Silence Is Golden

[Eddard Thul Drast]

There weren't many people that Eddard would come out to Chandrilla in the middle of the night for - that was the kind of thing that he would only do if he felt like he owed them.

And that was exactly why he was here.

He owed Varyn Rask and that was the main reason why he had agreed to show up to help the guy. That and he didn't actually mind the man. That probably didn't sound like a big deal but when you were Imperial Republica it actually meant a lot to find someone you could actually get along with - tended to mean you might actually make a friend.

Or at least a good ally - there was usually not too much of a distinction between the two. Sighing, he rubbed his hands together, cold as they were even through his gloves. If there was one good thing that had come out of their last mission together it was that he only felt the cold in one set of toes now.

... yeah.

Approaching the meeting point they had agreed on a balcony looking out over the cityscape, Eddard allowed himself a moment or two to just enjoy his cigara before the meeting began.

Before the fun began.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Normally, Varyn would have hidden his identity for a mission like this. These sorts of jobs weren't well looked on by the mainstream of the Sith, but this time, he didn't. Mostly because he wanted to cash in on a favor (or at least good will if not a favor) owed to Varyn not Corahk. Eddard and Varyn had done a mission together some time ago that had not gone paritcularly well, but they'd made it out... by the skin of their teeth.

Even with that budding partnership, he wasn't so gutsy as to believe that people helped free of charge. He thought he had a little something that might sweeten the deal for his old partner. He looked out over the night sky, taking in a cold breath as he listened to the distant buzzing of the speeders. He could sense someone approaching and turned to see Eddard there. He gave a nod and extended his hand out.

Thanks for coming, he said, glancing back toward the night sky once again. How's the foot? he asked, motioning down. He knew the other Sith had likely lost it, but that didn't mean he couldn't climb back up his game. It would be hard, and he might have lost a step, but he might have gained it back again.

Before we get started, I want to make something clear: this is a bit off the reservation, so if that's not your cup of jawa juice, we should part ways now and we can both pretend this never happened, he said, jumping right down to business. For better or worse, that was a habit of his, but he also wanted to be upfront about what Eddard would be getting into. Not that most Sith were particularly bothered with what was and wasn't allowed... more with what could and couldn't be proven.

He glanced back from beyond his hood, trying to gauge his partner's face in the deepening shadows. It was hard to read in the darkness, but he looked for any traces of hesitation in his twitches or body language.

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Well it seemed that his old ally was, indeed, already waiting for him. He could respect that - punctuality was a good trait to have. Nodding to the other man as he neared, he blew a puff of smoke out away from the two of them before he finally approached the other Sith. Of course the first thing the other man mentioned was about the foot.

He hadn't seen Varyn since that mission so the other man likely didn't know what had happened in the end so he didn't hold it against him at all. Instead he merely raised his leg and spun the foot, 360 degrees, as only a mechanical replacement would be able to do. He put his foot back down and took another pull on the cigara.

"Not cold, unlike the other one." he remarked, entirely deadpan, before shrugging slightly, "It doesn't impede me - what more can a man ask for these days?"

Oh?

Off the reservation was it?

Glancing at the other Sith out of the corner of his eye, Eddard took a moment to think about it. As an Imperial Agent and as a Sith, he was absolutely no stranger to doing things against the book as it were. Puffing at his cigara, he tossed the thing off the edge of the balcony and looked at Varyn fully for a moment.

Tilting his head to one side slightly, his yellowed eyes examined the other Sith for a moment before nodding.

"We're not assassinating the Emperor or weakening the Empire?" He didn't think they were so he pushed on with a simple nod, "Then I'm in. I owe you one after all."

And that was really all it would take - for the red in his ledger to be blacked out. If he got more in return anyway? Well now that was just something he would happily accept as a consequence of doing business.

A happy accident this time.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

So he had needed a new foot. That was awkward, but it was better than being dead, and the other Sith didn't seem fazed by it. Of course, if he were, he would be wise to hide it. Sith had a tendence to pounce on weakness at its first sign.

Varyn gave a quick nod. There was no more point in belaboring the point. Would it weaken the Empire? Well, that depended on how you looked at it. In the short term, yes, but in the long term, Varyn liked to think it would help. At least that was what he was going to tell himself about it.

Then we should get to it, he said, heading for an airspeeder parked at the other end of the platform. I want you to help me set up some listening devices in an office. Off the books, of course. And there can't be any evidence, which means no killing anyone, he said, not yet dropping the piece of information that Eddard would no doubt find the most interesting.

Word is he has a nice ship too. Maybe you could scoop up the access codes for yourself when you're in there, he mentioned nonchalantly. He slipped into the driver's seat of the speeder and eased the controls back once his partner was inside. Insertion will be reminiscent of last time, he said. Last time they'd jumped from their speeder, and this time would be no different. Except the speeder would be on autopilot rather than driven by some cranky Imperial soldiers.

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Usually Eddard was quick to hide the fact that one of his feet was a replacement but he knew that Varyn already knew he had lost the foot so there really wasn't much point in hiding it really. He wouldn't show it to anyone else and it was easy to hide considering it was only the foot itself and not part of his leg.

Didn't even effect his stride at all.

Seemed that this plan wasn't going to harm the Emperor but it seemed a bit grey on the Empire itself. In the end it didn't matter too much - the Empire could heal an awful lot better than the Emperor could after all.

He listened to the mission for a little bit, smirking ever so slightly when his ally dangled the bait, the incentive. Well... it was a decent incentive it had to be said. He thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"Sounds simple enough so you can count on me." He confirmed before pausing and asking, "Now that I've signed on, is this the part where you explain why it won't be simple?"

It was expected after all.

Checking his equipment, he made sure both lightsabers were ready and readied a vibroknife he had brought along for the mission as well, in case being seen to be Sith was a bad idea. With his hood up, he just needed his mask.

Eddard placed the white mask with its mocking smile firmly on his face - it was identical to the face plates of the droids they had dealt with last time. He tilted his head to the side slightly and answered an unasked question.

"I like the aesthetic."

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn glanced over at that mask, instantly recognizing it and knowing where it came from. He wouldn't be forgetting that operation any time soon; it was the closest he had come to dying in quite some time.

I'm surprised you want the constant memory of that, he said, inclining his head. But then, some Sith liked to keep memories of pain and agony around. It helped them embrace the Dark Side or some such thing. Varyn wasn't particularly into that.

He gave a knowing nod at the question about what would be complicated. Yes, a little observation would be too easy. There always had to be something difficult. We can't leave behind any evidence we were there, he said. It sounded simple enough until you considered the guards, cameras, and security systems. The security systems and cameras were theoretically easy enough with the right skills and equipment, but dealing with the guards in such a way that they wouldn't be killed, missing, or seeing either of the Sith was more difficult.

He eased the airspeeder into one of the sky lanes, following it along in the direction of their target. Surveillance and bypass equipment is in the back, he jutted his finger toward the backseat, prompting Eddard to take a look at what he might want. There were goodies to temporarily disable cameras with ion bursts, tap into closed circuit feeds, and of course, plant listening devices. It was the works, but they would need all the help they could get inside.

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Seemed that Varyn remembered the mask well - Eddard was glad he wasn't the only person who had some strong feelings about seeing the damned things. He tapped the side of the mask and tilted his head to one side slightly as he thought about how best to answer the question. In the end he just shrugged.

"I am too." he admitted with a frown underneath the mask, "It's unnerving to those who see it, which I like, and it's something I have strong feelings about as you can imagine. I suppose it's something of a switch to flick. If I can bring myself to wear this thing then I know, inside, that I'm ready to do things I'd normally probably have others do."

Ah the benefits of being noble by birth.

No evidence at all huh?

Guess they didn't have the luxury of bleeding this time around.

He didn't verbally acknowledge the comment, instead just nodding to signal that he understood. Eddard would do his part to make sure that he was either unseen... or that it didn't matter that he was seen at all. There were ways to make that happen with the Force as your ally after all. Seated next to Varyn, he admitted that he much preferred the airspeeder to their last choice of insertion into a mission.

Taking a handful of the ion devices, he hummed a little bit to himself before making them all, seemingly, disappear into his robes.

"The target have much security?" he asked as they approached, "And so we have any plans on how to handle the breathing security? I'm decent enough at illusions but we'd need to sort the mechanical stuff first."

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn had already considered how to deal with the security. There weren't many different options, but a combination of illusions, misdirection, and simple mind tricks ought to do the trick. He threw the speeder into autopilot, rolling back the roof before he reached around to grab some of the gear for himself. We can short out the electrical systems at one of the lower levels, he said. It would have to be in an inconspicuous way that looked like a surge, but that was certainly doable.

Approaching the drop point, he said, looking over the edge at the landing platform they would drop onto. He counted off the beats in his head, hand briefly tapping his lightsaber before reminding himself that it wasn't an option on this mission.

Three... two... one... ...go, he said, planting his left hand on the side of the speeder and hoisting his legs over the edge. And just like that he was in free fall toward the ground. One second at a time the ground rushed up to meet him, faster with every moment that went by. The Force bent with his drop, slowing his descent until he hit the ground more gracefully than the last time he'd done a hot drop like this. His hands slapped the ground and he rolled forward, coming up on one knee.

And there was silence. All except the whistling of the wind at this higher altitude. No sign that anyone had heard them, so he glanced over at his partner, quickly rising and moving in a half-crouch to Eddard. He gave a nod before making his way to the door. He pointed up to a window two floors up that was open and gave them a route inside. At this heigh, no one expected someone to climb through the window. @Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

The drop point was coming up and they were now running the speeder on autopilot - which meant it was a ride with a lot less hostility than the last drop off they'd had for a mission. He made sure that all of the tech was securely in place on his person as he stood up in the speeder, preparing for the drop. Taking a few deep breaths, he centred himself and immersed himself in the Force, letting it flow into him and strengthen him before he even took the plunge.

Nodding to Varyn, he waited for the countdown before leaping off the side of the speeder at the agreed mark.

He was in free fall and for one, blissful, second he felt like he was entirely free. From gravity, from responsibilities - from everything. In that brief moment before gravity reasserted it's control over him, he felt utterly relaxed. And then gravity reasserted it's dominance and he was back, back in the moment.

Using the Force to slow and direct his descent, Eddard came in a bit faster than Varyn but he came down on his right foot. The robotic appendage absorbed the extra force well and he barely felt it up his leg as he landed in an almost kneeling position. Taking stock of the situation, he nodded to Varyn before moving up to the wall. While it would be entirely possible for either of them to jump that high with the Force, it had the potential to not be silent.

He stood with his back against the wall and cupped his hands in front of him.

He would use the Force to heave Varyn up and Varyn would be able to use the Force to ensure that he landed in the room without a sound - at which would Eddard would make the jump and Varyn would catch him in the Force at the jump's apex to make sure he didn't bang into the window.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn wasn't getting his hopes up just because their landing had gone fine. That was the simplest part of the operation, and there was still a lot more that could go wrong. He watched as Eddard prepared to boost him up and gave a nod. He moved forward, planting a foot in his partner's hand before being hoisted upward. The boost came with a strength that was far beyond a normal person, and Varyn was easily able to make it to the window, gripping on tightly as he pulled himself up.

He paused, not making a sound and unwittingly holding his breath as he listened. There was nothing except that same howl of wind. No signs that anyone had heard him and no evidence that anyone was in the room. It was an office space by the looks of it... someone high up, but not so important as to demand an entire corner of the building. A junior officer who was making his way up, perhaps.

Varyn turned and extended his hand, indicating he was ready to pull his partner upward. He caught him with the Force, aiding as he took his hand a moment later and pulled him inside as well.

Step 1, done, he thought to himself. They were in the building, which just meant they had to make their way to the electrical centers next. That was going to be tricky since they didn't have a schematic of the building. It would likely be several floors down, but to get to it they would have to bypass the security cams in the lift. It was a bit of a catch 22...

Ions to knock out the cameras, go down three floors, knock out electronics, he suggested very, very quietly. @Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Varyn was up, thrown up into the air and into the window perfectly.

Well... seemed like things were going alright so far. He narrowed his eyes a bit at that because he was paranoid enough to assume that meant things were about to go wrong. But in the end nothing seemed to happen and they were free to continue. Gathering the Force to himself, Eddard made the jump and grabbed hold of Varyn's outstretched hand. Pulling himself into the office, Eddard took a quick glance around.

What a depressing little work environment this was.

Eddard nodded once in agreement.

Moving up to the lift, Eddard called it with a push of a button and waited. When the doors opened he had an ion device ready to go... and he almost paused as he noticed there was something in the lift. A single security droid was in the middle of the lift, in sleep mode. Quickly tossing the ion device at the camera, shutting it down, Eddard swallowed thickly.

If they used ion on this, it would fall and that would be evidence.

But droids like this would only reactivate during sleep mode due to being interacted with... Eddard edged into the lift, standing as far away from the droid as he could. He waited until Varyn was in as well before hitting the button for the basement.

Things like power were always in the basement.

This was the third most uncomfortable lift ride in his life.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn took position to the other side of the elevator as well when the doors slid open. He froze dead in his tracks and his heart skipped at least five beats. But there was no movement. The droid didn't move and neither did Varyn. It struck the Sith assassin immediately that this was a pretty crappy security droid if it could just "sleep" through and alert like this, but he figured that Eddard would appreciate it if he didn't start trashing on droids... what, with their last little operation and the foot incident. At least this one was far less terrifying.

The Sith squeezed into the elevator opposite Eddard, paying extra attention to not touching the droid or speaking as the doors slid closed again. In the background, vague elevator music was playing, and it wasn't doing anything to calm his nerves despite its relaxing tone. There was no way Varyn wasn't going to have a stroke before he was sixty. Wait, he probably wouldn't live that long anyway.

The elevator went down and the doors opened onto a room that was quite sparse with maintenance equipment shoved off to the side. It certainly looked like the place to find the power utilities. Varyn pointed down the hall, not daring to speak lest the droids wake up. With exceeding carefulness, the assassin slinked out of the lift and waited for the doors to close again. It wasn't exactly safe, but it was more so than in a room with a security droid.

He paused a moment, waiting to hear if there was any evidence or sound of enemies, but he heard nothing. Not even the quite hum of a maintenance droid. He gave another nod before taking a few tentative steps forward.

And there it was: the object they were looking for. It was a pair of large panels with switches on the side designed for cutting a circuit in a hurry. They didn't want to flip the circuit, but if they sent a small charge through it it would short out and look like a surge. I'll get this one, you get that one, he said as he pulled one of the devices out and prepared to set it to the wiring inside the panel.

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

If this droid suddenly woke up he was going to start thinking that Varyn was plotting with droids to dismember him. Seriously, if this one broke down and started exploding or stabbing, he was definitely going to call Varyn on why his missions with him all seemed to include droids maiming here. But that was a conversation he would have with his ally should this actually go sideways in such a way. He really, REALLY, hoped that it didn't.

The fact that there was music... for the first time in a long time, Eddard wanted to laugh.

This situation was bordering on the surreal now and that was just something that tickled him in all the right places to make him want to laugh. But he held it in, even if he did smirk beneath his mask. Hey - it was better than freezing up because of an unexpected droid and his past experiences with unexpected droids.

He nodded once to Varyn before squeezing his way around the droid and stepping out into the basement. The doors closed and the droid was gone. He let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding as he stepped back and got to the task at hand. As he was getting to working using the tools on the conduit he was left with, he glanced at Varyn.

"I swear if there's anymore droids I'm leaving you here."

It was deadpan but it was clearly a joke.

"I'm done... activation tied to yours."

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn didn't respond to the comment about leaving him here. He was all business right now, but he figured it was a joke... probably. It always paid to be careful, though, just in case he decided he was actually mad at Varyn for some reason.

Varyn set his charge against one of the boxes, setting it up so that it would knock out all the power. He waited until they were both ready and pulled out his datapad, pressing a button. Lights out, he said as the charges went off. Both circuits zapped and arced for a moment before all the lights went out. Stairs it is, he said, glancing back to see that the turbolift was down as well.

Pocketing the charges to not leave anything behind, he made for the stairs when he heard someone outside their room. He ducked into a side hall and an empty office space, waiting for the men to leave. And then they decided to have a smoke. Really? A smoke right now? When the cameras were down, he supposed. It looked like the two might be hiding in here for quite a while.

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

The lights went out and the game was afoot.

Moving alongside Varyn, Eddard headed for the stairs as quickly as he possibly could without making too much noise. He wanted to get a move on with this mission but he didn't want to rush it as it were. He understood that rushing things often led to disappointment after all.

They still had time before anyone would start to notice anything was off - or at least that's what he believed. Following Varyn closely, he scowled a little bit at the guards or whoever it was. Hiding in the same office, Eddard took a deep breath and drew his vibroknife but nodded to Varyn.

They didn't want to leave evidence so time to try being quiet...

Reaching out with the Force, Eddard began to try and place an illusion over the two men when they both immediately froze up.

"Hey... did you feel that?"

... were these people Sith?

What the hell had Varyn gotten him into here?!

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

Varyn made a swiping hand across his neck to indicate "no, no, no" with a hint of panic in his eyes as Eddard pulled out his knife. He really didn't want to leave behind bodies, but he wasn't sure they had much of an option at this point. With the... unusual awareness of the men, he wasn't sure if that meant that they were attuned to the Force, particularly strong-willed, or had had some sort of training against manipulation.

Varyn quickly pulled his saber out - it would be louder, but leave no blood behind - and took another step back, summoning the Force to himself. He reached out, casting an illusion of the room merely being empty with no occupants. It was... well, not entirely successful. One of the men seemed to be unconvinced by anything and came inside to check things out.

Well, that was where things went sideways. On the bright side, they only had to deal with one of them. Varyn moved quickly giving up on the illusion and gripping the man as he came into the room. He put one leg in front of the guard's legs and gripped him by the hair. Without further resignation, he slammed the man's head down right on the corner of the desk, crushing his temple into the side of the desk. Now there was a body, but hopefully they could "convince" the other man that he'd seen his partner trip and fall in the dark. If not, this was going to get complicated very quickly. Here was hoping a second attempt would turn out better. @Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Oh today was just turning into a giant cluster already.

The one that Varyn had not managed to grab and kill entered the room, having heard the commotion. His eyes were kind of glazed over, as if he was really tired, but it was clear that he could still tell what was going on, even with Eddard attempting to add to the layers of the illusion quickly.

As the man's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to sound the alarm, Eddard acted. He leapt forwards, wrapping an arm around the man's throat and bringing him to the ground. By some miracle, Eddard was able to snap the man's neck before he could press his panic button and the alarm remained unraised and there was no blood still.

He let go of the man for a moment before swearing.

"We've got to take them with us." he reasoned with a scowl, "We can't leave bodies - at least this way they just disappear. We can arrange for some holonet mail to make it's way to their superiors. Say they quit."

It was all he had in mind right now.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

This was not going well. For some reason, the Force just seemed adamantly against them succeeding in this mission. These ones were strong-willed. One was dead and the other seemed unable to be persuaded. That meant their only option was subjugation, which Eddard was already finished with. They were left with two bodies that needed to disappear, and there didn't seem to be many options for making that happen.

We might have to start a fire, he said. It wasn't exactly a "leave no evidence" thing, but if they could burn out some of the evidence, that might be enough to throw people off the scent. It also might be enough time for the bugs to gather evidence.

With the electrical outage we could start it at the electrical outlet, make it look like a surge, and spread it with the Force. That way there's no evidence of accelerant, he said. While there would still be evidence of head trauma to their "trip and fall" it was better than nothing.

We'll have to move quickly once the fire starts, he said. There was a distinct possibility that this would burn out an entire floor or more with the fire suppression system out, but it was a risk they might have to take. @Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Start a fire?

Well, that was well and truly going to leave a mess now wasn't it? He wanted to say that he had a better idea but he honestly didn't. He didn't have a better idea because this was well and truly a karked up situation they were finding themselves in now. They had two corpses on a mission that was supposed to be quick, clean and quiet.

And these guards hadn't really deserved to die, they had just been hanging around guarding a place that they wanted to gain access to. Gods and Force above but this was kind of karked up already. Running a hand through his hair, he breathed out an annoyed breath before shaking his head.

"Starting a fire... it's big but it's probably our best option." he agreed with a small scowl, "When this is done? I want to know why."

It wasn't a question because he didn't doubt that Varyn would tell him about what this was all about later and that was fine by him - but he did want to make it known that he wanted the answer. He took a deep breath before nodding and picking up the man he'd killed. Arranging the man in one of the office chairs, he did the same with the other, to make it look like they had been having a break when the fire caught them.

With the two of them staged, he took cigara from a packet one of the guards had and positioned them in the hands of the two guards. Thankfully he was in his Sith clothing so he was wearing gloves and had a tight hood on, lowering the risk of him leaving any evidence he was here at all. He nodded towards Varyn,

"Start it up."

With Varyn starting the fire, Eddard started heading up the stairs after making sure it was clear of guards up and down the staircase. Time to get this thing done and then make a speedy exit.

@Phoenix

 

[Varyn Rask]

It was a messed up situation. He couldn't really argue with that. It was not at all how he had wanted things to unfold, but he didn't get to choose. Nothing ever seemed to go right once the deployment began. They'd just killed two guards, and he told himself that it would be worth it in the long run. For the greater good...

Fine, he said when Eddard demanded an explanation. He didn't like it - as he was a very private and secretive person - but he also knew that if he were Eddard he would have demanded an explanation. No room for debate. It was only fair, really.

As Eddard prepared the cigara, Varyn quickly reached out, pulling at the Force and drawing small sparks from the outlet until they began to jump free, touching cloth and carpet and eventually catchnig fire. Just like that, the flames began to spread, small at first then expanding larger.

We should move, he said as he began to back away. They were now in a race against the flames. His quick movement turned into a near-sprint as he made his way toward the stairs. Lifts would be shut down because of both power and fire now, which meant they would have to climb the last few floors by foot.

As he reached out to the Force, he felt nothing ahead. There was no evidence of life or that characteristic pulse of sentience. Three floors up, office 3543, he said to Eddard, stopping outside the door to the floor they were to exit on. It was the final stretch... kind of. There was no telling what could still go wrong. @Nefieslab