Serenno

[Aidan Darkfire]

Aidan opened his eyes, ending the meditation. Checking the chronometer, he saw it was just about time to get things started. He texted a quick goodbye and thanks to Sandy before shutting off the comlink as well, making his way to the main cabin of the civilian shuttle and sounding all hands on deck. When everyone was assembled, he began his briefing.

 

"The plan here is to pose as a delivery agency. We're a newer company, having just set up shop on Coruscant. Our IDs should get us past customs, and if Crewman Hanzer did his job right, then our disassembled weapons should pass right through undetected. They'll be disguised as parts of the specialized shipping containers, and we can reassemble them for the hit. As for scouting out the bank, I want Kashi and Rush to pose as an electrical work team, there to survey for a security upgrade. Interact with the staff as minimally as possible, if confronted, take a comm call and claim your boss is calling you and exfil as fast as possible. The goal is just to get the lay of the land, we have enough firepower among us including myself and Kashi to improvise on the fly if needed. Meanwhile Nadil and I will procure ourselves a maintenance hovertruck.

 

"We should hit the bank immediately after it opens the next day. Security should be minimal, as will potential civilian casualties. Simultaneously, Grandmaster Adenna's fleet should pop into near orbit and start harassing the local security forces, pulling some heat off our backs as we exfil. Getting out could be tricky, but if all the attention is directed at the Grandmaster's warships we should be able to slip to hyperspace and meet her ships at the rendezvous point. If Lieutenant Foran is as good a pilot as she claims, we should all be home safe and sound in seventy two hours, toasting to our success. Remember, calm and smooth. Nobody is expecting us, don't give them reason to. Let's get this done."

Aidan nodded to Foran, who returned the nod and went back to the helm, plotting their course to Serenno. Now all they had to do was not screw things up.

[Aidan Darkfire]

Aidan hesitated at the question. 

 

"That could get tricky. Almost everyone we come across won't be in the Sith military, many are just complicit contractors and the like. And most Sith aren't straight mind readers as well. If we don't give them reason to be suspicious, then they probably won't be. If confronted, act like a Sith. Get confrontational, but not violent. The Sith Empire is used to brutal efficiency, and they know if something doesn't happen that needs to, then someone's head is going to wind up on the chopping block. If they are made to think that they are interfering with something important, even if they have difficulty understanding the importance, my guess is they're likely to back off. Bluff aggressively, and as a last resort if you need to take someone out, do it quietly and don't compromise the mission."

He took a long look around the shuttle's cabin, at the faces of the people he was about to lead head first into danger, and it put a pit in his stomach. He didn't relish this responsibility, but if not him, then it would simply fall to the next person. The Sith were insidious in their fear mongering and oppression, and these thoughts weren't likely the first to pop into the head of someone leading a mission like this, and they likely wouldn't be the last.

"Look, I don't have any easy answers here. There's a lot of things that could go wrong. We're taking a large risk here, but if we don't take risks like these then the Sith will never be stopped. Whatever we need to do to get things done, that's what needs to happen."

He called into the cockpit, raising his voice from the low tone he'd taken to speak with Kashi.

"ETA to orbital traffic control?"

"Two minutes, sir."

Aidan turned back to Kashi, clapping him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. We're going to be fine. Better strap in for landing."

 

Thirty minutes later, they were on the ground and unloading their cargo when the customs agent approached them. 

"Registration, manifest, and inventory. Now, please, I don't have all day, captain...?"

Aidan put on his best sly shit eating grin, turning to meet the man. "Carson. Captain Elias Carson of the Lightspeed Delivery 2. My pilot has all that paperwork, and didn't we transmit it prior to landing?"

The customs agent got a smug look on their face, never breaking the gaze with Aidan. "Yes, well, I like to personally inspect newcomers to our spaceport. Give them a bit of an...understanding over what to expect from our planet, how we do...business here."

Aidan's mind raced. This was unexpected, but then again of course a Sith customs official would look to flex their power a bit. Aidan reached out through the Force in the tiniest amounts, trying to get a read on the man. He was obviously not pressed for time, but there were certainly stresses in the back of his mind, but with the Sith that was likely always the case. Their entire hierarchy was based on power manipulation and fear. But there was something else, something...

"Of course. Hey, Hendricks, pop the crates for the good inspector here, eh? My bosses did fill me in a bit on how I could expect this delivery to go. You know, I've heard a bit about Serenno, but you know I never imagined it would be so lovely. You should see Coruscant, completely razed to the ground. Good thing the Sith are rebuilding it though, right? Can't really count on anyone else to do much these days."

The customs agent's smile twisted into a bit of a sneer as he turned to walk with Aidan, who now worried he was making too much small talk.

"Well, of course I've seen Coruscant, who hasn't. It's all most of the holonews channels really play anymore, footage of the great tragedy of the jewel of the galaxy. Needed to happen, if you ask me, many people there who deserved to get knocked off their high horses."

"Of course. One of the many reasons my company even exists today, taking advantage of the upset in the previously monopolized market. You know, if you're looking for an investment in a fast-growing company, I know a guy, but uh...here we are."

Aidan had deliberately led him to a specific crate, finally nailing down the man's weakness: alcohol.

 

"My, oh my, captain Carson, thirty year Chateau Boulange?"

"Yeah, supposed to be for a dignitary here or something. But...you know...I think we may have um...forgotten a few bottles back on Coruscant. You know how that happens sometimes."

The customs agent's eyebrow shot up as his sneer turned into one of spite. "Captain Carson, are you attempting to...bribe me?"

"I'm just looking for a smooth delivery with minimal time in port." Aidan kept his cool, locking eyes with the man once more.

"A simple yes would have sufficed." After a moment, he cracked a slight grin, reaching down and taking two of the bottles. "And it's working. I think I'm going to need these for additional testing. Wouldn't want potential off-world contaminants to leak into our lovely ecosystem."

Aidan winked. "Of course."

"Well then. Everything seems to be in order. Enjoy your time on Serenno." 

Aidan stifled a large sigh of relief as best he could, slowly exhaling in a controlled fashion. But a few steps away, the customs agent turned, addressing him a final time.

"If you do find your way back to Serenno, please recommend to that dignitary that some bottles of aged Hapan brandy go well with dinner. If you understand my meaning."

Aidan gave the man a nod and a knowing grin, stomaching his distaste. He nodded to two of the crewmen, who went to procure hovertruck rentals. They were in. Their fake credentials and showmanship had gotten them this far, but it was likely going to be a very different story when it came to the bank.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Ary the Grey

[Aidan Darkfire]

Aidan's face paled as Kashi showed him the access card. A trace. They'd left a trace, and well before the mission was even complete.

"That...was not part of the plan. While I appreciate the improvisation, it potentially compromises us. We need to accelerate things." Aidan checked his chronometer briefly before continuing, addressing the rest of their motley crew. "Kashi provided us an alternate means of ingress, though now it's a matter of time before security tightens. Someone is going to notice this missing. We need to hit them tonight, probably...an hour after they close. We can go in through the front and shut down the minimal security. From there, if we can secure the server room, maybe we'll have enough time for Dengo to crack the firewalls so we can transfer the bulk of their accounts to our blockchain ones. It would have been faster if we had the bank manager's administrator codes, but we need to work with what we've got. Dengo, can you do it?"

The man scratched his chin, muttering something under his breath before giving a slow nod.

 

"Good. All else fails, we hit them with a virus that scrambles their accounts and blow the whole building. If we can't get the funds, we at least don't want the Sith having access to them either. This bank is one of the largest financiers of the Sith Empire, and this particular one is where they back up their cloud accounts. We hit them here, and it's going to hurt. Everyone lock and load, check your mags, and load up in the trucks. We have a little under two hours to get this done. Dengo, send a message to our support fleet about the change in plans. Mask it with the carrier frequencies of the local holonet channels, I don't want anyone to have any idea it was even there in the first place until it's too late."

 

The grizzled hacker grumbled, getting to work on his datapad while Aidan walked off to one of the trucks, trying to clear his mind for the upcoming strike. This was it, it was do or die. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, but the Force would see them through. They still had far too many aces up their sleeve for this to be a suicide mission.

When the time came, they moved out, parking near the bank but not conspicuously close. As one, they moved up, weapons concealed beneath worker jumpsuits. The keycard opened the main doors, but inside it was quieter than Aidan was expecting. Not even a single security guard patrolled the main lobby, something Aidan was prepared to handle quickly and quietly.

"Okay. Get to it, be quick. Kashi, take Dengo and three of the men to breach the server room. You two begin setting up the demolition charges. The other eight are with me in the lobby. Don't get comfortable, I have a bad feeling about this."

[Aidan Darkfire]

Aidan's gut wrenched. Something was seriously wrong. He subtly checked out the front windows again, no movement. No guards on the interior, either. They'd already managed to bypass internal security systems at this point, but there was no alarm, nothing. There was no way either the bank or Sith response teams had this large of a lapse in security protocols. Which meant...

"Sir, detpacks in place to blow the vault."

 

Aidan spun, slightly startled by the man. "Good. Blow them. Let's go down and help load out the hard currency." There likely wasn't going to be a significant amount of currency in the vault, but it spent far easier and was also easier to access than anything they would manage to strip digitally. He hoped Kashi and Dengo didn't have too much of a problem bypassing what would likely be sizable digital protections, but if they managed to take the right databases intact it would mean all the difference in upcoming conflicts.

A loud explosion rocked the building slightly, and as the dust cleared Aidan surveyed the inside of the vaults. Like he'd expected, not an enormous amount of currency, but enough to fill several reinforced duffel bags to the point they'd be very heavy to carry. As he finished up in the vault, the other two crewmen rejoined him, notifying him all the other explosives were in place to blow the building when they were finished. Hauling his bag up and out, he made his way to the server rooms to check on Kashi and Dengo's progress.
 

[Aidan Darkfire]

Aidan's stomach sank as the situation unfolded. Kashi moved to engage the Sith, and Aidan wouldn't squander the chance given to the rest of them. He summoned a vicious blast of Force energy, clearing the way of any hostile personnel, debris, or otherwise, and made a beeline for the exit, ensuring the rest of the men now under his care exited first. Twin silver blades shot out of his staff saber, deflecting blaster bolts as they could while he covered their retreat. They were encumbered by the currency, but they still moved with drive unmatched.

As they exited the building they were met with the grim sight of more Sith forces assembled to repel them. For a moment, Aidan faltered, hesitating. Hostile gunfire lanced out, and tore apart the two men who had led the charge out of the bank, dropping one and injuring another. A half-moment later he regained his senses, allowing himself to fall into the depths of the Force, guiding it but also being guided by it. He lashed out in the Force, releasing a much larger telekinetic wave of energy that would stagger those in defensive positions and potentially knock back opponents on their feet. He handed off his duffel full of currency to another one of the men and took up a defensive posture at the front of their small formation, the Force guiding him to intercept further hostile actions. He trusted his men, he trusted Kashi, but most of all he trusted in the Force.

[Aidan Darkfire]

With the focus on Aidan and Kashi, Aidan hastily ordered his men to advance to the assault shuttle at all costs, as it was their best hope of escape. With the Force, he levitated two bags of the credits, sending them hurtling towards the shuttle entrance. If he was to be at his best in this hornet's nest, he couldn't afford to be slowed down by them. A split second later the hairs on the back of his neck prickled, his senses giving him warning of the imminent attack by the Castellan, but he was in no position to do anything about it.

 

The telekinetic energy sent him reeling, sliding across the street to slide to a nasty halt against a duracrete bench. He'd managed to twist himself to absorb most of the impact, but it still hurt. This was the work of the dark side, and it was high time Aidan took this threat seriously. For a brief moment there was a lull in the fighting as everyone in the area felt the young Darkfire delve into the Force, like a tone so deep it was felt rather than heard. The energies of the light swarmed to him, concentrating in his hand as he held it before him. Ghostly silver-white flames softly began flickering about him, manifesting from the intense density of Force energy. His voice cracked like thunder across the street as he walked forwards a few steps, taking an appropriate position.

"Sith! I name you! Oppressor of the weak! Thief of virtue, scourge of the righteous! You have lost your way, and I will help you find it!"

Aidan's hand shot forward to point at the Castellan, and from it poured an intense white-hot light, a supernatural jet of flame and water yet neither, the very essence of the energy of the light side, the Exorcist's flame. Aidan was not the judge of how it would affect the man, all reacted differently to the assault. The man would serve as his own judge. His own sins would damn him as he was confronted with them, but goodness and compassion in his heart would proportionately save him from the burning righteous wrath. 

Aidan's own hand began to burn, but he ignored the pain, it was the double edged sword of exorcism, the toll he paid for the right to exact such a punishing manipulation of light. This was all or nothing, and if he expected the rest of his men to survive it was a necessary maneuver, a price gladly paid. At the least, this would buy them the time they needed.

Edited August 8, 2020 by Ary the Grey

[Aidan Darkfire]

As Adenna fell, Aidan's gut wrenched. Instead of the harmony within the logic of the battlefield, for a moment it fell apart to a cacophony of senseless randomness. They needed to leave, right then and now. 

Aidan hurried through the urban warfare combat zone as it filled with smoke, lit ominously by blaster fire from all angles. This was now a place of death and despair, stained by their own hubris and foolhardiness. Those sensitive enough would feel a slight nexus within the Force of exorcist energies tangled in an endless waltz with the darkness. Briefly he thought he saw something, dark commando helmets in the shadows, watching him. He didn't have the time to focus on them with his senses, and he couldn't be sure, but something deep in his mind told him this wasn't the last chance he'd get to uncover their identity.

 

As the last man made it to the shuttle, Aidan signalled for immediate takeoff, as well as broadcasting on a secure channel to all local Jedi and Rebel forces to retreat from Serenno. Sith ships swarmed after them like an enormous beast composed of a hive mind of smaller entities, their jaws rushing closed to trap the Jedi. One of the assault shuttles took heavy fire, knocking out its shields and life support, but at the last moment when the Star Destroyer came into range their navicomputer solutions resolved, feeding the calculations to the shuttles' slaved hyperdrives, throwing them into the safety of hyperspace as deadly turbolaser fire lanced through where they were mere seconds before.

For now at least, it was time for the Jedi and the Rebels to turn their attention elsewhere. The blow had been struck, the damage dealt. No doubt Sith PR teams would try to spin their actions here wildly against the reality of what happened, but the message to their leadership was loud and clear: We won't go quietly.

((Continued at Nar Shaddaa))