A Penny for a Hyperdrive

[Freyja Storm]

"What do you mean, there is no Hyperdrive." Freyja shouted at Kara, as she paced about the main living quarters of the ship. "You see that rather large hole in the floor your walking around, that is where they took the Hyperdrive out from," Kara replied. Freyja stopped and looked down through the hole, she could see the top of the sublight engines, their hum was louder than usual on a spaceship due to the lack of sound dampeners between the engine room and the rest of the ship. A number of things Freyja was quickly learning this ship was without. "Beep-bop, Beep." The small astromech droid which came with the ship rolled up next to her and projected a model of the ship out in the air between Freyja and Kara. "It seems the Guild were going through a rather large re-fit of the ship for the Guild Masters personal use. Including ripping out the old Class 4 Hyperdrive and putting in a Class 1 instead. Most of these panels are removed so they could get to the wiring as the power needed to be re-routed through more power converters, plus they were looking at adding better shields and even weapons to the ship as well." Kara pointed to the parts of the ship as she spoke. "Yea I was going to add some weapons myself," Freyja said, resting her chin on her hand. "So where are we going to get a Hyperdrive, I don't want to float around here forever." Freya continued, looking out the viewport to see the nearby moon of Christophsis. "Well, I might know where the old and the new one are!" Kara said with a smile.

***​

Freyja stood near the entrance to the giant complex which was the main storage facility for the Merchant Guild on Christophsis, it was a fortress in all but name. Guards patrolled the external fence in groups of three, guard towers littered the borders, snipers in each ready to shoot and ask questions later. The main entrance was guarded by two walkers, enough firepower to take out any small task force sent against it. Luckily for her and the Holo-net compatriot, the Hyperdrive's they were after was in one of the transfer sheds to the east, away from the main defence of the facility. Hopefully easier to crack than this monstrosity. The guards seemed more alert than the ones who were defending the small spaceport she had attacked a week ago, the story of the assault probably filtering through the ranks. The official story had been covered up in the Holo-Net, which Freyja was happy with as her face had not been plastered all over the planet, making it easier for her to walk about.

She had left Kara two days ago on the outskirts of the main city, the two women had formed a strong bound in the little time they had been together and she was confident the fellow thief would not run away with the ship. Plus she couldn't get very far without a Hyperdrive. Freyja turned her back on the compound and began to walk back towards the main entertainment district, taking a more indirect route to the east side. Plus this was where she was to meet her accomplice for this task.

@Darasuum

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

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Always One The Run ≜ No Wyld​

Normally Burkhart did not travel this far. But business came a calling and at least some of his presence had become known to a few key peoplee that wanted to hire him for his services. A fixer, a smuggler, bootlegger and mercenary. Burkhart Kelborn was all of those things and more. He stood outside a local corner bar that was open to the outside. His helmet was under one arm while his other hand held a cigara in his mouth. His back leaned against one of the pillars and he watched people walk up and down the street.

He was fully kitted out for this event. It was rare for him to not have all of his gear. Seeing a mandalorian was not a common sight for many planets but Christophsis was away from normal mandalorian territory. His armor did not have the distinctive T visor that most mandalorians did. Instead his own size usually was enough to attract attention. He did not need Imperial authorities seeing the iconic T visor and come sticking their noses in his usually illicit business.

Today he had been told about some job to acquire a high quality hyperdrive. The Morling was in the market for one to upgrade his ship anyways so if possible he would try to get one for himself. If not then he could always purchase one with the means he earned from this job.

His yellow irises saw over the tops of peoples' heads and spotted the woman who was his contact. She was pretty for a human though she was not mandalorian so it came with a grain of salt. The Kelborn clan member took a long toke from the addictive vice before dropping it on the ground and stamping the embers out. He exhaled a moment later, a large generous cloud of smoke exiting his vast lung capacity. "Gooday, Mrs Storm." He greeted her in a neutral and stoic tone.

@Braden Drake ​

 

[Freyja Storm]

Freyja rolled her eyes when the brute stepped forward. How in a galaxy full of billions of humans was she always stuck with a god damn alien? She looked around the square at least half were human. Fate was annoying, to say the least. She tried to keep the dirty look from her face though she wasn't quite successful when she spoke. "Well, you're inconspicuous." She said looking him up and down at his size. "Let's hope we don't need to get through any small doors." She continued with a distinct tone of distaste in her voice. Freyja abruptly turned and began walking away from corner bar the alien was stood outside and back towards the transfer sheds. The crowd was heavy, the sun was setting and most workers had finished for the day, the evening commute was on as the sun began to set, throwing the sky into a concoction of yellows, oranges and reds.

They rounded the corner onto the road which led along the side of the compound, the great building was to their right as she walked. "So the deal is the Class 4 for me and the Class 1 for you. My ship doesn't have the power capacity at the moment for a higher grade Hyperdrive so I'm gifting you the better one." She said, not looking back to see how close the beast was. "I hope that is to your liking?"

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

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The young female had spunk. It was amusing and he had about half a dozen responses. "Wouldn't want your ego ta gut stook I suppose." He said with an amused expression. As she turned and began to walk away he brought his helmet up and onto his helmet where it sat snugly. He was used to the ignorance and resentment. Every where he had been in his life he was oppressed for one reason or another but by now he had become so jaded by it that he almost did not register it. Everyone had something to resent, Burkhart had his own things he held in low regard.

Freyja continued to explain the rewards as they walked. "How generous, cuz we're such good friends ya?" He said jokingly. The way in front of the woman parted since the large man was walking behind her. He was as large as a wookiee and far less altruistic. "Yah don't happen to have any other info forr meh do yah? I'd prefer not bein lead to the slaughter if it can be avoided." The Morling was inquiring about the details of the mission. They were breaking into some facility together but so far he had been given only sparse details. He would be lying if the mandalorian said he wasn't suspicious of the stranger.

@Braden Drake​

 

[Freyja Storm]

"Hey if you don't want it. I am happy to let you work for free and I will just sell the second drive." She said in retort to the alien's sarcastic joke. The walked for a little longer, the bulk of the creature behind her seemed to give her an easier passage than most through the crowd. When he spoke again, it brought a little smile to Freyja's face, at least the alien had some brains and wasn't about to go charging through the gates. "The drive's are located in the transfer shed to the South East of the main complex building, which is good for us as there is no way we would be getting in there without an army." The road they were walking along angled in the same direction and the transfer shed came quickly into view. It was four maybe five stories tall at the most, built of corrugated durasteel with a large door on the North Side and on top of the building to allow for access from above.

"My ship is waiting in the upper atmosphere ready for collection. We need to get inside, disable the anti-air, secure the hyperdrive's and open the top bay doors to allow her to hover over." It sounded much simpler than it was, not only was the area more heavily guarded than the landing pad from before the guards were now on alert. "I have a program for the Anti-Air, so we only need to get to an access terminal inside to upload it." She continued. They were coming alongside the transfer shed, though she carried on walking past, allowing the brute a better view of their target before they approached.

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

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Burkhart nearly chuckled at the woman's initial retort. He did not work for free. While he did enjoy his work he did not enjoy it enough to start making it a hobby. Instead he just shook his head slightly from behind her. It was soon becoming apparent she could dish out the sardonic humor but could not take it. Great, now I'm working with a hypocrite, again. It was certainly not the first time and certainly not the last. The last non mandalorian he had worked with had actually been a rather nice lady.

As the woman spoke his eyes did look upwards a bit as he pictured the layout in his head. Thankfully he did not look like a total brawn with no brains due to his helmet. It did take him a moment to understand what she was saying though since her wording seemed to be a bit strange. For a moment he thought she had just contradicted herself but then realized she had meant that if the drives had been in the main complex then it would have been an impossible job with just the two of them.

The Morling scanned his eyes towards the area they were to infiltrate. His experienced eyes darted here and there, looking for cameras, turrets, guards and different paths of approach and evacuation. He murmured to himself. He assumed she did not have a stealth ship so hopefully she understood that if the guards were able to get a read on her ship's IFF tags that meant that ship would be black listed from that point forward. Maybe she had a plan for that too. All in all Burkhart was glad they were not using his ship for this. Finally he looked back over to Freyja looking for her queue on when to make a move or where to start.

@Braden Drake​

 

[Freyja Storm]

They turned left at the end of the road, keeping the transfer shed to their right-hand side as they walked, allowing them to get a view of much of the building and the surrounding defences. There was a large watchtower on the corners edge, that would be a problem. A little further along was the main vehicle entrance to that end of the complex and the transfer shed itself. It was well defended, with dual guard posts each manned by two heavily armed guards. They could also see at least a dozen other guards patrolling in one direction or the other. "The tower will be a problem." She said as they continued walking.

The transfer shed was now well behind them as Freyja turned off the main street and into one of the smaller side roads which would allow them to circle back to the transfer shed. "We have two options, the first is the direct route, it gives us the least amount of time to complete all the goals, but we wouldn't have to spend as much time in the complex itself. The second is a little more delicate and we definitely need to wait for night to come before struck out. My preference is the later, I've already been in one big firefight this week. But I hired you as support and you can only support if you are well suited to the plan. Which would be your preference?"

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

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He kept an eye on the complex and took in the details of the guards. He had decent night sight as a non human. But the guards would need lights or tactical heads up displays if they wanted to see well. Burkhart had dark armor and that would be even better at night so when Freyja possed the two options he nodded towards the second one. "Let's wait til dak then." He said simply.

When the time passed he would keep an eye on the patrol routes of the foot patrols. They probably had consistent patterns. He timed how long it usually took them to get from point A to B and then on to C. He was not too worried about the whole complex, only the areas they would be infiltrating. They carried Vorantikus blaster rifles by the look of them with DH 7 blaster pistols as side arms. Pretty standard armament. They had heavy or medium armor on. It did not matter much since a few bolts to the chest would still kill them and a blade in the side of the throat would still work too. The heavy armor of course would slow down their response time which actually favored Burkhart and Freyja.

@Braden Drake​

 

[Freyja Storm]

Freyja was happy with the Aliens response to her question. The cover of darkness would help with the infiltration and extraction equally. The sun was already setting so it didn't take long for the night to fully take effect, Freyja made the decision to wait at least an hour after it got full dark before they made their move. The streets were quieting down which was good both against collateral damage and them being seen. As the sun set the watchtower lit up a large light which patrolled the exterior perimeter and into the base proper. She watched it during the hour lull, it seemed to be automated and run on the same path consistently.

Freyja had decided their entry point, it was on the side leading up to the main complex, away from transfer shed entrance and about ten meters up from the base of the tower. They had a short time period to get through the wire fence before the searchlight came back down. So they needed to move quickly. Finally, Freyja decided the time was right, the pair left one of the side streets and made hastily towards the fence, she waited for the light to pass, then drawing her vibro-sword she cut down through the metal links. The vibration of the blade allowed it to cut cleanly through enough links for the pair of them to slip through. Just in time before the light came back around. They probably had about five minutes before one of the patrols would be close enough to notice the cut. "Let's get going. We need to get to a security console first."

@Darasuum

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

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The man followed the woman and waited with her until darkness came. He was patient and fine with the plan thus far. When it was time to move he drew his strill blaster pistol and his versatech cosmowrench in case he needed to take someone out in close quarters. He did not need murder on the lists of crimes he had committed so far even though he was perfectly comfortable with the idea of killing. It was more so since they were leaving witnesses that if reports got out that he was involved then he did not want a bounty on his head. But in the ideal situation the local guards would not even know that the female human and the male Morling were even there.

When they made the cut through the fence he had to cut a little bit more to allow himself to get through. It was a narrow fit but he was able to get through without making a noise. He quickly made his way towards the nearest cover. He followed Fryja as she moved and only came along side her when they were in cover and could stack. The rest of the time he was following her tail. It was then that he was glad his armor was black. None of the guards saw him as he moved across the open ground. His heart was beating fast, hoping his luck would keep.

@Braden Drake​

 

[Freyja Storm]

The brute followed her closely and surprisingly for his size and bulk was quiet and subtle in his movements. She smiled inwardly, he might actually be worth the Hyperdrive. When they stopped between a pair of large crates in the loading yard, she took a deep breath, settling her mind for what was to come. The next few minutes would be hectic, an alarm would eventually be raised, either from the guards patrolling or someone inside the Transfer Shed. There was no way, they could take out every man in a shed that large before one could reach a button or shout out for help. It was more of how much time they had before that. Peeking up over the crate, she spotted a security station just to the right of the transfer shed doors, a single guard sat inside, his feet on the panel what looked like a pastry in his hands. The doors to the shed were unlocked but shut to the outside world, she had no idea how many people were in there, or how much noise they would make opening up.

Popping back down she turned to gun for hire and spoke but just above a whisper. "I can get to the security console, the door is a little small for you. I need you to get into the transfer shed and start clearing it out. We have about four minutes until a patrol notices our entrance." She waited for him to reply before moving out from behind the crate. Freyja was about halfway towards the door when the guard decided that the pastry was not enough and needed something to wash it down with. He walked out of the security room, directly in line with the creeping Freyja. He spotted her immediately and shouted out, drawing his blaster pistol. Freyja scrambled for her own blaster dropping her vibro-sword to the ground, she got it out of the holster and was able to let off a shot, frightening the guard but nothing more. Worse, the base was now on alert, a siren began sounding in the distance. "Frak."

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

____________

Taking the direction from Freyja the man would move into the shed. He kept his repeater up and at the ready. As he moved in he heard the commotion outside from his cohort doing whatever it was she was doing. This caused one of the guards on the inside of the building to turn around and spot Burkhart. The Morling brought his light repeater to bear and fired into the man and then into as many others as he could see. He would end up killing three of the ten guards inside that had become aware of the mandalorian intruder.

He needed to make the shed secure if they were going to move the hyperdrives onto the ship. But either way Freyja had to turn off the air based defenses. All the while the two would be dealing with the now alerted base. This was turning sour really quick. He tossed a concussion grenade out as he took cover behind some rugged crates, blaster fire hitting the walls behind him. It seemed the last remaining 7 guards were clumped together in some sort of huddle because they all got taken downp by the concussive grenade Burkhart had tossed. He had not wanted to risk damaging the hyperdrives if he could help it so the consussive grenade would work wonders.

Standing up from his cover he went over to each of them and shot them while they were down. It was a bit savage but he was in it to win it and there were plenty of hostile enemies more than happy to shoot at him outside. Moving in deeper the Kelborn clan member would prepare for an assault whenever it came. He hoped that the ship would come as soon as the defenses were down.

@Braden Drake​

 

[Freyja Storm]

The guard stared at her with a look of fear in his face as the blaster bolt skimmed past his ear. It was enough time for her to raise the blaster and take a clear shot at the man. The bolt landed clean in the center of his chest. The guard slumped to the ground as Freyja quickly moved inside of the security office, she could hear the sirens begin to sign, she didn't have much time to get the anti-air system down and Kara in place. She hoped the Alien was having a better time of it all. She scanned across the console inside the office looking for an access point for her holo-chip.

Finding the correct slot, she pulled the stick from around her neck snapping the leader strap and placed it inside. Kara's hacking skills were pretty good as straight away code began pilling onto the screen in front of her. She couldn't read any of it so she just hoped it was working. Kara had told her it should take ten to fifteen seconds, then the screen will start flashing red. Before the ten seconds were up, the room was flashing red, but this time from blaster bolts. Ducking behind the glass which shattered under the first few shots. She shuffled around to the door, taking a quick peak out to see three guards approaching weapons raised. Popping out from cover she took aim and launched a quick burst of fire towards the three. She took one out cleanly, with a second taking a hit to the leg. The final one returned fire before pulling his colleague into cover.

Turning back to the screen she saw it was flashing red. Tapping her ear she raised the comm for Kara and the ship. "Kara, anti-air is down. But the alarm is raised so it will be hot in here." She said before closing the comm up. She hoped the alien for hire had cleared the transfer shed, as they only had a little time to get the hyperdrive's in position. Peering out over the shattered window, she spotted the two guards who both returned fire. She needed to deal with them first.

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

____________

Well the inside of the transfer shed was good. He searched around and found the hyperdrives that were sitting in mobile cradles ready to be put in some ship. Well that was convenient. However they still needed to get them onto the ship itself which would be an issue. He tried to find something that might help the transfer. He found a labor droid but it looked to be a rather run down version. A delayed start up of its processes made it creak. Apparently the guards had been given proper guns but the droids were not maintained very well. It was a simple automiton and Burkhart gave it the directions to move the hyperdrives into the ship once it got close. It would have to be one at a time too unless Burkhart decided to change his mind from helping out Freyja.

The Morling moved back towards the exit as shots and commotion continued. He had his light repeater raised and once he saw the two guards moving to get into cover he opened fire on them, killing both of them so they could not retaliate. The way was clear for the woman to get out of her limited cover and get to a better position so they could make a quick escape. "Get yer bludy arse moovin lass." He hollered and kept the weapon up in case more reinforcements came.

@Braden Drake​

 

[Freyja Storm]

As Burkhart opened the transfer shed doors and opened fire, the roar of a ships engines could be heard overhead as Kara flew the ship over the compound hovering over the top of the building. The cargo bay doors of the ship opened, a bright light shinning down around them. More guards were heading towards the pair, Freyja didn't have to think twice about Burkhart's offer of getting inside. Blaster bolts fired in all directions as she made the quick sprint from the security office to the doors of the shed. One whizzed by close to her head and leg. She slipped in just behind the big alien, before turning around to help him close up the doors and pull down the locking bolt.

"We need to get those doors open." She said pointing up at the large bay doors on the roof. Freyja took the steps up to the control room, two at a time. Bursting through the door she found the switch quickly enough, flicking it the large metal doors began to retract, showing the lights shinning down from the ship, cables began to descend. "Hook it up." She shouted through the window, as a guard came through the back door into the control room. He grabbed her around the throat pulling her back away from the console. She raised her legs up creating enough momentum to swing the guard over her shoulder crashing down on the metal side. The man let out a sigh as the wind was knocked out of him, Freyja swung the butt of her rifle down onto the man's face knocking him out cold.

 

[Burkhart Kelborn]

____________

The large mandalorian closed the door the moment the human female got inside. He shot the door controls and ended up locking them. The guards would have to break in with force or take time to rewire the door. Either way it bought the two some time.

He then moved back to the ship as it descended in time to see a guard come in and attack Freyja. But she was able hold her own and took the man out without too much difficulty. The Morling moved over to the other hyper drive as the labor droid moved the second one. However it would seem the cart was heavier than it looked and the wheels, like the droids were not serviced well and only moved a meter before stopping. "Sunova-"/gfont] He exclaimed and tried shoving it. He would have to wait until the labor droid finished with the other hyperdrive or get Freyja to help him out.

@Braden Drake​

 

[Freyja Storm]

Freyja was breathing heavy, the adrenaline was still running through her body and that moment of panic as the guard had her around the throat had got her panting. She looked out over the transfer shed to see the labor droid move one of the hyperdrive's into location. The second Burkhart was trying to move with little luck, as Freyja jumped down the stairs to run over to take a look she noticed the wheels were bent and rusty. She heard the Mandalorian shout some kind of expletive as she neared him. Moving around to the corner that was sticking she swung her rifle over her shoulder and took hold of the edge with both hands, she lifted and pulled the cart, as the big Mandalorian pushed, her little extra effort seemed to get the wheels moving.

The labor droid had the first hyperdrive hooked up to the cables coming down from the ship overhead. It seemed to have a pleased look on its face as it turned to watch the pair of them pull their own cart into place. The drive was still part packaged up, which was good as the four mounting brackets were accessible allowing Freyja and Burkhart to attack the dangling cables to the drive quickly. A loud bang at the main gate drew her attention away from the drive, another quickly followed. "I think its about time we get out of here." She said before jumping up onto the hyperdrive, one hand around a cable. "Kara, get us out of here." She shouted down the comm. The engines to the ship began to roar as it pulled away with its cargo of two hyperdrives and two raiders gliding beneath.

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End Thread