Eternally Thorned Cardinal, Raines

[Vayna Akhara]

Imperial Bounties & Hit List
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Eternally Thorned Cardinal, Raines
Description: Raines is an archbishop of the Order of the 12 Crosses. He has been promoting the religion to strike against the ‘heretics’, which consist of any Force user not in their order. As the figurehead of his campaign, his removal would cause the campaign to lose velocity.
Notes: Raines usually has many followers with him.
Recommended Hunters: Snipers, Force users
Last Sighting: Raines leads worship at a temple on Telti.
Proof: Retrieve Raines' galero.
Difficulty: Easy

Vayna made sure the door to her room was securely locked before switching on the privacy securer she'd brought with her to the moon. A combination of white noise generator, bug detector, poison sensor and encrypted transmitter, she had put it together herself during her time on Serenno, between studying under Master Vandergruff and practising with Force and lightsaber. This was her first mission at the behest of the Count, and she knew he was testing her, to see if she could complete her mission and prove herself worthy of his training and patronage. Fail, and ... well, she had no intention of failing.

Obviously, given Raines' preaching against Force users who were not part of his Order, she would be a target if she used her Force powers anywhere where she might be observed. Though that, of course, might be used to her advantage ...

It could be an opening into the organisation, at least. Reveal myself as a Force user, and either feign acceptance upon being offered a place in their Order, or use myself as a bait to draw them out into the open. It would depend on the Order's reaction - would they make an approach if they thought I was unaligned, or simply shoot first and forget about questions. That, I think, would be a good place to start with my initial reconnaissance - collecting what information I can on the activities and behaviour of this 'church'.

Of course, Telti was, perhaps unfortunately, within Alliance space, so she would have to be careful not to reveal her true affiliations whilst on the moon - Vayna had no desire to have Alliance Security forces chasing her all over the place, let alone having to deal with Jedi interference. But as long as she kept a low profile, she should be okay - her lighsaber wasn't even red, but still the purple colour it had originally been when she'd received it. For this mission, she'd set aside her normal clothes and equipment. Everything was second-hand Alliance-manufactured, even the privacy securer - after all, if a Sith needs to be undetected anywhere, it's in Alliance territory. Even her sonic pistol was Alliance-made. She was leaving nothing to chance.

Vayna waited while the bug detector checked for listening devices in the room, whilst the noise generator output the sounds of a young woman unpacking and putting away her belongings. The four-part device had been dismantled into nineteen parts that, between them, appeared to be nothing more than radios. communicators, watches, datapads, and anything else that Vayna could think of. It took a short while to put together, but when it did, it could confirm that a place was safe, conceal the tell-tale sounds of movement and even speech, and burst-transmit encoded messages via multiple routers to make tracing it almost impossible. Some components, such as the message encryption hardware and software, had been provided for her on behalf of Count Vandergruff, much of it had been bought or salvaged by Vayna herself. She'd tested it and retested it on Serenno until she was completely confident it worked. The poison sniffer reported that the air was clean of toxins, but she wasn't satisfied until the bug detector also reported nothing amiss. Now, with any noise she made screened and the room checked and secured, she could make her transmission.

For some unknown reason, her Master didn't want her collecting on an Imperial bounty being offered for Cardinal Raines, though she was to assist an Imperial Commando unit which was inbound at that moment. Perhaps Master Vandergruff had personal reasons for wanting the Cardinal dead - he hadn't said, and she hadn't asked.

She entered an unlocking key code and set up to transmit her message. Once received and decoded by the Imperial strike team, it would give them a docking bay that was reserved for them, several small and cheap suites for them to base themselves in, and a place and time to make contact with Vayna herself. She finished preparing the message, checked that the message transmission nodes were clear of tracers, and sent the message to the incoming team.

 

[Saint]

Telti was a moon located in the Inner Rim Territories. It was the location of a major droid construction facility, which covered nearly the entire surface of the moon. The moon was without atmosphere, and all the manufacturing facilities were located in domed structures connected by air-tight tunnels and overland corridors. It was guarded by a wide range of battle droids and guard droids.

Sergeant Norman 'Suicide' Saint reviewed the mission details and data of the planet as they made their way to land. For -whatever- reason, intelligence had suggested that they use a sniper to take this cat down. Well, snipers didn't really do much good when your target was indoors all the time, and there was no real 'outdoors' to shoot at him from. What were they suppose to do? Deck out in environmental suits and shoot through the tunnels and domed structures?

Yeah, that'd be -real- slick. Smart clandestine move there! Once again, the Imperial Stormtrooper Commando had been assigned a Sith to work with him and his squad. Hopefully she wouldn't be like the last one... That fellow was... irritating at best. His commo guru interrupted Norman's thoughts as he reported that the Sith had transmitted all pertinent information for landing, and meeting up with her. Her? Saint hadn't met a female Sith yet. Huh.

He wondered briefly just what sort of fluctuations that would bring to the work environment. Recalling last time they had a shapely, female Twi'lek pilot... He and his Troopers were combat arms folks. They weren't really around attractive Imperial females too often... if at all. Few were in the combat arms fields, and fewer still made the cut to Commando. So far, this one seemed professional and accurate enough. Not deviating from what the plan was as the last Sith seemed to enjoy doing oh so very often.

Bringing the vessel down, the team unloaded and made their way to their separate rooms and such. Only taking enough time to freshen up and straighten his attire, Sergeant Norman Saint made his way to where he was to meet up with this female Sith. With datapad in hand, he found himself feeling rather optimistic about this whole joint operation. At least moreso than he had felt about the last one with that illusionist feck...

 

[Vayna Akhara]

Vayna finished her perusal of the admittedly limited data available on her target, It seemed he had quite a large following, and that they were more than happy to use violence to advance their goals. That in itself might be admirable, but they were opposed to the Sith as well as the weakling Jedi, and for that, they had to fall. She had managed to find two other locations frequented by the Cardinal, apart from his Church. One of them was a large droid warehouse in the southern sector, and from what she'd managed to find out about his financial affairs, it seemed that the good Cardinal was spending a considerable quantity of money there. Given that said manufacturer specialised in assault droids, the inference was obvious - he was building a private droid army. But why? Did he intend making a grab for power on Telti, or to eliminate so-called 'heretics' on the moon, or were the droids for use elsewhere in operations against the enemies of the Juuni Viinn Jho? That, she had not been able to find out - yet.

The other place he frequented was an area of the moon where many of the manual workers lived, a run-down slum area where he would go with an entourage and disappear for hours at a time.What he was doing there, she had no information on. Possibly he was using the area as a recruiting ground - the people living there were poverty-stricken, and desperate people can be manipulated into performing dirty jobs for others.

Still, she had a lead, at least. A high-ranking member of the Church of the Order of the Twelve Crosses, currently being tailed by her droid, Vore. The slender, mechanical centipede had a 'follow without being seen' protocol, currently in force, and it had kept a close watch on the woman's movements. The woman was a senior member of the Church and a fanatical preacher against the 'heretics'. She could either be approached about Vayna joining the Church, or else a strike against her would bring many of the Church's followers out of the woodwork. Of course, from what information she had, the commandos inbound were more experienced than her at such things, and might have other ideas about how to proceed. If so, she would learn from them so that she could put what she learnt to good use in the future. She had no qualms about admitting her lack of experience, and she was prepared to use every mission, every event, as a learning opportunity, from which she would emerge stronger.

Picking up her spare datapad, she left the apartment, locking the door behind her. The privacy securer would monitor the door and windows and alert her of any access via her comlink. The large, opaque visor she wore had many benefits, one of which was that Vore's sensors had a direct, encrypted datalink to the visor, meaning that she could meet her contact in the commandos whilst checking that her droid still had its target in its sights.

The meeting place was a medium-sized warehouse used as a droid salesroom by an ancient Sullustan, near-blind and always on the verge of going bankrupt,but still kept afloat by orders for upgrades and rebuilds. Vayna's datapad had a white noise generator built into it that would mimic a conversation between two people, allowing her and the contact to talk relatively freely, aided by the noise of the heavy machinery being used. She strode into the warehouse, waved off the younger Sullustan who approached her, and began browsing the parts and spares on display on metal shelves and dumped on the floor, working her way to the contact point. She stood looking at a complicated piece of sensor equipment, and waited for her contact to show.

 

[Saint]

Saint made his way towards the medium-sized warehouse. The intel said something about it being a droid salesroom ran by some old Sullustan. Sure enough, once the Sergeant entered, he saw the half-blind alien and immediately had to wave him off, stating something about just wanting to look around for a bit before really getting into anything. Partially-muttering, the salesman waddled back off behind a counter.

Norman saw the Sith contact he was suppose to meet up with. Krath damn... She was a shapely piece of work. Guess he didn't expect something fat and ugly to be a Sith, but then again... Did you -really- know what to expect with them? Hardly. Moving to stand over by her, Norm commented, "Wha's tha' piece 'spose t'do there?" Not that he really cared; he was just letting her know that he was here.

Still, upon his approach to her, he had caught himself giving her a thorough once over before coming up alongside. Likely she hadn't noticed that as she wasn't facing him, but then again, these Sith were something weird at times. Almost demigod-like. He found himself hoping that this wasn't some stupid illusion again. Like that last Sith he had the privilege to work with. Momentarily, he wondered if -that- was who was in that Pub on Naboo...

 

[Vayna Akhara]

Vayna had fixed her gaze on the machinery, but her mind was elsewhere. She had called up memories of old hurts, using the anger she still felt to channel the Force into expanding her perceptions of her surroundings. It was something that her new Master had taught her back on Serenno - Myndra had taught her the basic ability, but not been able to teach the girl the power beyond a certain point.

She felt the old Sullustan, the ticking of the droids and other machinery all around, the handful of customers in the run-down shop. Then she felt a new presence enter, someone who had strength beyond that of the fools and weaklings she'd so far encountered. This one, she sensed, had the way of the hunter about him, a potential for violence, and she guessed he was the commando she was to meet. She drew her datapad and switched it on, as if using it to compare what she was looking at with data on the screen. Instead, she entered a key sequence to unlock the pad's white noise program.

Norman saw the Sith contact he was suppose to meet up with. Krath damn... She was a shapely piece of work. Guess he didn't expect something fat and ugly to be a Sith, but then again... Did you -really- know what to expect with them? Hardly. Moving to stand over by her, Norm commented, "Wha's tha' piece 'spose t'do there?" Not that he really cared; he was just letting her know that he was here.

"That?" she queried, still keying in commands on her pad. "That's a servo arm for an agricultural droid, though it can be used for other purposes." Looked at the stranger, and nodded; he matched the visual identification she'd been given, he had arrived at exactly the time specified, and furthermore she could sense nothing 'wrong' with the man through the Force. He was definitely her contact. If any of those features of their meeting had been 'wrong' - his looks, the timing, or her senses - she would have pulled out of the meeting immediately. She finished keying in the commands on her pad, and a program began running. "Good, we can talk freely now. I have our voices entered on the database, and it's now generating interference in any visual sensors, and creating an audio screen that any listeners will pick up as a conversation between two people discussing the relative merits of various pieces of machinery."

She half-turned to look at him, seeing him eyeing her curiously, and a slight smile appeared on her face; she could almost sense what he was thinking without even trying. "You are wondering if this is the real me. If it is illusion, then it is illusion for a reason. Now, are you ready to be briefed?"

 

[Insanity]

((OOC: Please excuse the quality/quantity of my posts. Lack of proper sleep has been messing with me, as well as lack of a proper eating schedule. I'll try to keep the posts from seeming out of place, but I may drop out a few times so ya can skip me if I start having issues))

Qwarn had never been to Telti, nor heard of it at all, before being informed he was to act as support in a covert operation that was key to the Empire's well-being. Honestly, he didn't care about the operation until he heard that last bit. So, ultimately, he was more than willing to accept the orders without so much as a complaint. Though, once he saw the transport he was given, he nearly did. His transport was an outdated X-wing, the most recent fix being a new hyperdrive, or rather, an old one with a few tweaks for better stability and efficiency. His other concern, after actually plotting out a course, was that Telti was proverbially in Alliance space.

His last concern, but the most pressing, was that he hadn't been able to bring his armor. That left him with few, if any, possibilities for protection. And by the time he did arrive on Telti, he'd decided that he'd pay for a few additions to the X-wing himself for the next unlucky bastard who had to pilot it. So, back to the rest - As the X-wing touched down, he pushed the cockpit's cover up and stepped out onto the landing pad, stretching his back to re-adjust to not being cramped anymore. His peace was short lived as he was confronted by a docking official and two droids following behind him.

"Welcome to Telti, visitor. As you are unregistered, it's required that you pay a fee of two hundred and fifty credits to reserve this pad for your ship. I'm sure you'll consider that reasonable, yes?" The official, a Quarren(damned luck), was wearing opulent robes, so it was obvious that the fee wasn't for docking alone. Qwarn had to resist the urge to just break the sentient's skull open and see how the pompous being felt then. But this wasn't Imperial space and he couldn't do that without compromising the operation. "I'll settle for paying you a hundred and fifty credits, more than enough to pay the fee. If you've seen my ship, you know that I wouldn't be rich enough to manage anything over that. Don't you think?"

The Quarren mulled it over before making a motion, maybe something that indicated acceptance of a deal to other Quarrens. Completely lost on Qwarn, of course, but the verbalization when the sentient agreed to the lowered fee was obvious. After paying it, though, he had to grab a matte-grey knapsack from a storage compartment behind the pilot seat and enter the code for the comm-line he had been instructed to put in. Making his way inside the tunnels of Telti, he finally accessed the comline and stopped in an empty corridor. "This is unit Z-8, anyone on this line?"

 

[Saint]

Saint simply nodded at her explanation regarding how they could speak freely now, adding brief, "Excellent," remark in response. He didn't expect that they would hold their entire briefing right here and now. He'd had briefings in stranger places though, so why not? Likely there was little to brief that he wasn't already aware of or briefed prior to packing up his squad and coming here. Norm found himself hoping that she didn't say anything like, 'Everything is in place' and vague generalizations like that regarding equipment and scenarios that he had -no- idea about whatsoever.

He pushed the thought from his mind. This woman was that man. That... Sith. However, when she seemed to read his mind and address a question he had (though failing to answer it sufficiently to his tastes), that sent a warning to the Trooper not to let his thoughts wander into baser instincts and desires. Difficult as it may be with her shapely form and pretty looks; it would likely not bode well for him to entertain such daydreams.

Giving a firm nod, he replied as he gestured briefly towards her, "Go 'head. I'm all ears." Having not been given an official 'rank' per se, the Sergeant wasn't quite sure just what to call her. Miss seemed a little presumptuous and Ma'am was more reserved for an officer. M'lady didn't fit either... at least in his mind. Regardless, he -certainly- wouldn't be addressing her as Sith or somesuch, heh.

Perhaps a bit of an introduction was in order... but it was a little late now. He'd have to wait until after he was briefed.

 

[Vayna Akhara]

Giving a firm nod, he replied as he gestured briefly towards her, "Go 'head. I'm all ears."

Vayna touched a small stud on her datapad, and removed the small chip that popped out of a concealed opening on the side. She proffered the chip to Saint. "Our target has three main locations where he spends his time; his Church, a droid factory in the southern sector, and a slum in the east sector. The blueprints for the church building and the slum are on the chip. However, locals near the church say they've heard what appears to be construction work inside, probably carried out by the church members rather than a contractor, which means that the plans may be inaccurate in places. The slums are also on the chip, but the same applies there; residents of such places usually make amendments. Still, as you have the numbers, those two locations are your points of reconnaissance. I will see what can be found at the droid factory. We have one other means of acquiring information; given that they're interested in Force users, I can be a target for them if necessary."

She ran her hand over the machinery on the shelf, as if checking its quality. "On the chip are another nineteen meeting locations, each denoted by a code word. If we need to meet face-to-face, transmit date and time with the appropriate code word, otherwise, use encrypted channels. My call sign is Jalshay2, yours is Suicide4. Are there any questions?"

Vayna hadn't laid down operating procedures for the commandos; they were professionals, they didn't need her telling them how to do their jobs. They had their target and their hunting grounds, and she had hers.

 

[Insanity]

Whoever had given him the intel in the in-flight briefing had messed up or just been fed the wrong information. That's all he could be sure of due to lack of anyone answering him. Of course, that was just one possible reason - the other was the op was over already or had been a complete failure. He hadn't even been in contact with any Imperial forces since being sent this far out, so he wasn't quite sure if anything had changed. That, of course, left him with very few options as to proceed. Damned if he'd turn tail and run without knowing more of the big picture.

Tightening the mesh-strap of the knapsack over his matte-black pilot-survival suit, he continued down the corridors and tunnels while checking a datapad over for the public schematics. Take a left ahead, then right, and right again... Should come out in a commerce section where the tunnels opened to a sentient-made cavern. Should have, anyways, but instead he came out into a cavern filled with haphazard structures and myriad additions that were likely mere afterthoughts. The citizens he saw looked as rundown as the buildings, mostly.

Checking the datapad again, he noted the last time the schematics were updated, c. 423 ABY. Which explained why it was so off. Definitely including this in my report later.

 

[Vayna Akhara]

The dark-haired girl paused as her datapad flashed a brief message and she looked round at Saint. "It seems that High Command has decided to send us reinforcements - or so the message I've just received indicates. A sniper, apparently, answering to the call sign Z-8, and reporting through you. Perhaps you should check to see if they've reported in yet - if so, having a sniper at our disposal will give us a few extra tactical options."

She paused, for two reasons - firstly, to allow Saint to check in with his people to see if the new operative had made contact yet; and secondly, as Vore's cameras were revealing something of interest. It seemed that the 'Bishop' it'd been tracking had now made contact with a middle-ranking government official, one who, her database indicated, was involved with the planetary police force, and she was now handing over a credit stick. That opened up possibilities for blackmail, or as a source of information on the Church. The droid's surveillance was already proving fruitful.

She looked up at Saint to see if he'd yet checked out the newcomer's arrival.

 

[Saint]

Taking the chip, the Sergeant followed along on his own datapad as the Sith began to explain a few things, making suggestions that sort of seemed like strong recommendations. Shaking his head lightly as she went on to say about the three target locations, the Commando held up a finger as in requesting an opportunity to make a statement or address a concern here. He didn't like the way this was panning out.

Twirling a finger in a circular fashion towards the two target areas he and his team were to recon, Norm stated, "I'll hav' my guys do a light recon of these areas, but in my opinion, it's gonna be a waste of time." Turning a bit so that he was standing beside her as he spoke, Saint went on, "Fella like this doesn't hang-out in these areas because they're prime assault areas." Clearing his throat a bit, he continued, "If anything, he's probably got additional defenses in place at all -three- of these sites."

He gestured to the third which the Sith herself said she was going to scout, as well as his own. Then, he magnified the view of the church area, the Sergeant said, "Areas like this are likely t'have folks who are more... protective? comfortable? familiar? with the target's presence, and -may- end up tipping us off if they see unfamiliars scouting the turf around th' boss.. so t'speak." Just then, the Sith spoke up about a sniper joining the team.

Waving a dismissive hand, Norm replied, "Unless it's absolutely urgent and necessary that I verify his arrival, then we'd pr'fer not to break radio silence. The less traffic over such waves means less risk of compromise." Quirking a crooked grin, he added, "Can't listen to what ain' bein' said, or suspect th' non-existant." Saint couldn't read her very well, and momentarily returned his focus back to the hologram.

Lighting up a few paths between the three areas, the Commando suggested, "My recommendation is tha' we scout th' paths b'tween his three favorite locales, find ourselves a good choke point and get away trail, then build our plan from there." Turning his attention back to the attractive Sith (possible illusion), Norm quirked an eyebrow, "Tha' werk for ya? Th' less guards an' further away from his home bases, th' better."

 

[Vayna Akhara]

Lighting up a few paths between the three areas, the Commando suggested, "My recommendation is tha' we scout th' paths b'tween his three favorite locales, find ourselves a good choke point and get away trail, then build our plan from there." Turning his attention back to the attractive Sith (possible illusion), Norm quirked an eyebrow, "Tha' werk for ya? Th' less guards an' further away from his home bases, th' better."

"The two pertinent questions are, as and when he finally does move, how to determine which one of the three locations he's going to, and can we get into position fast enough? The three are quite widely distributed, and redeploying from one location to another will take time, probably more time than our target will take on his journey; furthermore, his convoy uses randomised routes. That leaves intercepting him on the way back, but he often stays in a given location for some time, which would leave us vulnerable to being detected while we wait."

She had given the man the information she'd been ordered to, and now he was changing the plan. Alright then, missions such as this required one to think on their feet, so, how to intercept their target in a vulnerable location - that was their next concern.

"Vore may be able to enter one of their homes, but if detected, that would alert them. Hacking into their comms relays is useless, as they use military spec encryption. Otherwise ... there is the Force. Firstly, it may be possible to sense through the Force where our target will next appear, though I'm no Lord - my ability to 'see' his movements before he sets off may not be reliable. Then, there is the fact he has been recruiting Force-sensitives to his cause, whilst eliminating those who won't follow him; he usually has a number of sensitives with him when he travels, presumably for security. That may also give his destination away; according to Intel his Force-users haven't been trained thoroughly, which means once the destination is chosen, the followers may unintentionally 'broadcast' the information through the Force, at least to one 'listening' for such, giving us enough time to redeploy as necessary."

She looked at her companion, whilst checking that her secrecy broadcaster was still working; it was. "Or do you have a plan to find out his route beforehand?" If he did, she intended to learn from it.

 

[Insanity]

Manuvering through the crowded slums, Qwarn drew some wary looks every so often from his appearance. He wasn't as worn-down like some of the people here, nor was he exactly exuding the presence of a well-off person either. If anything, he was just an off-worlder mixed into the medley of this planetoid's populace. The survivalist suit he wore showed that he was something other than a plain civilian though, so he got the treatment mercenaries would've gotten - ignored but watched at the same time. There were always people with bounties on them across the galaxy, after all. Who was to say that this forboding individual wasn't after one or had one himself?

His attention wasn't focused on the crowd though, but rather on the datapad he occassionally checked, re-working the intel recorded on it. Firstly, he knew where his target was supposed to be. All it took was a few searches with a hook-up to Telti's network and he got a little guide that pinpointed the Church and how to get there. Secondly, from the myriad of languages in the air, there was construction going on according to rumor-mongers. That meant something was brewing, whether it be something mundane or momentous. If it was mundane, it'd be simple construction. If momentous, he was here to stop it then.

The third thing he had gathered was that he wasn't the only newcomer in the past few months, let alone days. People had been coming and going for a while now, long-time residents sometimes going with them. A few pointed questions directed towards more liberal mercantile individuals, along with a small purchase to ease their consciences, and he learned that recruitment for the archbishop's sermons had increased. That indicated more dissenters than one would have expected in local space. But it also meant he could make himself come off as an individual interested in the teachings and sermons. It didn't, however, explain why no Intelligence people had infiltrated the group previously and handled this.

Ultimately, he recorded the com-line onto a piece of flimsi and put it in a satchel, wiping the datapad clean of any pertinent information before selling it for a small profit. Without being able to contact the team he had been sent to support, he was left with the most effective option being to see how to express his interest in joining the group backing this charismatic character.

 

[Saint]

The Sergeant skimmed over the data that he had concerning the target. Nowhere did he see that randomized routes between the three places was used by him and his crew, nor did he read where there was any real -hurry- to tag this bag of trash. Apparently this Sith wasn't in the mood to wait. Patience did not seem a virtue to them. Any of them. The Commando shook his head internally. Closing his eyes a moment, he took a second to think.

Finally gesturing over the hologram with two fingers, Saint replied, "If we're in a hurry t'nab this guy, I'ld like t'hear th' justification on it. B'cause I don't just throw my men to th' feckin' wind if'n I don't have to." Pointing out a few tunnels, "Otherwise, we see where he sleeps, then pick a choke point ou'side of it, an' cut off the other avenues of approach... discreetly." Waving a hand over the entirety of the hologram, he went on, "There can't be -that- many routes that he can take once you git close to his favorite spots."

Further explaining, the Trooper went on, "We don't need to cover the WHOLE route, jus' one part. And if we can be patient an' plan or divert/guide 'is route, it'll work out smoothly." Saint smirked as he gestured towards the female, "Shet, if we wait until he's at th' slums... then -you- approach 'im about joinin' his church, I'll bet he takes you -right- feckin' there, straight away an' such, bein' all excited about a new recruit."

Giving the shapely Sith a sly wink, the Sergeant further added, "Wouldn't hurt if you distract'd 'im with yer... womanly charms as well, heh." Well this was a new option that the Commando hadn't had at his disposal before. A shapely female Sith. Illusion or not, it could come into play well for the mission at hand. Unless of course the target wasn't really into females... then -that- wouldn't work out so well, heh. Regardless, the plan was a work in progress. They'd yet to do much of -any- recon so far.

 

[Vayna Akhara]

Further explaining, the Trooper went on, "We don't need to cover the WHOLE route, jus' one part. And if we can be patient an' plan or divert/guide 'is route, it'll work out smoothly." Saint smirked as he gestured towards the female, "Shet, if we wait until he's at th' slums... then -you- approach 'im about joinin' his church, I'll bet he takes you -right- feckin' there, straight away an' such, bein' all excited about a new recruit."

Giving the shapely Sith a sly wink, the Sergeant further added, "Wouldn't hurt if you distract'd 'im with yer... womanly charms as well, heh." Well this was a new option that the Commando hadn't had at his disposal before. A shapely female Sith. Illusion or not, it could come into play well for the mission at hand. Unless of course the target wasn't really into females... then -that- wouldn't work out so well, heh. Regardless, the plan was a work in progress. They'd yet to do much of -any- recon so far.

Vayna felt a flash of anger, and took control of it, as she'd trained to do. This man and his men had been allocated to this particular mission, so she couldn't do too much to him without facing censure ...

"The droid factory he visits is one that specialises in assault droids, and he's been visiting it for months now. If he's been making use of the factory's manufacturing facilities, then he may already have a small army of assault droids available. Since we don't know what timetable he's operating to, we may have months before he decides to use any new toys he may have, or weeks, or days. I for one would prefer not to be here if he makes a grab for power using assault droids backing up Force sensitives, would you?"

She paused as she felt ... eyes, that was the only way to explain it, though it wasn't unfamiliar to her - her Master, Count Vandergruff, had felt the same way when he'd come for her. She opened her eyes. "It seems the Cardinal's pet Force-sensitives are looking round. They may have sensed me, or you, or simply some disturbance in the Force that told them there may be hostiles about. It may be this is standard operating procedure for them, and that they carry out regular sweeps for unaligned Force-users. If so ... then yes, I would make an irresistible bait for the Order, though whether the Cardinal himself would come, that's another matter. In either case, they're not very good - poorly trained. I suspect they're most useful for tracking down other untrained Force users, or anyone actually openly employing Force powers. Useful to know if he needs to be lured out of hiding."

She looked at Saint. "You and your people check the routes and choose the best ambush sites. I want to find out what's going on with the droid factory; I'll use my own recce droid, Vore, to look into it, with some judicious hacking if necessary, to see if we are up against a deadline. We can plan from there. Unless you have any further suggestions?"

 

[Insanity]

The whole thing was surprisingly easy, really. There was a small crowd outside the 'Church', all listening to someone speak. A woman, though, not a male, thus not the operation's target. It was simple enough to get in with the crowd and listen while looking around, eyeing the construct that acted as an exterior. The architecture was... extravagant, obviously showing that the group behind it had wealth. Wealth and very little care as to what people thought about their spending habits. What looked like volunteers would sometimes walk out of the crowd and inside the structure as the preaching woman continued a rant, blaming the Jedi and Sith for the galaxy's woes.

After a few moments, he managed to tune it all out, his eyes following those going in and out. Some seemed like they were fresh off the street, poverty-ridden individuals inspired by the words and magnificence of the architecture. That meant the recruitment for this group was wide open, taking in anyone who seemed enough of a zealot or easily manipulated. If such was the case... well, he had an opportunity. One that he knew would be dangerous but worthwhile. Pushing his way forward, it didn't take long until he was going up the stairs towards the doors.

The first thing he noticed was that the woman's words faltered, her eyes following him with open curiosity. He only glanced at her a moment before she got herself together and started up again, though he noticed a catch in her words. He wondered at that, and if she was a Force-user. If so, did he give off a sense of danger, immediate or latent? The briefing had mentioned a risk of being detected like that, though it had been a side-note and easily dismissed as superstition. But with Force-users, how did one know for sure?

The second thing he noticed was that as he pushed a door open and stepped inside the 'Church' itself, he was berated by noise from further back, a dull echo constantly hitting his ears. The room he was in, however, was like an actual place of worship, with finely carved pillars covered in obscure languages and designs, giving off a sense of mystique. No one else was there other than him, which made him wonder just a bit more. Just what exactly had he walked into, and where did all those coming and going end up?

 

[Vayna Akhara]

The meeting had broken up at that point, with neither of them having any more to add. Vayna went back to her hotel room, intent on finding out exactly what it was that Raines was after with the droid factory. It didn't have an obvious possible link with his Church - droids were not capable of being recruited as poor people, the angry and the prejudiced were - so why the interest? She was convinced there could be only one reason.

The company that owns the factory makes battle-droids for various militaries. They could easily be adapted for hunting down Force-users, by giving them the proper weaponry and programming to use it. I think he's planning to use the factory to unleash assassin droids to hunt down the Jedi - good riddance! - and the Sith, leaving his own Church, and the Juuni Viinn Jho, as the leading Force-using power in the Galaxy - an audacious plan indeed. So, to get in and find out the truth ...

She sent out a tight-beam coded signal to her droid, Vore, ordering it to return to the hotel for further programming, and waited for it to arrive. When it showed up, she deactivated it, made a few changes to its insides to lessen any energy signature it had, upgraded its sensors, especially the audio sensors, added soundproofing rubber panels to its feet, and sent it on its way - to investigate the droid factory.

 

[Saint]

As the shapely Sith female departed, Norm made his way back to his fellow Commandos. Not the entirety of them, just the team leaders. For now, they'd put their men on 'leave' so to speak, while they themselves performed a Leader's Recon of the routes in question. The briefing was soon over. Not much to discuss really until they got eyes on the potential objective areas. Calling an end, the Sergeant dismissed his TLs and sent them off to get some rest. A good night's sleep did wonders.

Settling into his room, it wasn't long before Norman drifted off to sleep. Some of the other squad members might've made their way down to some sort of tavern most likely, perhaps even finding womanly company, but the Sergeant and his team leaders had work to do come morning... or at least what passed for morning on this rock. Saint's sleep was restful and dreamless, awaking fully refreshed and ready for the day.

Upon finishing up with is morning rituals and exiting the facilities, Norm made his way towards a cafe of sorts. He still had an hour before he and his team leaders began their recon. Upon placing his order, he found himself reflecting on the shapely female Sith. She seemed strong-willed and independent. He wondered if she'd really worked with a team of Commandos before... unlikely. Their first meeting had been a little rough. Perhaps after their success here, things would loosen up as a repoire was built between them.

Hopefully.

 

[Michael Scott]

not to be a downer, but:
this has already been done.