Twin Suns Rising: Supply and Demand

[Vuthari]

Orbit Above Mos Taike
Tatooine

There was a time when three strangers thrust into a starship for an intersystem trek would have been awkward. In many ways, it still was—but this was the Rebellion. Minutes before, the Equinox slid out of hyperspace Vu’thari knew this was how these cells operated: thrust together with strangers, get to know each other, work a job, go your separate ways, rinse, repeat. Regardless, he was never comfortable with such an arrangement. He certainly didn’t care for the stilted conversations that arose from trying to fill dead air…but here he was.

Hugo had briefed him on the two that were working with him on this “supply raid” and he was hoping calm minds and calm hearts would be the order of the day. Devrim Wolfe was from Dxun, a moon orbiting Onderon. He was born into the Rebellion and had a clear head atop his shoulders. Toland Vult was raised in Coruscant. He was a former Imperial Soldier who witnessed the horror of Medriaas. He too was a cool customer. In short, Vu’thari felt confident being with these two “Rebels”. Hugo vouched for them, so that was enough for the Jedi…until they proved otherwise.

As he sat across from the two human men, the twi’lek was blown away at how the galaxy conspired to introduce more moving parts into his already complicated life—both the men had a strong connection to the Force. He did not initially notice and it never crossed his mind that they would be, but once the droning noise of hyperspace settled in and the transit turned from minutes to hours, the ship quieted. When he was in close proximity, he began to sense something within both of them. Closing his eyes, much like he was taking a nap, he could feel the raw potential swirling…and it was strong. And frightening.

“BeeBopDupeBee”

The SAD-4A astrogation droid wheeled into the cockpit as Vu’thari was emerging. He looked over to the two humans and stated, ”Soo…Devrim…Toland, glad to meet you. Heard good things about you both…we are a few minutes out from orbit. SawDip…”

Gesturing back to the green astrogation droid that just whirred past, he continued, ”He is going to bring us in on the opposite side of Mos Taike which is directly opposite Kragin Jurl’s Warehouse. This will allow us to get our hands on some ‘uniforms’ and allow us a better angle to approach scouting the layout of this place. Once we have secured the items, SawDip will take a circuitous route around to the warehouse so we can load up and hightail it out of here…once it gets loud, we will be on the clock to get out of there.”

@Shalken @Vosrik

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

theme​

Glad to finally have an assignment to do, Devrim sat quietly cleaning his rifle as the trio exited hyperspace above Tattooine. With the leash that the Commander had rightfully tightened upon the Dxun rebel cell, it was hard for him to find...meaningful things to do. Devrim knew he was not one to simply sit around, wasting away while the Galaxy still lay in the Empire's cruel grip. He was a man of action, and despite all that he'd been through with his fellow people on Dxun, Devrim had to expand his horizons to work for the greater good. And especially if he wanted to gain the Commander's trust back — it was well-known Hugo held a great deal of disdain for the Dxun cell, of which Devrim was a skilled member. After the incident on Dantooine that was a direct result of the actions of the cell on Corellia, most of those members settled down on Dxun.

And so here he was approaching Tattooine with a red-skinned Twi'lek and Toland — a former Imperial trooper who managed to escape the Empire and find a new home among the Alliance. Devrim didn't know a whole lot about Vu'thari, but he was sure they'd get to know each other in due time. The astrogation droid also aboard the Equinox beeped as it whirred into the cockpit to continued their descent to the desert planet below. Devrim glanced up from his gun to the Twi'lek as he was addressed, giving Vu'thari a small smile and a nod. He didn't mean to be rude — Devrim just wasn't a man of many words. "Sounds like a plan," he replied as they were given the run down on the operation. "I'm sure we can scrounge something up on the trek across town easily enough." With the grubby rag he was using, Devrim finished wiping the barrel of his rifle and held it so the ship's lights reflected off the gunmetal casing. Satisfied, he loaded a power pack into the mag and slung it across his back.

The ship rumbled as they pierced the atmosphere of Tattooine, the light of the twin suns casting shadows in the courier's interior. Peeking out of the viewport, Devrim caught sight of a village dotted with round, creamy-white buildings. "Looks like we're above Mos Taike," he commented, standing up and double-checking his supplies before striding towards the loading ramp. Throwing his worn black cloak overtop his gear, Devrim looked back at the other two. "Primary goal is to make this hit look like it came from petty rivals, not us. We'll determine after initial scouting what plan of action we should take to get the supplies." Despite the fact Devrim held no real authority above his two peers, he couldn't help thinking of a strategy ahead of time.

@Shalken @Mithias​

 

[Toland Vult]

Ever since his defection from the Empire, Toland was trying his hardest to prove himself trustworthy to the Alliance. Though he might have undergone rigorous questioning and satisfied the Commander, that wasn't always enough to satisfy his companions as well. Toland understood that he would be under fairly heavy supervision for a while, and it was fitting that he was accompanied by the man that picked him up in the first place. Though Vult couldn't quite tell if Devrim actually had faith in him or not, but he seemed to be cordial anyway. After having lived among the Rebels for some time, it became apparent that the cell on Dxun was not viewed by Commander Ion very favourably either, putting Toland and Devrim in an almost equally unfavourable light. Perhaps they were not so different after all. Dragging a whetstone across the edge of his vibroblade, he glanced over to the red-skinned Twi'lek that was also assigned to their mission. Toland knew his name was Vu'thari, but that was it. Vult wasn't sure how long people lasted as part of the Alliance, but he liked getting to know people anyway. It helped put a face to what they were fighting for.

Toland nodded in reply to the plan Vu'thari and Devrim had laid out. "It's a solid plan. This rival gang..." he peered at the screen of his datapad for details, "the 'Jackdaws', likely doesn't have any sort of uniform or anything they typically wear. Gangs aren't organized well enough for that sort of thing. However, it says that they frequently utilize a 'blackout' tactic that involves hitting their targets' generators and using a lot of smoke bombs to get in and out with few casualties." With that, Vult replaced his two concussion grenades with smoke charges instead. The Sith didn't have any presence this far out in the Outer Rim, so he likely wouldn't make much use of the flashbangs. As the Equinox slowly lowered to the ground, Toland also pulled his cloak over his gear as he prepared to disembark. "I don't know about you two, but I'd rather cripple these thugs than just steal from them. Taking their stuff might give them a minor setback, but cutting their numbers in half will solve a problem for us down the road — especially if we're going to set up a base of operations in this sector." The risk would certainly be higher, but it would be worth it if they could pull it off.

Despite being a minor settlement in comparison to Mos Eisley, the sandy streets of Mos Taike were still busy with activity, merchants calling out their exotic wares in Huttese and other foreign languages. However, Toland did his best to disregard them, focusing his attention more on finding suitable disguises. Though Toland would rather not steal from a shop if he had to, they might not have a choice in the end. "Perhaps there is a scrapyard nearby we could dig through first?" he proposed to the other two.

@Mithias @Vosrik​

 

[Vuthari]

Approach to Scrapyard in NW Mos Taike
Tatooine

The three worked their way through the throngs of people active in the streets of Mos Taike. A gust of wind kicked up sand, prompting Vu’thari to bring the googles down over this eyes. No one really gave the trio a second glance due to the garb they were already wearing—in fact, they could have easily been merchants or traders from a nearby settlement. Toland looked over and suggested a nearby scrapyard to check for handy items. Vu’thari simply nodded and headed in that direction. He had studied the layout of Mos Taike intimately, so he remembered the scrapyard being located up two blocks northwest of their current location.

It was easy to tell where the scrapyard was located due to the towering mountains of discarded trash junk that broken over the wall line of the scrapyard. As they approached the area, they could make out a clear entrance to the scrapyard that resembled a gate composed of discarded starship parts, but the “gates” were open, allowing access…which could be good or bad.

Looking over to the two humans, the twi’lek mused, ”Soo…I, um…I’m not sure what we are going to find here to help us with what we have to do, but we—“

Clear pathways winded around the scrapyard, allowing easy traversing of the area, but it as easy to see how one could get lost in the many twists and turns of the maze of wreckage and debris. Vu’thari did not realize how far they had gone in, but far enough to have a mix of three humans and a pair of weequay to round the corner. One of the humans and one of the weequay carried vibroblades, while the other weequay and the remaining two humans carried blaster pistols. From the trio’s research, they had just tumbled into “Jackdaws” turf—and they did not take kindly to visitors. While their weapons were not pointed at any of the trio, they were in their hands, ready to be brought up to bear. Their garb was a mish-mash of piece-mail armor and neutral tone clothing, loose and airy ready Tatooine’s twin suns.

The weequay with the vibroblade strode up towards Vu’thari and stopped a mere three feet from him. In Huttese, he rattled off, ”Well, well, well…look what the wind brought in to us, boys. Looks like we have a few off-worlders who need to be taught to never, ever step foot in jackdaw territory. However…I am feeling gracious--'charitable, even. I tell you what…you boys lay down your weapons, credits and comlinks on the sand—and we might forget your offense to our persons…”

The first impulse that came to Vu’thari’s mind was far off what it should have been…

Does this weequay not understand that a few is equivalent to two and not three. Three would have been ‘several’…but I suppose ‘few’ can sometimes be used for two—what am I doing?

It was apparent the twi’lek was not rattled. In fact, he seemed extremely calm considering the circumstances. Responding in Huttese, Vu’thari stated, ”Right. Allow me to converse with my friends here to discuss our options…”

With that, the Jedi simply looked back at Toland and Devrim…and winked.


@Shalken @Vosrik

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

With the sand being kicked up by the wind and throngs of people, Devrim decided to slip his helmet on and throw up his black hood. He quickly decided he wasn't very fond of this planet — the rebel preferred the thick jungles where he was born, despite the countless predators that constantly roamed the demon moon. The trio remained in silence during the trek to the scrapyard, and Devrim kept in mind the tactics that Toland had mentioned before they had left the ship. Walking up to the "entrance" of the scrapyard, the Dxun marksman took a moment to survey the area before Vu'thari led them inside. "We shouldn't be here long. This is an unnecessary detour from our objective —" he began, but it wasn't long before the rebel realized that their presence had been noticed by an unfriendly group.

Devrim growled internally. If they truly had walked into Jackdaw territory, then they were faced with a huge issue. The reason the rebels were here in the first place was to find a disguise so they weren't recognized by Kragin Jurl's gang as rebels. But now, they found themselves in a position where they should have made a disguise for the Jackdaws to not look like rebels — if they didn't think or act quickly, they had created the exact same initial problem for the completely wrong gang. And now, five scouts had prevented them from moving forward. Three stood in front, while two remained behind the trio.

Fortunately for the rebels, their "armour" was laughably insufficient — likely due to the intense heat the twin suns provided for the desert planet. One of the weequay rattled off the price to escape alive, but Devrim wasn't having it. He remained totally still, muscles poised for action. Thankfully, he was capable of understanding and speaking enough Huttese to know what was being said. Vu'thari asked to converse with both Toland and Devrim, but as he looked around at his fellow rebels, the weequay frowned and gripped his vibroblade tighter. "Uba gee nobata douapka-ola. Gau mo chateua!" <<You have no options. Comply or die!>>

Devrim didn't give anyone a second chance. Ripping his blaster pistol out of its holster in the blink of an eye, he landed point-blank hits on the weequay and a human in front of them, turning and throwing his vibroblade dagger into the neck of one behind them. ♦ They dropped like a sack of potatoes, and if Toland was quick to act then the final guard behind them would be dead too. Turning to leave, Devrim spat back to the remaining living Jackdaw thug, "Mesohba doi Kragin Jurl." <<Regards from Kragin Jurl.>> The man ran in terror.

Looking to his companions, Devrim holstered his pistol and looked at the corpses littered around them. "Let's grab some smoke bombs off of these thugs and be on our way. We almost got caught there — let's avoid any more unnecessary complications until we reach our destination." Looting a few smoke grenades and a poncho emblazoned with the Jackdaw symbol off of the weequays, he clipped the explosives to his belt and made a beeline for the exit with the poncho bunched under his arm.

@Shalken @Mithias​

 

[Toland Vult]

Luckily for the three Rebels, there was indeed a scrapyard nearby for them to scrounge through, the hills of rusted metal and junk piled high enough to be visible through the streets of Mos Taike. Most sophisticated settlements these days had ways of clearing out their trash and recycling scraps, but apparently this was one of the few towns that 'most' did not apply to. Reaching the large 'gate' that marked the entrance of the junkyard, Toland made a cursory scan over the nearest heap of materials. He was initially unable to find more than speeder and ship parts, but hope was not lost yet. Perhaps a closer look would yield better results.

However, the trio was not allowed to move a step further, as they were quickly surrounded by the very rival gang they were trying to imitate. Much like Devrim, Toland remained almost perfectly still, keeping his hands on his hips while imitating a relaxed stance. Negotiations were tense, and though Vu'thari attempted to allow the three of them a few moments to speak to each other, it seemed the thugs would have none of that. Typical, really — but Toland had dealt with these kinds of lowlifes before. Devrim was the first to act, ripping through three of them with lightning-quick reflexes. If Toland had any doubts the man grew up in the jungles of the Demon Moon, they had all evaporated now. Not to be outdone, Vult drew his own pistol and spun around, putting a sizzling hole in the neck of the last gangster still standing behind them.♦ Whirling to face forward again, Toland saw that Wolfe was already leaving, having sent a message to the remaining Jackdaw. ⋮⋮ Smart, ⋮⋮ he thought. Even more misdirection and deception to insight an all-out gang war.

Returning his DH-7 to its holster, Toland bent down to the nearest human Jackdaw to examine the outfit. Overall, it was very plain and not too different from his own, but the bearded rebel noticed pieces of red cloth tied around the dead thug's right arm and leg. Initially taking it for a tourniquet, closer examination revealed it to simply be purely ornamental. Already equipped with several smoke bombs, Toland detached the two strips of cloth and tied them around himself. It wasn't much, but it would do. "I think we're done here. Let's move on," he stated once the others had finished as well.

Several minutes later, they reached the other side of town where Kragin Jurl's warehouse was located. Though mostly separated from the rest of the buildings, it was still close enough for the group to easily reach the building without having to walk out in the open. Luckily for them, the planet's twin suns were beginning to set — a fact Toland was eternally grateful for, as he was sweating quite profusely now from the intense heat. Having taken cover behind a set of tarps that covered an Eopie pen, Toland peeked through a hole with a set of binoculars to scout out the warehouse's defenses.

"Well," he observed, squinting through the device, "the guards aren't drinking, but they're not exactly vigilant either."♦ Shifting his gaze to the building itself, Toland examined it for any additional defenses. Expecting to see at least a few cameras or turrets in place, he instead found the warehouse missing both of such installments. "They have locked doors, but nothing more. They aren't expecting a raid." It was possible that Jurl's band was more powerful than the Jackdaws, and weren't afraid of being raided on their home turf. But Kragin's gang had never faced battle-hardened Rebel soldiers.

@Mithias @Vosrik​

 

[Vuthari]

Approach to Scrapyard in NW Mos Taike
Tatooine

One second, he looked back and then the next, the hairs were standing up on the back of his neck. Shifting to the balls of his feet to prepare for what was about to come, the two rebels behind him began spraying shots and throwing a blade in mere seconds. Before he could blink or otherwise move, four of the jackdaws were down and the fifth was hightailing it back to his boss, no doubt.

Why was I needed here again?

Regardless, the confrontation was at an end and there were serviceable disguises to be used. His hand slid down to his blaster at his right thigh, tapping it comfortably, and gathered the garb for himself. Vu’thari followed the pair to the other side of town with few words exchanged. The twin suns were beginning to dip down beneath the horizon, twilight would be manifesting for them soon. The trio skirted around to an approach that gave them good cover and long shadows to their back. The layout of the settlement was fairly simplistic. Of note, scattered structures around the area would serve as cover and a way to mask their approach. Looking around at their defenses, they did not seem to be expecting attack, nor did they have defenses in place to consider a threat—the trio was fortunate for the crime boss’ arrogance. However, they were still armed guards and the warehouse was secured, so there was work to be done. Toland’s observations about their state of vigilance was right on point…

With the trio adequately trussed up in a mish-mash of garb taken from the Jackdaws, complete with the strips of red cloth that seemed to mark them as part of their crew, they were in a position to start their operation.

Keying his comlink, he whispered, ”SawDip, get the engines warm…”

Looking over at Devrim and Toland, he said quietly, ”Believe it or not, I think we need to end this operation loud. Going in silent and minimizing our risk is the order of the day, but once we cannot go silent any longer, we make a big ruckus. Jackdaws aren't subtle, so we should mirror that approach. We wait a few minutes longer, which gives us the cover of twilight, or we wait longer for dark. If we wait for either, bystanders will not be afforded a good look at our transportation…and that is a good thing...”

@Shalken @Vosrik

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

Closing in on their target location, Devrim took cover and allowed Toland to survey the area. His observation sounded as though they had a relatively good chance of at least getting in without being discovered. "That's what I like to hear," Devrim replied, checking the power pack on his R5R blaster rifle. He pulled the poncho over his head, preparing the adequate Jackdaw disguise that would easily fool Kragin Jurl's gang members in the heat of battle. Rival gangs such as these made hits not only for their own gain, but also to make a statement. Today, the Galactic Alliance would be making a statement for the Jackdaws.

Listening to Vu'thari's quiet suggestion, Devrim nodded in agreement. "Good plan. I've looted enough smoke grenades to cause confusion and cover our exit when it's time for extraction." Covering his eyes and looking to the horizon where the twin suns were setting, the broad-shouldered rebel made a quick decision. "We should take advantage of the available cover to conceal our approach. By the time we reach the warehouse, it will be dark enough to go in unnoticed." Giving both Toland and Vu'thari a tight grip of the shoulder for encouragement, he left their current cover and began making his way toward the warehouse. Dipping around and through the scattered structures, none of the trio were noticed and eventually they found themselves mere feet from one of the doors of the target building.

Thankfully, the defenses here were mediocre at best. ♦ The light of this back door was burned out, and there wasn't even a guard posted to stop anyone from getting inside. Crouching, Devrim looked both ways before stepping out of cover and over to the door. One look at the panel told the rebel that it was locked shut — hence the lack of patrols on this side of the building. ♦ Protruding his vibroblade from its hidden sheath on his belt, Devrim stabbed it into the control panel, shorting out the system and destroying the lock mechanism. He gestured his companions to come forward and head inside, replacing his dagger and holding his rifle at the ready should any patrols come around the side of the building.

@Shalken @Mithias​

 

[Toland Vult]

Satisfied with the information they had gleaned from their preliminary scouting, Toland stowed his binoculars and loaded a powerpack into both his weapons in preparation for the assault. Vu'thari made an excellent point about their assault, which would ultimately make their job a good deal easier. The longer the rebels stayed inside the compound, the more likely they would be noticed — but by that, they wouldn't care either way. The first five minutes would be the most critical as they cleared the way to the supply depot in the warehouse and prepared to load the supplies into the Twi'lek's ship stationed nearby.

Quietly, the three ambled up to the back door of the warehouse. There were no guards in the area, likely assured that the locked door would keep out any potential intruders. Unfortunate for the gang, it would take a lot more than a piddly electronic lock would keep them from gaining entry. A quick stab and twist from Devrim's vibroblade made short work of the control panel, and he waved them inside. Before barging in, Toland slid the door open just a crack to inspect the interior. Directly inside was a room filled with various foodstuffs laid out on a counter, with a single thug brewing a cup of caf.♦ Unclipping and pulling the pin on a smoke bomb, Toland rolled the explosive inside, which detonated a few seconds later and doused the room in thick white fumes. Remembering the location of the gangster and the placement of the chairs and tables in the room, Vult yanked the door open the rest of the way and dashed inside, wrapping his strong arms around the befuddled man and burying his vibroblade into the man's nape. Having clapped a hand over his mouth, the thug barely made so much as a whimper before the life ebbed from his eyes as Toland laid him down to the floor.♦ Unable to signal to his partners, Vult whispered harshly in the direction of the door. "Clear!" The smoke had begun to settle slightly, but Toland could still make out two doorways that led deeper into the rest of the base.

@Mithias @Vosrik​

 

[Vuthari]

Kragin’s Warehouse
NW Mos Taike
Tatooine
So far, the plan had gone off without a hitch, but the twi’lek was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Toland and Devrim were as good as advertised by Hugo. He made a note to tell him as much when he saw he next—whenever that would be. His plate was full of operational tasking, so wasn’t going to hold his breathe for when that would be. After a quick slice job on the door, Devrim secured entry. Inside, Toland laid down some smoke and quickly took down the single sentry.

Vu’thari quietly padded down the hallway and came to the first door. Gently, he keyed the door open, shooting up to reveal the darkened interior. It was an “office” complete with an antiquated personal computer and a restroom off to the side. Familiar with this model of computer and seeing that the previous user was still logged in, he grinned. Even though the Jedi had gloves on, they were designed to finely manipulate technology devices. He quickly queried the inventory for the items that should be in the warehouse portion of the building in the next room. It took a few moments to go through the extensive list of items and find what he was looking for, but then he found it...sort of.*

His alien face sank in disappointment as he looked at the inventory list. While it was a complete list of the items they were seeking, it had not been updated in over three months. So, while he had an idea of what was in the warehouse, he had no idea how accurate the lot numbers and locations were. Looking over at Devrim and Toland, he quickly updated them, ”The good news is, I have some areas in the warehouse to start with…the bad news is that this inventory hasn’t been updated in over 3 months, so it isn’t going to be entirely accurate—at least we have a starting point.”

Quickly, putting the computer back to the status of where it was, he continued explaining as he headed out of the room and on to the next doorway, this one a bit taller and wider—it was the entry to the main storage area of the warehouse. The Jedi continued to relay what he found, ”The tech we want are crates of confiscated slicing gear, long range communications equipment, electronic warfare device circuitry, burner comlinks, encrypted comlinks and the list goes on. These items are found in areas D4, C21, F1, H32, and A17. You might want to at least peek in each crate and check the packing list for accuracy. If the crates are too large to carry, use any of the hand-pushable repulsor sleds to load them up on. We can stage everything near the main door, then call SawDip to come get us…”

@Vosrik
@Shalken

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

Standing watch while Toland and Vu'thari entered the warehouse, Devrim could just make out the noises of a silent struggle — but whatever fight had occurred was over by the time he followed his companions inside. Remaining quiet as Vu'thari took the lead, Devrim held his position and guarded the rebel while he worked to access the inventory records of the warehouse. Only a few moments passed while the query was underway, and then he listened intently as Vu'thari listed off what he was able to find. Despite the dismaying fact that the members of the gang hadn't updated the inventory in over three months, it was likely the shipments were still the same — just different quantities of stock.

"I'll search D4 and C21," Devrim stated. "It'll be faster if we search the sections individually, then gather the supplies that we can once we confirm they have the equipment we need." Stepping back out into the hallway, the marksman followed the directions along the walls to C21, the one that reportedly carried the long range communications equipment. Pushing open the sliding door a crack, he spied three men inside ironically updating their inventory. ♦ Seeing they stood some distance from the actual crates, Devrim pulled the pin on one of his smoke bombs and rolled it inside. As much as he would have rather used a frag grenade, they still had to make the hit look like it came from the Jackdaws.

White smoke billowed into the small cargo section, and the men stumbled in utter confusion. ♦ Levelling his blaster rifle, Devrim unloaded into the dark shapes within the white smoke and three bodies hit the floor soon afterward. Letting the R5R hang from its strap around his back, he strode inward to double-check the crates of goods. They had a few black marks on them from the blaster bolts, but were otherwise undamaged. Now to check section D4 and rendezvous with his fellow rebels afterward. So far, their strike was going by without a hitch.

@Shalken @Mithias​

 

[Toland Vult]

Once Toland had cleared the room, Devrim and Vu'thari quickly followed inside. No need to remain in the cafeteria, the red-skinned Twi'lek moved on to the next room to reveal an office which was luckily currently not in use. This turned out to be a double-edged sword — not only were the thugs not currently using the computer, it seemed they had not made use of it in quite a while. However, Vu'thari was still able to pull up a skeleton frame of the warehouse's layout and inventory from a while back. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Toland quickly processed the information. "Understood. I'll head to the furthest one in H32, and if everything is clear I'll check on F1 as well." Their plan of action quickly decided, Vult made his way into the building, weapon drawn and at the ready for when he inevitably encountered more guards.

Swiftly stepping through the hallways, Toland eventually found a door with 'H32' emblazoned on it in large lettering. Pressing his back to the wall next to it, the rebel unclipped another smoke bomb from his belt and rolled it into the room. He could hear three voices from within,♦ but was unable to tell the positioning of the gangsters in the room. The bomb blanketed the room in white smoke, but as Toland stepped out to engage them, they managed to punch the door controls, immediately shutting and locking it before the rebel could fire a shot. A second later, red lights started flashing everywhere in the warehouse and a klaxon began to blare throughout the building.♦ "Uh, guys..." Toland voiced over his comms to Devrim and Vu'thari, "They spotted me at H32. I think it's time to get loud!"

@Mithias @Vosrik​

 

[Vuthari]

Kragin’s Warehouse
Outskirts of Mos Taike
Tatooine

Vu’thari nodded as Devrim declared the areas he would search, then he promptly slipped away to begin the task. Toland followed up that he would search H32 and if he had time, would hit F1. Of course, this left A17. This worked out well in Vu’thari’s estimation because that area supposedly housed the electronic warfare circuitry boards. The twi’lek was familiar enough with those type of circuit boards, he would be able to quickly surmise their purpose just by looking at them—in the event someone wasn’t running a scam and replacing those boards with others that did not have the same functionality.

As Toland made his way silently towards the H32, Vu’thari remembered the path to A17, which was near the front of the main garage entrance. Creeping through the shadowy stacks of crates, he eventually came to the blast door entrance to the A17 storage area. It was marked plainly for identification, conveniently enough. Low voices could be heard from inside, but they could have been loud and just mitigated by the door. If they weren’t in line of sight of the door, he might be able to open the door without their knowing.

Now or never…

Tapping the switch activated the small blast door, whisking it up and revealing the darkened interior. Wisps of spice smoke flowed out of the doorway and raucous laughter came from down the narrow hallway, around the corner to the left. Light was filtering out from around the corner where voices and laughing was coming from, but the rest of the large area in A17 was dark with long shadows. Vu’thari couldn’t believe his luck--the crates housing the EW circuitry were right next to the door. He decided then and there that he would leave the thugs* to their game and he would just start quietly moving the crates out before they grew wise to it. Vu’thari’s thoughts mirrored those of Devrim’s own—so far, this operation couldn’t go any better…

BURRRR! BURRRR! BURRRR!

Loud alarms started blaring throughout the warehouse. He heard chairs sliding from the table as whatever was going on from around the corner had come to an end. Vu’thari heard Toland’s voice over his comlink, but he couldn’t listen. A large, sealed crate was cradled in the twi’lek’s arms when a weequay suddenly rounded the corner. But he was not expecting the Jedi right there. As soon as he was about to draw his sidearm, Vu’thari tossed the crate to him. Instinctively, the weequay grabbed the bulky container. Shouts of alarm came from within as the weequay stammered back with a crate in his hand with the twi’lek pushing him, causing him to have to run backwards on his heels to prevent from falling backwards. With practiced speed, Vu’thari’s DH-7 was already in his right hand. Instead of retreating for cover, the twi’lek breathed in, drinking in the force, letting it flow through him, spurring his movements to react with a speed beyond what was normal. He quickly entered the small room with the surprised weequay to between him and four other humans and weequay.

Vu’thari was a blur of movement, in a state of constant motion amongst the sentries whose game of sabaac was ruined by the alarms. The closest weequay was huge, towering close to seven feet tall. His meaty hand grabbed the Jedi’s shoulder, which quickly prompted the twi’lek’s left hand to grab the fingers of the larger alien. As he spun from around the weequay holding the container, he tore the hand off his shoulder, wrenching it in the opposite direction of the body, causing the larger weequay to flip over on his back with the crunching sounds of bones breaking all the way up his arm, from his wrist to his shoulder. Spinning back around low, he shot down, catching the now prone weequay in the face and the second shot fired into a human who had managed to level a blaster rifle, taking him center mass. The other human apparently was tired of the confused weequay in the middle serving as a shield and began to unload on the weequay and the twi’lek positioned behind him. Grabbing the now dead weequay by the ponytail, the Jedi peaked over his shoulder and reached out with his left hand, ripping the heavy blaster pistol from the very surprised human’s hands, hurtling it over the twi’lek’s shoulder, slamming it against the wall. His right hand came up, bucking his DH-7 once, catching the human with a blaster bolt to the chest.

His hyperactive senses from the Force was the only thing that saved him from a vicious chop across his shoulder with the remaining enemy. Deftly, the twi’lek turned his body completely to the side barely dodging the whistling blade as it came by his face. Still moving, Vu’thari’s left hand reached out and clamped on top of his sword hand. As he did so, he spun his body inward as he redirected the sword, causing the two bodies to press back to back as the vibrosword slammed to the ground. His right hand inverted and fired two shots behind him, slamming into the human’s ribcage at point blank. From behind his back, the human groaned and slumped to the floor.

*The room was still. Five enemies lay before the Jedi’s feet. His head was swimming a little bit. Looking down, he had taken two blaster shots—one was completely absorbed by his armor, averting a deadly shot. The charred remains of the chestplate would protect him no longer. Wincing, he shrugged the chestplate off, clanging to the floor. The second was a graze across his arm, but thankfully it was not bleeding…yet. However, the blackened charring across his pinkish skin was pulsating with pain.

Yep, it sure is loud now. Stay awake, complete the op, get everyone home…

Keying his comlink, Vu’thari reported in, ”SawDip…bring the Equinox around. Don’t try anything fancy—you are not a pilot. Gentle beings, I am at A17, loading up a repulsor sled and then on my way to the main hangar opening. Everyone alright?”

Grunting a bit as he rolled his injured arm to test mobility, he bent over and tried to catch his breath. The seconds of combat had taken a toll on the twi’lek. Once he caught his breath, he ran over to a nearby repulsor sled and pushed it over to the door and began quickly loading it up…

@Shalken @Vosrik

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

Not even a moment after Devrim had dispatched the guards in C21, he heard Toland begin to say something over the comms, but his words were immediately drowned out by the incessant blaring of the warehouse's alarms. "Ahh, great," the rebel moaned as he hustled over to section D4. Despite the alarms going off, they still had a job to do — and he was going to search the crates in D4 regardless. Devrim knew he still had a single smoke grenade left, and he was absolutely going to use that to his advantage if there were any men guarding the section. Sure enough, along the hallway to section D4, he met two men who exited into the hallway from D4. Taken by surprise, Devrim hastily fired off a few shots but completely missed both of them. ♦ In retaliation, the two men dove back into cover and began laying down suppression fire towards Devrim. Leaping to the floor, the rebel managed to evade damage for the time being. Pulling the pin from a frag grenade on his belt, he cooked it in his hand and tossed it just past the entrance to the warehouse section. It exploded with a loud bang, bits of shrapnel and dust pattering overtop Devrim's back and armour harmlessly as he was well out of its lethal range. However, the two guards were most certainly not. Drawing his blaster pistol, the rebel stood and rounded the corner.

He found nothing but the bloody corpses of the two guards. Affirming they were dead, he moved into section D4. Unclipping his final smoke grenade, he tossed it inside for cover while four other men scrambled for their weapons. This alarm was clearly not a drill — the explosions and blaster fire made that more clear than anything else. "It's those karking Jackdaws again!" one of them shouted upon seeing the smoke grenade being tossed inside. Devrim couldn't help but smirk underneath his helmet. They had been fooled indeed, and if anything the rebels' actions today would incite a gang war that would end up with both weakened or one completely destroyed. Both options were favourable to the Alliance.

Ducking into the concealment of the white smoke, Devrim was like a reaper in the night. ♦ Approaching the first of the dazed men, he plunged his vibroblade into the guard's temple before yanking it out and blasting two holes into the chest of the second one nearby. Hearing the noise and blaster shots, the other two backed themselves against the wall and began laying fire down towards the other end of the warehouse section without even bothering to aim. Sliding into cover behind the crates of equipment, Devrim holstered his blaster pistol and sheathed his dagger. Reloading the power pack of his R5R blaster, he took a few breaths before springing into action once again. Sliding out on the floor from beside the crates, he pulled the trigger twice per guard. Taking them by surprise from the floor, all four of his shots were direct hits. Sighing in satisfaction, the rebel let his rifle hang off its sling while he checked the crates of equipment. What he found wasn't great — half of them had been damaged in the fight, only leaving a couple that he could carry out. ⋮⋮ These will do, ⋮⋮ Devrim thought as he picked them up and jogged back the way he came.

"I've got two crates from D4, three more from C21," the rebel communicated to the rest of his team. "The hallways are clear." Passing by C21, he arrived at Vu'thari's location and placed the two crates he'd retrieved onto the repulsor sled. "I'll be right back," he commented before sprinting back to the section he'd cleared first. Finding three crates worth taking back, he found a nearby dolly and loaded them onto the cart before wheeling it back to the waiting Twi'lek. "All good to go. Toland, what's your status?" he asked, raising his comm to his helmet.

@Shalken @Mithias​

 

[Toland Vult]

Despite it being part of the plan to go out with a bang, Toland couldn't help but mentally kick himself for having set off the alarms so quickly. Nevertheless, their mission remained the same — and now they could afford to be a little more sloppy with the execution. As the three thugs inside the room were laying down suppression fire, Vult was unable to shoot in without taking serious hits himself. However, a gun wasn't the only solution to all his problems, as he pulled out a frag grenade and chucked it into the room. Unable to see the explosive and leave in time, the three gangsters could only sit and watch as it detonated, killing all three instantly.♦ Breathing a sigh of relief, Toland stepped in and found three intact crates of supplies. Quickly grabbing them, he hauled them out into the hallway before moving a bit further to vault F1.

Punching the door controls, Toland was pleasantly surprised to find no thugs in the room.♦ He quickly located two large crates of medical supplies, which he pushed out into the hallway. Receiving Devrim's message, Vult replied, "H32 and F1 all clear now. I've got five crates, I'll rendezvous soon." Stacking and hefting all the boxes, Toland wound his way back through the warehouse towards the other two where the hovercart was waiting. The smoke from their multiple bombs had now wafted throughout the entire building, leaving a haze that lingered near the ceiling and caught the flash of the red strobe lights that flickered their warning repeatedly. "Alright, let's get out of here," Toland urged.

Rushing down the hallways towards the large garage door in the back, it seemed they would not be able to escape unimpeded.♦ In their way stood a Besalisk and two burly Barabels, armed and ready for a fight.♦

@Vosrik @Mithias​

 

[Vuthari]

Kragin’s Warehouse
Outskirts of Mos Taike
Tatooine

Warfare was chaos. Vu’thari knew this to be true, but he never completely got used to the lack of order in the throws of combat. Despite all of that, the trio managed to get most of the crates they sought onto repulsor sleds to be pushed out into the sand for pick-up. Rolling three large crates around the corner, Devrim came to a stop.

"All good to go. Toland, what's your status?"

Already standing by the main hangar door, the twi’lek punched the main access button. The grinding of metal reverberated throughout the main warehouse, opening the large structure up to the Tatooine twilight. The huge doors were receding to either side. Over the screeching of the aged doors, the massive sublight drives of the Equinox could be heard roaring as the light freighter came into the area. Vu’thari couldn’t help but stare at how the little astrogation droid maneuvered the ship barely cresting a large dune and whipping the ship around with the gate opened at in front of the large warehouse, some 40 feet away.*

Toland came around the corner to join them with five more crates loaded onto another repulsor sled. Vu’thari nodded at the pair and said, ”Let’s get outta here…”

He began pushing one of the repulsor sleds out of the warehouse. However, a pair of barabels and a hulking besalisk came around the corner from the outside, armed and ready. They were on them right as they came into view. One of the barabels quickly broke off and chose to engage the unarmored twi’lek, jabbing with a jagged vibroblade. The quickness of the barabel caught Vu’thari by surprise. *Just as he was pushing away from the repulsor sled, the growling reptilian thug caught the twi’lek fully in the arm and he was unable to counter attack. Now bleeding from his right arm, he was completely on the defensive as the barabel smelled blood…

@Shalken @Vosrik

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

Nodding as he heard Toland's response, Devrim was content to stand and wait while his companion finished retrieving the supplies that he could from the depths of the warehouse. "Alright, time to head out," he commented after having helped load all the crates onto the repulsor sled. Devrim could already just barely make out the roar of the engines from the Equinox. SawDip sure did know how to time an extraction properly. As the other two rebels had noticed, however, they would not be leaving so quickly just yet. "Blast!" Devrim exclaimed, snatching his R5R blaster rifle from where it hung on his back from the strap. Pressing the butt to his shoulder, he was about to unleash a stream of suppressing fire when he noticed Vu'thari in trouble from the hulking Barabel.

Filled with determination, Devrim rushed over to the Twi'lek's aid. Unsheathing his vibroblade from its hidden spot on his belt, the broad-shouldered rebel shouted, "Hey pal!" to the barabel's face. His distraction worked, causing the brute to turn in surprise toward the direction of the sound. It was too late, however, as Devrim plunged the knife hilt-deep into the side of the creature's head. ♦ Spinning around and shouldering his R5R while leaving the knife in the Barabel's corpse as it fell like a brick, the rebel sprayed a cone of blaster fire towards the other two remaining guards. ♦

While impacting the Besalisk and Barabel, Devrim was unable to truly injure them enough to stop their assault. As they were both encased in a set of heavy armour, it was clear these guards were meant to withstand a great deal of shots. Continuing to lay down suppressing fire to keep the two back, Devrim slowly backed up while making sure Vu'thari was safe behind him. "Toland," he called out to his companion, "Our ride is here — we gotta take these guys down now before the Equinox starts taking hits!" These three had almost certainly sent for reinforcements from the rest of Kragin Jurl's gang, and Devrim didn't want to be there when the rest of them showed up to retake the warehouse from the "Jackdaws".

@Shalken @Mithias​

 

[Toland Vult]

These three thugs were Kragin's last line of defense, and they were no joke. Gritty and hardened from many years of raiding, they were both experienced and well-equipped, making them incredibly tough opponents. One of the Barabels attacked Vu'thari and managed to wound him with a grisly-looking knife. Devrim temporarily broke off his attack to defend the Twi'lek, managing to slay the reptilian with a knife of his own — and though the odds were now slightly in their favour, the fight was far from over. Though Wolfe had managed slay the Barabel that wounded Vu'thari, the rebel man's blaster bolts against the other two only slightly halted their assault. Taking the hits head-on and leaving charred patches on their armour, the Besalisk and remaining Barabel would not be able to take more hits to their torsos, the bolts having burned through and singed their scaly skin beneath. Flanking the other Barabel, Toland raised his rifle to attack, but the powerpack fizzed out and fried the gun, leaving it completely beyond use or repair.♦ Hardly skipping a beat, Vult tossed aside his now-useless rifle and drew his pistol, quickly firing two shots into each gangster's torso. As their armour was already rendered useless by Devrim's volley, they were defenseless against the Rebels' combined assault, and fell to Toland's bolts.♦

Breathing a sigh of relief, he holstered his pistol and reached into his medpack, pulling forth a large Kolto bandage and tossing it to Vu'thari. "Put this on, it'll stop the bleeding and keep you stable until we get to a proper medbay." With that, Toland grasped the handles of the hovercart and heaved it across the sand towards the lowered ramp of the Equinox.

@Mithias @Vosrik​

 

[Vuthari]

Kragin’s Warehouse
Outskirts of Mos Taike
Tatooine

Luckily, Devrim acted fast before the barabel could finish what he started. Toland and Devrim managed to wear down the remaining two in a hail of blaster fire. As he came towards the ship, he kicked up sand on top of any blood splotch of his that hit the ground, taking no chances for discovery. The Jedi was feeling a bit lightheaded, but it was probably from a myriad of different reasons: exertion, heat, blood loss, etc.

Toland was next to him, "Put this on, it'll stop the bleeding and keep you stable until we get to a proper medbay."

The twi’lek nodded in appreciation, ”Thanks.”

With that, the three quickly worked back and forth from the warehouse, loading in the repulsor sleds, unloading crates, rinsing and repeating. Vu’thari was surprised at how fast the Equinox filled up in just a couple of minutes. The twi’lek knew more were coming, but it was getting dark at this point…and they were done here.

“SawDip, let’s go…”

Looking over at the two humans, the twi’lek grinned as he was nursing his arm with the kolto pack and said, ”You don’t guess that barabel sterilizes his blade does he? I think I will have a round of inoculations before a round of drinks…”

EXIT THREAD…enjoyed it!
​

@Shalken @Vosrik