paid.

When the briefing ended, Ardu stood from the chair he was sitting in. "Let's get this over with." Ardu growled. He was somewhat annoyed that he had been Assigned to do this with the Chagrian. Ardu had already decided that if the Chagrian man got into trouble, Ardu wouldn't be risking his kneck to help him. After all. This was just about the credits. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Breeso]

After the duo left the office, they could see that the workers and miners were gone too, probably because their shift has started. Outside of the office building was an entrance to the mine, an yellow All-Terrain-Vehicle unit and another building, bigger than the first one. That building was warehouse of spice harvested in this mine, and only people with clearance were allowed to enter it. Whether on Tatooine or here on Ventooine, no one tries to steal the Exchange's spice, as the consequences would be very cruel.

The ATV unit was of dull yellow colour, with a built-in GPS system along with the coordinates to the competetive mining facility, which was only a few dozens of miles away. Inside the ATV were also the promised supplies in form of some energy cells, two bottles of Corellian ale, two blaster pistols and a shoddy-looking blaster rifle which had letters "Property of agent Johnson" written over it. It was probably stolen, but then again, people in the Exchange prefer the phrase "found and cashed in".

 

[The Captain]

"Looks like we'll be sharing an ATV here, goodie." His voice dripping with sarcasm, the Chagrian gave the decidedly beat-up looking vehicle a quick once over. Out of professional courtesy, he only tucked one of the pistols into his vest and grabbed half the energy cells. Since the Zabrak was already packing a blaster rifle, he grabbed "Agent Johnson's" sniper rifle and slung it over his shoulder.

"So, are we going in with a battle plan or are we just barreling in like angry nerfs?" He vastly preferred to have a strategy for this fight, and even had an idea in mind.

 

[Maul]

Ardu took the remaining blaster cells, and placed them into one of the pouches on his belt. He left the remaining blast pistol there, Ardu was sure his own pistol was of a higher quality anyways. The Zabraks eyes moved across the vehicle, judging it. Was this the best they could get?

Ardu sighed. "We'll decide when we get there. We'll stop a good ways out and use the rifle scopes to get a look on the place. If their security is weak, we just go in, kill them and get out. If not, I'm open to ideas."

 

[The Captain]

"Well then, I suppose we should get going." Taking the second seat behind the driver, Vol opted to face the opposite direction for both tactical reasons, and so that he didn't have to hold onto the Zabrak while he drove.

The trip itself was rather uneventful, speeding through the mountainous forests of Ventooine to their destination.

((OOC: Sorry, I got nothing))

 

[Maul]

As they drove, Ardu glanced over at the passenger. Curiosity got the best of him, and Ardu soon spoke. "What are you doing here?" He quistioned. "You don't look like a fighter, you look like you should be some senator's secretary." Ardu didn't mean to be rude, but at the same time, Ardu wouldn't care at all if he came off that way.

 

[The Captain]

Vol was almost forced to crack a grin at Ardu's surprising perceptiveness. While the Chagrian was dressed the same as any other simple thug, he still carried himself like a senator. Of course he was probably cleaner than the average politician, but still.

"I'm not entirely unfamiliar with blasters, and I do have my reasons for being here." He wasn't prepared to tip his metaphorical hand to a Zabrak mercenary he just met.

 

[Maul]

Ardu chuckled. "What makes you think you're cut out for this?" He asked. "After all, you can't cash in your credits if you're dead." Ardu almost completely expected the Chagrian to end up dead by the end of this. He didn't seem like the kind of fella that could really handle himself in a fire-fight.

 

[The Captain]

"While your concern is appreciated, I can take care of myself." Vol would be the first to admit he wasn't a soldier, or even much of a fighter. But he definitely knew how to use a blaster and wasn't a half bad shot. Besides, he'd come too far to be gunned down on this backwater rock.

 

[Maul]

"Whatever..." Ardu mused. The life of some Chagrian didn't mean anything to him. If this man were to die, it just meant Ardu wouldn't have to split the pay.

The ATV rolled to a stop when the mining facility began to come into veiw. Ardu shut the vehicle off and stepped out onto the ground. Using his rifle's scope, he began to examine the security of the facility. It didn't appear to be too heavily guarded, but looks could be deceiving.

 

[Breeso]

While the trip was uneventful, the local flora provided a beautiful scenery indeed. Sun was slowly moving along the sky and its rays only encouraged the various flowers of Ventooine's forest to give off even more aromatic smells than usual. There has been a pair of shiny eyes in the bushes from time to time, but everything seemed peaceful.

When the facility was in view, Ardu stopped the ATV and checked out the security of it with his scope. The facility was built very differently than the Exchange's one. There was only one building outside, however, it seemed that traffic into and out of the tunnel seemed greater. Logically, the administrative offices were probably inside the mountain, which was certainly unorthodox. What was probably the strangest thing were however people in white lab coats, just coming outside of the mine, walking past the few guards armed with rifles. There were also many ATV units parked around the facility, but newer and better quality overall, some of them even having mounted guns. People were entering the ATVs, some going home and one vehicle apparently going on a patrol.

 

[The Captain]

Vol was surprised at how beautifully scenic this dirt-ball actually was at times. Apart from the wildlife and the rampant drug trade, Ventooine could make a half-way decent getaway destination. He made a mental note of this little idea as the duo sped through the wilderness on the ATV.

Once they arrived at the compound, Vol joined Ardu in scouting the small spice mining camp's security. It was a ballsy move situating their little operation right in the middle of someone else's legally purchased territory, and the size of the outfit was surprising. The large exterior building was most likely storage and shipping for all the spice these men had stolen from Exchange territory. The men in lab coats were most likely chemists, hired to help synthesize new spices from the materials mined here. Capturing a few of them might help bring more money to the Exchange, and to Vol. But the biggest point of concern was the security. While there were only a handful of guards, they were all well armed and their equipment was in considerably better condition than Vol's or Ardu's, these guys were professionals.

"Alright then, do you want a plan now or are we judt going to start shooting?"

 

[Maul]

Ardu didn't exactly like what he saw. He would have much rather preferred this mission to be easy. Miners were little problem, but the guards looked like they knew what they were doing...

"You said you had a plan, so let's hear it." Ardu stated. Admittedly, Ardu didn't care much for plans. Even the best plans are normally thrown away when a fight starts. After all, it can be challenging to predict exactly how your opponent will react.

 

[The Captain]

"Well, as the mine is a bit too heavily fortified for a direct assault, I might be able to convince them that I'm an envoy for an interested customer. After all, they have to be selling to someone, and more consumers means more profits. Once I'm inside, we attack the security forces from two angles, you from this ridge, and me from the mines. Once the security is taken out the rest will be all too easy."

This wasn't the first time Vol had talked his way into a guarded area, and it wasn't the first time he'd be blasting his way out. But now he not only had a Zabrak mercenary on his side, but those hired thugs would be disinclined to fire on their own mines and instillations.

 

[Maul]

"And what makes you think you can handle yourself down there?" Ardu quistioned. "Those guys don't look like regular hired thugs. Look at the way they carry themselves. They've got the pride of regular soldiers." He pointed out.

Before even waiting for a response, Ardu kept talking. "If you think you're not gonna get shot up down there, then fine. Let's do it."

 

[The Captain]

"Once again your concern is truly touching, but regardless of whatever plan we use, I'm going to be shot at. And I'd prefer to catch the people who'll be attempting to kill me off-guard, if its all the same to you." Leaving the worn out rifle on the speeder, he tucked the second blaster pistol into vis vest before dusting off and smoothing out his outfit. He maneuvered around the ridge to the ATV-trod dirt path that led to the camp, and proceeded briskly along it. He intended to open up with a bit of Huttese for authenticity, even if these men didn't speak it, everyone in the underworld knew what the language of the Hutts sounded like.

((@Breeso))

 

[Maul]

Ardu watched the Chagrian trot down towards the mine for a brief moment. With a bit of a sigh, Ardu slung his rifle over his shoulder and began walking along the ridge, searching for some decent cover. He soon found an outcrop of rocks and ferns which should work quite well. With the ferns hiding him, and the rocks protecting him Ardu was sure to be fairly safe. He gazed through his scope, watching the entrance to the mine.

 

[Breeso]

As the ATV approached the camp, two guards stepped in the way to stop the ATV. One of them had his rifle strapped on his back and was holding a datapad while the other guard was holding his rifle firmly, watching Vol. "Identification, please," said the guard holding the datapad with a bored voice, not even raising his hands from the screen. The guards that were just leaving the camp looked at the Exchange's ATV and exchanged looks, some of them snickering. Clearly, like true, manly men, they judged every other man by his choice of vehicle. And, finding out just by the look on their faces, Vol made a poor choice in their opinion.