Star Wars Rise of Black Sun [No Longer Accepting New Players]

When Zeema regained consciousness, she was sat chained in a dim cell. She couldn't completely see who was watching her, but when he noticed she was awake he exited the cell and rushed off.

Eventually he came back, and laid a tray of food and drink at her feet. Up close Zeema could see it was the blue skinned Twi'lek that shot her earlier.

"Although our people wouldn't get the same luxury as prisoners for your people," he said in a heavily accented basic, "we like to treat our prisoners well. Eat up. You will speak with the boss soon." He then left her alone in the cell to eat.

She couldn't tell how much time had passed when he returned, but it wasn't long after she had finished the food.

"I'll take you to see Cham now," he said, and cuffed Zeema's hands and undid the binds on her legs so that she could walk. He then led her on out of the cell through twisting corridors, and eventually to a large chamber. A semicircle of chairs sat at the end of it, and on the apex of the arc of chair sat Cham Syndulla. The other chairs were probably filled with other important figures in the movement, but Zeema didn't know any of their names. Closer stood a single chair, in which Zeema was sat and tied to so she couldn't make any sudden moves.

Cham Syndulla was the first to speak, "My men have told me you mentioned a proposition."

Zeema thought this was a weird question to start with, and said, "You can't at least ask my name?"

"Do I need to know it? Knowing you work for a slaver and wish to enslave my people is enough to decide what is to be done with you, unless this proposition can change things.

Zeema realized that Cham didn't know that she didn't work for Drew. But most of what he said had been true. Zeema did work for a slaver. S_heffley did want to enslave the Twi'leks, but not enough lived on Kashyyyk for it to be profitable. This gave her an idea, "This proposition can change everything."

"Go on,"answered Cham.

"The Black Sun needs a spice mine disabled here on Ryloth, but there is only one force big enough to destroy it. That's you."

"Why would we want to help the Black Sun? Mere money is not what we desire, we desire freedom," said a dark skinned female Twi'lek to Cham's right.

"And I can grant it. If you help us this one time, my employer would never again enslave your people." This is where the catch was. S_heffley didn't enslave Twi'leks, he only bought and sold ones previously enslaved by slavers like Drew. Cham, and the rest of the movement, didn't know Zeema was not a employee for the men who enslaved them, but rather a tactician for the one who sold them.

"And why should our soldiers die for what the Black Sun desires?" asked Cham.

"If freedom is what you are fighting for, then freedom you must fight for." This saying had two meanings, one being what Cham believed. This was that his soldiers would destroy the mine and that the Black Sun would shut down slavery operations against them. The real meaning was they would have to continue to fight even after they have thought their freedom earned.

The whole room sat in silence for about a minute, until finally Cham said, "Take her back to her cell. I can't make my decision in this room."

 

Ryloth

Vigo Titus was nearing the end. The truth lie not too far ahead. Orn Free Taa had given Titus vital information that led him to an "abandoned" warehouse factory on Ryloth on the outskirts of the planet's capital. It was the dead of night.

Of course, the warehouse factory was not abandoned. Rather, it was a known smuggling/laundering business for Arok the Hutt. If Ut-Reb was indeed in there, Titus would get him out dead or alive so ConservativeJedi321 could see for himself. The only problem would be the guards inside.

Titus would have to treat this situation very delicately. If Ut-Reb's cover had been compromised and the Hutts have learned of his affiliation with the Black Sun, killing the guards inside would be a declaration of war. Titus didn't mind much, but he knew the rest of the Vigos, the overlord and General Immodet would not welcome that at all.

Guns blazing was his style, but Titus had no problems being stealth. He came prepared for anything. Reaching into his cloak, Titus grabbed night vision goggles. He rested them on his forehead as he began walking the perimeter of the warehouse until he found the breaker and cut the lights in the facility. As soon as the power cut, a backup generator sparked to life, filling the building with power once again.

Annoyed, Titus found the source of the backup generator and sabotaged that as well. Putting the goggles into place, the Vigo approached a large window on the east wall of the warehouse. Using a precision laser tool, Titus cut out a hole into the window, allowing him access to the second floor of the four story building.

The layout of the warehouse was simple enough. Wide open space the first three floors, designed that way for ample room for machinery to transport and compartmentalize all off their illegal goods. On the fourth floor however were three offices. Titus switched his night vision lens to infrared lens so he could see heat signatures from behind the walls. The first three floors hosted a total of seven guards. Most were Gamorreans. They were the muscle. The other species included humans, Twi'leks and other exotic species used as slaves and work mules.

On the fourth floor Titus began to scan for heat signatures. The first two offices came up cold. The third however, had three heat signatures. Two standing, and one sitting. From the heat signatures, Titus concluded that of the two standing, one was an adult human male, and the other was a Gamorrean guard. The third, if Titus's eyes served him correctly, looked like a Gungan. Ut-Reb was the only reasonable guess.

Approaching the door, Titus moved in absolute silence. He listened in on the conversation, or interrogation going on behind the door.

"Tell us, who sent you! Why are you bribing politicians? Tell us now!"

"Meeza kanta tellz youz...meeza knowza noting"

Next came shouts and curses, the stench of burning flesh, and the sounds of electric currents. Ut-Reb howled in pain. However, Titus used the shouts to cover his own noise. He had used his laser tool to cut a wide enough hole in the wall to assess the situation. Neither of the guards were watching the door. Taking advantage of what he was given, Titus popped a concussion stun grenade into the room. All inhabitants within the room were out cold, including Ut-Reb.

Titus was a strong man, but he could not carry Ut-Reb out of here silently enough to escape without alerting the rest of the guards in the warehouse. Titus opened the door and saw the two guards lying passed out on the ground while the Gungan was passed out in the chair.

"It looks like the torture had just begun," Ut-Reb had not been badly injured, besides a chunk of flesh missing from his long flappy ears. Titus removed a stick of smelling salt and placed it under Ut-Reb's nose. The Gungan jolted awake screaming.

"Meez knowza noting pleeza!"

"Relax. I'm a friend of Conservative's. I've come to find out what happened to you. Have you told them anything? Anything about who you are and who you work for?" The Gungan shook his head no. Satisfied with his response, Titus tossed him a blaster. "If we need this, I'm sure you know what to do." Ut-Reb smiled and nodded his head, "Yup, surez dooz".

Fire was not needed as they escaped the warehouse without alerting any of the guards. But Titus knew the unconscious guards would awake soon, so they had limited time to leave the planet.

It was an hour walk back to Titus's personal shuttle. Once boarded, Titus wrapped up Ut-Reb's ear, and offered him food and drink to replenish his energy. If the Gungan was still shook, he did not show it. He passed out almost instantly after gulping two trays of food.

Titus opened up a comm channel to ConservativeJedi321 and General Immodet: "I have retrieved Ut-Reb. I am setting course back to Kessel. Whether the Hutts know of Black Sun's involvement, I cannot be sure about. But Ut-Reb insists his identity is still concealed. Only time will tell."

 

Nal Hutta

The most important members of the Besadii clan had gathered on Nal Hutta for a business meeting. As usually, clan leader Arok the Hutt wasn't present in person. Instead, he communicated with his fellow clansmen through hologram communication. After the meeting had ended, Durga the Hutt and his father Aruk retreated to their private quarters re-evaluating their clan's state of affairs.

Aruk: I must say I am beginning to get a little worried, my sibling. Even now, Arok keeps pretending nothing is wrong. Why would he do so? Weeks ago, he kept on bragging about establishing a new coalition... Yet, now he acts like he didn't make any promises. And then, there's the decrease of spice production. Another thing, he has been keeping quiet about! Why didn't you let me tell the other Besadii about our operations on Ylesia? The spice provided by our mines on Ylesia could increase the clan's income while also giving you and me more power.

Durga: Revealing we found a new spice mine on Ylesia, only gives Arok the opportunity to continue his malpractices. Do we really want that, father? Clearly, our leader is losing control of the situation. Instead of solving the Besadii's problems, he just cares about keeping up appearances. His ignorance of the situation, however, also has a positive side. He leaves out the involvement of Black Sun, and thereby allows us to interact with its leaders. In the future, Black Sun's help will come in handy. The Besadii clan, after all, will need a new leader to step in, should Arok's behaviour endanger the wellbeing of the clan. So, we will need every support we can get. Some of our fellow clansmen might think we serve Black Sun's agenda, while in fact Black Sun serves our agenda. Our relationship with Black Sun, together with our knowledge about the Ylesia spice mines, will ensure the future of the clan. A future without Arok if he doesn't change his ways.

Aruk: Be carefull, my sibling. Even though you make sense, Arok still is in power. My informants tell me he won't give up fighting just yet. On Ryloth, he plans on striking against his enemies by surprise. Such move might possibly reinforce his position within the clan.

Durga: Perhaps, father. But perhaps, his actions will only do him more harm... Don't you think so?

Aruk: Only time will tell, my sibling...

 

OOC: i just wanted to give everyone a heads up about what's going on, i've been adjusting to a new job since i joined this and having to drive my wife around to and from work as well, as well as normal husbandly duties. haven't had as much time as i'm used to, and then what i was planning on using for posting today got stolen by being involved in a car accident. as of right now the earliest i'm going to be able to post is this coming tuesday after looking at my work schedule and everything else that is going on. thanks for your patience, hopefully things will settle down after this as i've been inordinately busy with other things on top of normal day to day life.

 

Corellia
It was night time when the Black Sun scouting ship finally returned from Boz Pity. Shadow Trooper was pleased to see his men return. Even though he had been out maneuvered this time, Captain Tulkis had proven himself to be a most loyal and capable subordinate. Shadow Trooper was becoming reliant on the Whipid for all of his most sensitive missions now that he had grown too old too take the field personally.

As soon as the ship touched down, he had his assistants take the returning operatives directly to his office for debriefing.
The Whipid came into the room with shoulders slumped and head down, no doubt expecting chastisement for his capture. Despite the failure of the original objective, Shadow Trooper was actually quite pleased with the way thinks worked out. It spared him the trouble of wasting Black Sun resources to hunt the Death Watch chief. He didn't let this show on his face however. It would not do to have his men think failure was acceptable.
"I see you made it back in one piece!" Shadow Trooper exclaimed. "It is good to see that even Mandalorians can occasionally see reason."
"The Mandalorians caught me off guard Vigo. I will not be so careless in the future."
Shadow Trooper leaned in so only Tulkis could hear. "I understand friend. Even the Council was blindsided by this one. Now I do apologize for this next bit, but appearances must be maintained, yes?"
"You stupid son of a Bantha!" Shadow Trooper shouted. He punctuated his outburst with an audible slap across Tulkis's snout. "This failure has cost me a lot of money, first to outfit your crew and then to ransom you after you messed up. What do we have to show for all of my credits? Nothing! I am docking all of your pay until I can recoup the losses. Dismissed!" The other Mercs left the room. As Tulkis turned to follow them, Shadow Trooper held out a restraining hand. "Not you! We have to discuss your punishment in greater detail."
As soon as the door shut, Shadow Trooper burst out laughing. "Quite a show I put on, eh?"
Tulkis stood there, looking all confused. "I'm afraid I don't follow you, sir. We failed to stop the Mandalorian girl, and got ourselves captured. Why are you so pleased at the outcome?"
"By getting yourselves captured, you earned me an audience with the Mandalorians opposed to Death Watch. If I had tried to approach them myself, it would have involved a lot of questions on Mandalore, something that would surely be noted by the Besadii and Death Watch. In addition, there was no gaurentee we would find them. As far as they were concerned, we tried to bomb them."
"So we were bait then?" Tulkis asked.
"No." Shadow Trooper said. "Your original mission was to subdue the Mandalorian spice trafficker. General Immodet and the council only discovered the presence of the Mandalorian clans after you were engaged. It was all a most fortuitous coincidence. Now all we need to do is wait for confirmation that our new friends have found their target and our business with Death Watch will be concluded."

 

OOC: update. am sick, and in bed when not at work. sorry for the inconvenience. am still interested, will post when not having trouble breathing.

 

IC: Vigo Rozic

Rozic reached for his commlink as he set down his soldering iron. He typed in the contact code for General Immodet and started talking.

Rozic: Immodet you asked for a super fast spaceship, well here it is. Fastest ship in the quadrant! It's got bits and pieces from Corellian ships and even some old TIE Fighter scraps I found on Raxus Prime once. It's got a .4 Class hyperdrive in it! You still want this work of art?

OOC: Sorry for the short post!

 

Darth Rozic: Very well, my friend. The ship will enter its test phase. After Shadow Trooper's smugglers confirm the ship's quality, more ships will be commissioned. I trust you are capable of handling such demand. If everything plays out, the ship will be crucial in further putting Arok the Hutt out of business.

 

Absolutely General Immodet. It would be a pleasure to manufacture more ships. My Wookiee slaves can make as much as you need.

 

General Immodet Darth Rozic This ship is of a most intriguing design. Have the prototype sent to my landing pad at our Kessell facility. I'll have some of my guys try it out on their next spice run. If the ship performs as well as the specifications claim, we will be able to distribute our product at a much faster pace than the competition!

 

Hyperspace

Ut-Reb was catching up on much needed rest. He had been out cold going on eleven hours. They would arrival on Kessel within the next two hours. Titus stood up from the pilot seat and made his way back to his quarters when he passed by Ut-Reb. Titus stopped dead in his tracks. Did I just see something flashing...Titus thought to himself.

On the Gungan's left shoulder, his skin was flashing light every ten seconds or so. "Wake up!", Titus shouted at Ut-Reb who jumped awake. "What is this blinking on your shoulder? Have they placed a tracker on you?"

"Hmm, meeza can't say.." Ut-Reb looked at his shoulder and looked back at Titus dumbfounded. Titus' mind began to race. He thought of immediately diverting course for Kessel, but he must remove the tracker first lest the pursuers to be aware of their diverted course.

Ut-Reb began to rise from his bed when Titus swiftly pushed him back down, and removed a knife from his pocket. "Stay still, I'll try to make this a painless as possible."

The Gungan was not thrilled but he knew it had to be done. He stopped moving. Titus precisely carved a chunk of skin out of Ut's shoulder until he got to the tracking device. No larger than a bean the tracker was. Dropping to the floor, Titus stomped it out, killing the devise. Now to turn course away from Kessel.

They were now within an hour of Kessel. Enemies of the Black Sun were aware that the Black Sun now held Kessel's spice mines. Titus was cutting it close, but hopefully their enemies wouldn't assume Ut-Reb had affiliation with the Black Sun. From Ryloth to Kessel, they had to travel northeast. Titus had two options; turn east for Tund, or turn west for The Maw. He knew the west was suicide, but the east would leave them out in the open with no obsticles for the pursuers to go through to find them..This was closse to an impossible decision.

Navigating the Maw would definitely be suicide in Titus' personal cruiser. While it was not just luxurious, but well armed with shields and an advanced engine with thrusters, the cruiser could not withstand the physics of a black hole cluster. Titus adjusted course for The Maw..he couldn't believe what he had just done. He quickly sent out a distress signal on the Black Sun frequency channels, hoping the pursuers would not be able to intercept that signal.

About five minutes into The Maw, their pursuers exited hyperspace within a half an hour away from their cruiser. They were rapidly gaining ground, which meant they were in a much superior ship and better suited to navigate this black hole cluster. Fifteen minutes into the Maw, their enemies were in eyesight.

"Ut-Reb, there is one manual turret on this cruiser. Man it,". Titus hoped his reinforcements were on their way. Time was not on their side. They would be dead within the hour.

 

After days of consideration, Cham Syndulla still hadn't come to a decision. Before sending an army, he wanted to send a few scouts to the spice mine to see what they were dealing with. On this scouting team were the three scouts that had been scouting Drew's base days before, and Zeema who was sent as the navigator. They were supplied with speeder bikes to take them there. Zemma rode with the blue skinned male, blindfolded after giving coordinates so she could not reveal the location of the base. The Twi'lek drove the bike. Cham did not trust her with the controls.

Zeema found it interesting that she still didn't know any of their names, and they didn't do much talking on the way to the spice mine. By the time they got there, she was still unaware of their names, but that didn't matter. They stopped their bikes in a sheltered area of rocks, and advanced on the entrance of the mines slowly. All was strangely quiet when they arrived.

Purple Skinned Female: This looks abandoned!

Blue Skinned Male: You could have just waltzed in there and taken it yourself!

Zemma tried to look closer for a sign of activity, but was unable to see anything.

Zemma: I assure you their are guards inside, but they at least should be showing some sign of activity.

Red Skinned Male: How many guards, would you say?

Zeema: Reports said about 50.

Purple Skinned Female: Well then why did you need us?

Zeema: Do you want your freedom or not?

All the Twi'leks remained quiet after that, and stood there for a while looking for signs of activity. They found none, and resolved to return to the base. Zeema was blindfolded again and they sped off.

Little did they know there was a back entrance of the mine, where hundreds of Hutt mercenaries had entered days before.

 

Kessel
After the harrowing turn of events on Boz Pity, Vigo Shadow Trooper decided to give Captain Tulkis some time off duty to recover and instead entrusted the prototype test to the Captain of his Kessel branch of smugglers, the Duros Zoran Malis. The Duros had worked his way up the ranks through his excellent knowledge of navigating secret hyperspace routes, allowing Shadow Trooper to find quicker and more covert routes for transporting illicit goods. He was therefore a perfect candidate to put Rozic's design to the test.
Captain Malis's initial impressions of the ship were quite positive. Darth Rozic had used parts from several of the Corellian ships that Shadow Trooper's organization used, so it controlled and handled in a very familiar fashion. It would therefore be very easy for the Vigo's forces to transfer from flying their old vessels to flying the new ships. It was also far more heavily armed than most of the ships the Duros was used to flying. The addition of Proton Torpedo launchers was an especially neat addition to the arsenal; Captain Malis was sure that those would be quite a useful deterrent for larger vessels trying to apprehend them. His one issue with the ship was that Rozic had cut down cargo capacity in order to give the ship more speed. While he understood the necessity, Malis could not recommend universal adoption of the ship because it could not carry nearly as much product as their current models. Malis recommended instead that the ship
be used to transport luxury goods, where quantity was not necessary, but the speed and secrecy of the delivery was paramount.
The Duros had just finished his test flying in orbit and was about to begin traveling down the Spice lanes when the communication equipment picked up a priority distress call. It would appear that some unknown attackers had ambushed Ut-Reb and Darth Master Titus on their return trip from Kessel. "Change in plans people. I have just received word that Vigo Titus has been attacked by unknown assailants. Our new mission parameters are to meet up with his cruiser and take some of the heat off of him. Set a new course for the Maw! As the ship began the jump to hyperspace, Captain Malis felt a swelling snese of pride in his crew and his new ship. With this Vessel, he had the speed and the firepower to accomplish a mission that would have been unimaginable with their old vessel. Rather than simple milk run like he had anticipated he was instead being placed on a mission of critical importance for the Vigo council. With his success here, the Duros imagined that he might finally gain enough favor to replace Captain Tulkis in the Corellian's organization.

 

The Maw

Experiences from the past had learnt Vigo Darth Master Titus not to underestimate the Hutts. Yet, he never expected the Hutts to place a tracker on Ut-Reb's body. Sitting in the cockpit of his shuttle, he now was forced to face the consequences of his mistake. The situation he found himself into, was almost impossible to survive. Not only did the enemy rapidly gain ground, it became more and more difficult to navigate in the black hole cluster. Once again, Titus shouted, 'Ut-Reb, you need to return fire! Now!". Apparently, the Gungan's physical state prevented him from following Titus' orders. 'Whatever', Titus thought, 'even if he were to return fire, I cannot promise survival!'. After all, any wrong move could cause the black hole cluster to become unstable, a scenario of which Titus was all too well aware. Unfortunately, that didn't prevent the enemy from firing at their vessel. As the enemy came closer, Titus recognized Death Watch markings. 'Bantha poodoo!', Titus cursed. He wondered whether this day could go even more wrong.

After being hit several times, Titus' vessel slowly was falling apart. Soon, the ship's shields would give up, allowing the Death Watch to finish their business. Meanwhile, Ut-Reb had made his way to the manual turret, but he didn't manage to hit one single Death Watch ship. 'Thoosa Death Watch gonna trya board ship, boss. Meesa afraid', Ut-Reb warned Titus. 'That's not going to happen! If I am going out, I am going out with a bang!', the Vigo responded, 'Let's show the Death Watch what we're made off!'.

Then, suddenly, something strange happened. More ships appeared out of nowhere, picking off the Death Watch ships one by one. It took quite some time for Titus to figure out what was going on. Then, he realized the other ships must belong to the Mandalorians. The Mandalorians must have followed up on Shadow Trooper's advise and tracked down their enemies. Although Titus was glad to receive help, he quickly became aware the Mandalorians were shooting at his vessel as well. What initially seemed as rescue, only appeared to postpone the inevitable.

 

The Maw: Aboard the Death Watch Cruiser
The Death Watch Commander was angered by the arrival of the Mandalorian regulars in the Maw. His ambush on Black Sun had been meticulously planned; his informants had given him the exact space route and time for when the Vigo in charge of Kessell would return. In the days since Dxun, he had tried several times to utilize the information received by his Black Sun contact, only to find himself repulsed at every turn. It was then that he began to speculate that he had followed a false lead, that he had infact been intentionally mislead. One of his allies among the Besadii, a former retainer of Durga the Hutt, confirmed his attention when he had pointed to his attention that the supposed traitorous Black Sun operative he had met with on Dxun had actually been the notorious Black Sun Smuggler,whom Durga dealt with as the Corellian. He was a high ranking member of Black Sun, perhaps even a Vigo so his defection from the organization was highly suspect. Thankfully, the tracker his men had placed on one of the Kessell Black Sun operators was a far more reliable . He had caught the commander of the Kessell organization completely off guard. While he was unsure of the identity of his target, he knew for certain from the specifications of the starship that he had indeed caught a boss of Black Sun. The Commander hoped that it was the duplicitous Corellian aboard the doomed enemy ship, although his Besadii assistants told him such a possibility was very doubtful. One thing was certain, he had caught the enemy while they were unaware, undergunned, and now hopelessly cornered in the Maw. His victory was inevitable. It was thus remarkably bad timing for his enemies among the True Mandalorians to track him down.
The Death Watch ship was taking serious fire from the new interlopers. While the Black Sun ship was also being harassed by the new arrivals, it was clear that the Death Watch was their primary target. It made since too him because the new ships were all from the rival clans. He was surprised at their sudden arrival, but now was not the time to speculate how they got here. He still had a mission to complete, and the Mandos were but an unwelcome distraction. "Focus fire on the Black Sun cruiser. They are the priority, we can not let them escape!"
"But sir, the Mandalorians are the bigger threat. The Black Sun ship is nearly neutralized. Should we not focus on the more pressing threat?" His weapons officer asked.
"No! The Mandalorians may be the bigger tactical threat, but the escape of the Vigo will do more harm to us in the long term. Our objective is unchanged."
As his beleaguered ship was acquiring a weapons lock on the Black sun cruiser, his scanners suddenly picked up a new unidentified ship entering the combat zone. What is this? More interlopers?" the Commander mused. The new ship looked unlike anything the Commander had experience with. It was a mismatch of Corellian and Imperial parts mashed together in a most unorthodox design.The strange ship was on an approach towards the Black Sun cruiser with a docking hatch extended.
"The enemy is escaping! Change target to the newcomers vessel."
"Sir, are you sure this is wise. Our scanners have detected a proton torpedo locked on to us!" the gunnery officer said. "We should be performing evasive actions."
"Impossible!" the Commander roared. "The True Mandalorians don't have access to that kind of firepower in their arsenal, not on their starfighters. No we will stay on our current path"
This was the Commander's last command. Moments later a proton torpedo went crashing into the Death Watch ships bridge.

With Vigo Titus and his crew secure and the Death Watch ship neutralized, Captain Malis made the jump to hyperspace, his work complete. The remaining true Mandalorians did not pursue. They were to busy recovering for themselves the lucrative salvage of the fallen Black Sun and Death Watch ships.

 

Shadow Trooper: I know you have been looking for an opportunity to meet the Mandalorians. Well, maybe now is the time. s_heffley 's agent, Gleem, still works at the Kessel facility. His background as a Mandalorian could come in handy trying to swing the Mandalorians fully to our side. Maybe, a meeting could be established close to Kessel. That way, if things go wrong, we have a base of operations nearby. Imagine our enemies' fear when they realize the Mandalorians are taking on jobs for Black Sun...

Also, what do you think of Darth Rozic 's starship? Can he start manufacturing more such ships?

 

General Immodet Captain Malis had quite positive impressions about the new ship. According to him, his urgent rescue of Vigo Darth Master Titus would not be possible without the extra speed and armaments provided by the new craft. With such glowing recommendations, I would like to go forward with this project. I think this craft would be adept for covert operations, both for smuggling as well as for general use in some of our more violent activity. If Darth Rozic approves, I would also like to give the specs to my contracted engineers at the Corellian shipyards. Most of the parts used in his designs came from ships manufactured here, so it would be a simple matter to change some of the current production lines towards the manufacture of our new ship.
As for the Mandalorian deal, I am also in favor, but I would prefer if the deal is held off site and that I attend via proxy. From my past experiences on Dxun and Boz Pity, I know that Mandalorians can do quite a bit of damage when they become irritated. If negotiations go sour, I want things situated so we can at least minimize the potential for harm. Perhaps now that the Death Watch has been removed, the Mandalorians will be more open to negotiation.

 

Du Hutta
The stench was revolting, and the air freezing as Otsisa lay on her sleeping mat in the dead of night. When she first was assigned this mission she had desperately hoped the Hutt sense of what a resort world is supposed to be was superior to what their "Glorious Jewel" of an adopted home world was. She had spent far too much time on Nal Hutta during her involuntary servitude to the Hutts, and almost got use to the rank odor that permeated the swamps there. But she still would never voluntarily return to that bucket of slime. It wasn't long after she and her crew landed on Du Hutta that they came to realize that this world was not in fact as bad as Nal Hutta, it was worse. Everything a Hutt could want in a planet was set in smog here. Overgrown, perpetually damp, wildlife everywhere, and the stench was beyond verbalization. Even through her gas mask it was nauseating. She doubted she would ever understand the Hutts, and made consistent mental notes to give the boss a beating when she returned to Alderaan for sending her to this trash pit of a planet.

It wasn't her watch, but she couldn't sleep. The consistent roars of wildlife, and activity about creeped her out. She doubted she had gotten an hour of sleep in the weeks since she had arrived, and was surviving off of stimulants alone at this point. They dare not make a fire, or they might risk alerting the palace guards, so they made do with a collection of blankets and heating pads. After some hours of tossing and turning Otsisa finally gave up, and reluctantly decided it would be best to check in on the night watch. She made her way through the knee deep waters until she approached a large tipped over tree, and the three mercenaries that were crouched behind it. Two humans and a fellow Twi'lek. In the distance was the Hutts palace, a traditional building, it held designs resembling a B'omarr monk monestary, except far more elaborate, with a more modern silver undertone. She couldn't see any specific details without her electrobinoculars, so she crouched down and inquired to the group leader, one of the two humans.

"What time is it? Anything happening?" The muscular man, in his mid forties by appearance, knelt beside her. "Eleventh hour of the night boss, nothing unusual. That Hutt lady, Wara, should be coming out in a few minutes. "We've been at this for weeks! How long until the Vigo calls this mission a flop?" The other Human, a blond woman in her thirties declared. But then the green skinned male Twi'lek shushed her. "The slug is out, and you might want to see this boss." Otsisa took his scopes in hand and looked at the patio of the palace. There slithered Wara, slightly smaller than the average hutt, with round features, but no less fat than others of her species. Beside her was a servant droid, with a handheld communicator projecting the image of another Hutt. Looking similar to his sister, though with slightly broader shoulders and a square jaw, she instantly recognized Viszu the Hutt. Drat, she had hoped this might be Arok. But this was still different, there was potential here, if she could figure out what they were talking about.

Recalibrating the settings on the scopes, Huttese became visible. It was not difficult for her to understand the conversation as she was fluent in the language.
Wara: "You interrupt the show brother, tonight is the Wokker eclipse, it promises to be an excellent experience, one of Du Hutta's truest beauties. The smog will lift temporarily showing the full wonders of the sytem as the Wokka Comet passes by the moons! why is it you disrupt your favorite sibling on this occasion? Surely this is not for small talk."
Viszu:*Snorting nose* "Favorite sibling? Why I..." a moment passes between the two as a scowl is elaborated on the smaller Hutts features. "Never mind dear sister, your activities have not gone unnoticed by us. The council does not approve, you should have withdrawn support from Arok when we did."
Wara: "Bah! We are Hutts, that the council expects us to surrender our ambitions to their rule is foolish and idiotic. I am surprised you have allowed yourself to be tamed like some sort of Tooka cat! I expected more form you big brother. Are you content with our clan being lesser than the rest?"
Viszu: Well no... but..."
Wara: "And you should not! No true Hutt tempers their ambitions to suit any government body, and this council of weaklings is no different. Arok offers us a path to the elite, to power, yet you shy away. We can take control, fame, fortune, all at our disposal!"
Viszu: "You are a fool if you think he will share his power with you, you have been seduced by a madman Wara. Come to your sense! The council turns a blind eye to his antics now, but antagonism is growing. Not even his own clan will remain silent forever in the face of his misconduct."
Wara:"Misconduct? By whatever do you mean? Do you have proof of any actions he has taken that would be in direct defiance of the Hutt council?"
Viszu: "There are rumors sister..."
Wara: "And rumors are all they are! You think it is I who have been seduced, but have you not thought that perhaps it was I doing the seducing? The Besadii are a powerful clan, and through Arok we may gain untold power. All it will take is a little more proding and when that old Hutt croaks his families fortunes will be mine... I mean ours of course."
Viszu: "Aruk and Durga won't like that..."
Wara: "Who's going to tell them? You? Have you grown that soft brother, we know you have been sucking up to them, trying to get on their good side. Does the Black Sun actions at Kessel mean nothing to you? Its time we show them what the Hutts are really capable of."
Viszu: "Greater gain can be made by working with them, instead of against them. And I hear old Arok is having some trouble himself, so don't talk power to me. Quere and I know where our loyalties lye, the real question is do you?"
Wara: "..... A... bit of trouble at a gathering at the wheel, and a couple poorly chosen servants is all. I am who I am. And Arok loves me anyways."
Viszu: "Servants? I hear he's gone through two majordomos in a month! And he won't even tell anyone where he is! Only contacting people through third party messengers or by hologram, face it Wara, he's terrified!"
Wara: "It's no secret he is at the Besadii space station near Kor Besadii." She spoke this quietly, it was apparent already that Viszu would win this argument.
Viszu: "Ha! It didn't seem that way..."

Otsisa set the Electrobinoculars down. "Kor Besadii" She smirked. "We finally have you, you big slug." Pointing at the human female she gave the order. "Transfer this intel to the Vigo Council, on the double." more than anything she was hoping the Vigo's would let her leave this rock, but she couldn't help but be satisfied that this mission had actually amounted to something after all the suffering it had cause her.

 

Vigos Shadow Trooper Darth Master Titus s_heffley ConservativeJedi321 Darth Rozic

Finally, after months of searching, one of our operatives has been able to locate Arok the Hutt. Now, we can get rid of him at any time we want. But it is important to remember we first need the Besadii clan to withdraw their support from Arok. Although his fellow Besadii clansmen have grown suspicious of their leader, we didn't receive their approval just yet. This leads me to two other issues. First, it worries me we have lost contact with Zeema. If she was captured, just like Ut-Reb, things might get bad for us. Also, the spice mines on Ryloth need to be shut down, as a symbol of our dominance. Second, there is the issue with the Mandalorians. Since the Mandalorians are an independent group, known to be seeking revenge for their fallen brothers, they might be the perfect ones to take out Arok when the time comes. That way, neither the Vigo Council nor our Besadii allies will get implicated. I suggest we do like Vigo Shadow Trooper suggested: we contact them with the help of Gleem through proxy and enlist their help. What are your thoughts on the Arok the Hutt situation, Vigos?

 

General Immodet
The plan is good. If the negotiations with the Mandalorians go though, I will give my approval. We could also leak this information to the Desjillac. I am sure Jabba would be very grateful for us giving him the opportunity to waste a rival clan leader. The most important thing is that the agent of Arok's destruction must not be traced back to us. Even if most of the Besadii despise him, their honor would demand that they get retribution for our interference with their clan hierarchy. Once Arok is done, I am sure Aruk and Durga would be far more friendly towards continuing our prior arrangement.

 

General Immodet
I agree. In regards to the Mandalorians Gleem would be the obvious choice.
Honestly I'm at a loss with what to do with Ryloth. Two operative's sent to deal with it, and two operative's lost. It is apparent Arok, or the Twi'lek Government, or whoever is really behind this is watching the mine closely. I fear it will be no easy task to deal with this issue. They are most certainly not underestimating us when it comes to Ryloths mine.
Regardless it is of the upmost imperative that what ever action we take not be traced back to us, I concur.
Arok is loosing allies fast, and he is frightened. This makes him unpredictable, we must tread carefully.

 

After a long time, Cham decided to send his soldiers against the spice mine. He didn't trust the Black Sun at all, but they had brought him blueprints he needed to achieve his ultimate goal of reclaiming Ryloth for the Twi'leks. Even if Black Sun didn't keep their side of the deal, he was still a step closer to achieving this goal. The task force he was to send was small. They were armed with explosives and were to plant them at key points in the mines that would cause the most damage. His three most trusted agents, the red skinned male Gan, the blue skinned male Razar, and the purple skinned female Xarta, were leading this party. These were the scouts who had first found Zeema, and in the time she was there had taken a liking to her. This company would be accompanied by some 50 soldiers, plenty enough to take on the small guard they new at the time to cover the mine, and Zeema, who was forced to go as they were all putting their lives on the line for her and she should do the same. A force of 100 was to stay at the halfway point between the base and the mine, in case the Hutts had reinforced the mine due to recent tensions with the Black Sun.

Zeema was of course blindfolded. She wasn't even allowed to know where the midway point between the two. Her blindfold would only come off at the mine. Zeema suspected if she knew the planet better, then she would be able to use her other senses to determine the location, but she really didn't have to worry about that. She had grown so close to Gan, Razar, and Xarta that she wouldn't even want to rat them out. She almost felt bad about lying to them, but the choice of who was enslaved was outside of her control.

These were the things she thought about to pass the time until they finally arrived at the mine. Xarta removed Zeema's blindfold, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust before she could fully take in the surroundings. Most of the 50 strong task force was scattered about, ready to storm the mine with brute force and speed. The demolitionists stayed towards the back, so stray shots would not hit the explosives. The task force would split up into two groups, one explosives man on each. One would be lead by Xarta and Zeema (though most of the Twi'leks didn't wish to follow her, Xarta insisted), and the other by Gan and Razar. 25 men, including the leaders and demolitionists in each.

But when the charge began, something unexpected occurred. Streams of men came running out of the mines. The number was uncountable. Any time that could have been taken to count anyway was spent running back to the speeders. The men were quick, but the Twi'leks were just a bit quicker, and they managed to get to the speeders and fly off just as the first shots began to hit. Their was no pursuit that could be seen, but fear gripped them and they continued to run.

The speeders made it to the edge of a large forest area in about an hour, and this is were they dismounted. In the haste to flee, no one had covered Zeema's eyes. It didn't seem like anyone even seemed to notice as they ran into the treeline and met with the 100 large force about a mile in. After the original turmoil, the larger force sent out scouts, but still they could see no sign of pursuit. They were safe, for now.

Twi'lek general: Well, we face a tough decision. Turn back and let the tyranny continue, or fight a force we know to be much larger than ours?

Zeema: I may have a suggestion, sir.

Twi'lek general: I'm the general here, and I don't take orders from you.

Gan: But we do. Let her speak. You may be the better tactician, but I can tell you Cham favors me far over you, especially with that kind of disrespect.

Razar: We shouldn't cause battle within our ranks, but I agree. Let her speak.

Xarta: I third that decision.

Twi'lek general: Fine, state your idea.

Zeema: Sir, the goal of this mission it to destroy the mine, not the army protecting it. I'm suggesting that the main body of our force distracts the army while a select few enter and destroy the mine.

Twi'lek general: And how do you plan on entering the mine, eh?

Zeema: Think about it. That army just emerged from the front entrance, but when we scouted the area a while back, no footprints, nothing. There must be a back entrance.

General: And who do you expect to go on this task force?

Zemma: I know three people who will.

Gan: Right away, miss.

Razar: Wouldn't let you go alone.

Xarta: I don't want to be alone.

Zeema: See?

General: Four people?

Zeema: Why not?

General: Sure. Why not. The battle starts tomorrow. You better be ready by then.

Zeema: Of course we will be. We're all ready now.

 

OOC: Sorry for the late reply.
General Immodet
IC: Rozic
I personally think the plan is great. Usualiy I would be skeptical about the contacting of the Desjillac Clan as Jabba may view this as us saying "we are more powerful than you!" yet using the Mandalorians could work quite well in my opinion.

 

Report to Vigo @General Immodet
With the assistance of Gleem, I was able to put my associate Captain Maliss in touch with a group of Mandalorians over Kessell. They were not too thrilled when asked to take out Arok. They felt their vendetta was settled when they took out the Death Watch, and nothing Maliss could say could change their mind on this. Maliss had to resort to offering a large sum of credits and several shipment of black market weaponry to earn their assistance. The price is high, but it is far cheaper than the profits we are losing due to this drawn out competition between us and the Hutts. We have earned 500 Mandalorian Mercenaries to assist us in any attack on the Hutts until Arok has been removed.
I think I will also leak the information about Arok to his enemies in the Desjillac, covertly of course. Some of my smugglers have very loose lips when they get a little drunk. A few choice words in a space port cantina, and soon the entire Outer Rim will know about Arok's whereabouts.

 

Du Hutta
Morning had come, though it was no less cold damp and stinky than in the middle of the night. Otsisa sat on her watch duty mumbling to herself. "Stay where you are he said, who knows what else of value Wara may reveal, he said." She slapped a large insect that was trying to feast on her lekku. "I swear when I get back I'm going to give that Vigo more than just a piece of my mind. Nothing ever happens during the day, and we were karking lucky just to get Aroks location out of this hell hole, I swear..." Then she heard a noise from behind her, this was a solo watch so her guard instantly came up. Swiftly Otsisa grabbed her blaster and turned to face the intruder. "Who are you!" the Pink Twi'lek declared.

Out of the bushes came a Gran, one of the mercenaries that had accompanied her for this little scouting mission. Calming Otsisa holstered the blaster. "You gave me a fright..." she explained exasperatedly. The eye stalks of the Gran shifted with apparent reluctance. "Lieutenant, I wouldn't get calm yet, we have visitors..."

As her guide and her returned to the camp about fifty feet back in the brush her concern grew, if one person was able to find them who knows how many others could. Could this entire operation be discovered? She dared to hope. Maybe they could get off the mud hole at last. The small site came into view, no tent, but two dozen sleeping mats and a few boxes that held their quick meals, and heated blankets. In the middle of it all was a gathering of mercenaries, they seemed agitated, but the large wall of them prevented her from witnessing what their focus was on. She shouted "This is Lieutenant Frerwalka, and I order you to disperse, disperse I say!" and she waved her hand blaster around and the circle opened up to let her in.

There stood a young human male, and a fellow Twi'lek in a dirty black robe cowering at his feet. Raising her blaster she demanded. "Who are you! And how did you find this camp." The human seemed calm, unfrightened by her threats. "They call me Bookman, and I have many resources." Wow, could he have been more vague? But she didn't press him on it. "What are you doing here?" Stepping away from his cowering comrade he was careful not to provoke her, but still did not seem frightened. "Don' worry, if I wanted you dead I most certainly would not have walked strait into your camp, unarmed no less." He smirked slightly. "I have some information that I think may be of value to you, and... a proposition." He took a small data chip out of his pocket carefully, but did not instantly hand it to her. "But first I want assurance that neither me, nor Tyli'it here will come to any harm." She eye'd the small chip carefully for a moment, and reluctantly nodded as she holstered her blaster.

Alderaan: Black Sun HQ
Now standing in his official "office" in the building, which made up most of the top floor, Vigo ConservativeJedi321 was dressed in a simple white tunic and black over robe that combine practicality with the height of Alderaani fashion. The blinds were drawn to prevent unwanted observers as he took Otsisa's call on his handheld communicator. She relayed the tale, and the human was skeptical, but he couldn't deny this was a bright opportunity. "And this 'Bookeeper'..." "Bookman sir." Ah yes, he was still relatively new to the underworld, and had done a lot of research in the last year or two in preparation for, first the war with the Pykes, then the conflict with Arok. The title seemed familiar, most likely he had come across it during his research, but he couldn't quiet place it. "Can he be trusted?" Otsisa didn't answer right away. "He seems genuine." She hesitantly declared after a few moments.

"This intel could be very valuable, what exactly is on it again?" A slow and steady answer soon followed. "He wouldn't let us see the whole contents of the disk, seems he wants to hold as many cards as possible for fear we take the info then leave him to the night beasts, but from what we did see, it looks to be economic declarations, bank statements, even some plans for war machines. I dare say Vigo it looks to be Aroks entire operation, and every dirty little secret on one disk." Yes, very valuable indeed. "What do you recommend Lieutenant Frerwalka?" She looked over her shoulder before answering as if to see if anyone was listening in. "This intel could end this conflict in a day if used right, we both know this. But I'm not sure what to make of these two. Discerning truths from lies are not my expertise, perhaps Faya could use her abilities to figure him out, or Vigo Rozic may be able too..." He quickly cut her off. "No, I don't think that is really an option, if Bookman is willing to cooperate now doing something like that would only antagonize him I think."

He came to a swift conclusion that was apparently the only solution. "Retreat for now, if this one could find you it is not much of a stretch the Hutts have uncovered your operation as well. Fall back to Black Sun Station 16, and take Bookman with you. Keep an eye on him but be respectful. I'm going to bring this before the Council and see what they think." She nodded and her image disappeared from the handheld device. The Vigo gave a frustrated sigh. They had to be careful, it was certainly not below Arok to send a spy into their ranks. "What do you think about this Bookman?" He asked as he turned to face the communications table in the center of the room. The faces of every available member of the Vigo Council greeted him as they watched the conversation with intrigue. "Can he be trusted?"

Tags: General Immodet, Shadow Trooper, Darth Master Titus, s_heffley, Darth Rozic

A Blind Prophet (If you wish to tell your side of these events that would be great as well.)