The Sprawl.
Mandalorian Space.
324 ABY.
February 21st
“You are Yorinaga Tortorelli!” Natasha Loran managed to say after several moments of dumbfounded verbal fumbling.
“I am” Yorinaga frowned, but not quite able to hide all of his enjoyment at having surprised her so much.
To buy herself a few moments to gather her thought, Ash indicated the seat opposite her and seated herself, then waited for Yorinaga to do the same before speaking.
“I’m going to be blunt” Ash said, “But what are you, possibly one of the greatest living military commanders, doing applying to join a mercenary crew?”
Yorinaga ran a hand through his grey hair, looking more than a little uncertain, “I cannot explain. Not easily” He took a deep breath, “You know my history with the Circinus Military?”
“Most of it” Ash nodded, “Though I wasn’t yet born then, I’ve read about your assault on Telos in 291ABY. You masterminded an audacious plan that did horrendous amounts of damage to the shipyard and factory facilities and almost captured Harrison Tarn” She paused as she tried to order facts in her mind, “I know that the Genyosha opposed you then and again in 315ABY on Korriban, where neither side emerged victorious, but you chose to yield the battlefield”
“And was considered disgraced because I had done so” Yorinaga sighed, “I saw something in that battle, something I could not understand nor at that time defeat. Upon my return to the Federation I was exiled to the monastery on Echo V, where I would spend six long lonely years contemplating my failure to defeat someone I believed was a weaker opponent” He frowned, “I became so focused on finding a solution, a key to victory, that I missed the truth, one that did not become clear to me until my confrontation with Morgan Varik last year”
“And what was that truth?” Ash asked.
“That it doesn’t matter how good a warrior you are, how able a commander you may be or what weapons you have at your disposal, if you do not have that drive to win, that confidence of victory” Yorinaga grimaced, “That was why I lost. I was so focused on redeeming myself, that I lost sight of what was really important. Victory at any costs is not the same as winning the battle through superior skill” He sighed, “Morgan Varik showed me just how much my skills paled compared to his own. Yet, he did not want to fight to begin with. I took this for cowardice, but now I see it for what it was. A reluctance to humiliate me as he did”
Ash hesitated, unsure what to say. She cast a glance to Sacul to see if she could help, but only got a shrug in return.
“After my second disgrace on Korriban, I knew I faced execution for my failure” Yorinaga nodded, “My cousin is more forgiving than his predecessors, but even he cannot overlook such a failure” His head came up, “While I do not fear death, I do not wish to die in dishonor before a firing squad. I want to die in battle, going down fighting. Is that so wrong?”
“So, you want to join to find death in battle?” Sacul cut in, “Not exactly long term plans”
Yorinaga shook his head, “It was not my original intention to join a mercenary unit. Not originally, I merely wanted to postpone the day of my death. With the help of a loyal officer, I was able to jump ship en-route back to the Federation and made my way here” He shrugged, “My original intention had been to join the Mandalorians, but when I saw your notice asking for recruits, I felt compelled to apply. I cannot explain why, but I did”
Ash nodded, “And here you are” She said, “Is there much point asking what you can bring to the Ghosts? Your record more than speaks for itself. Though, you would not hold a rank that you are used to. Can you handle serving under a Captain who only ever commanded a squad in the AFSA?”
“Surprisingly, yes” Yorinaga nodded with next to no hesitation, “My time for leading has passed, I think. Following the young may be an enlightening experience. Perhaps, this old dog may even learn some new tricks”
“Maybe” Ash smiled, not expecting the little bit of humour, “Now, considering who you are, I can’t really make a judgement on accepting you on my own. This is something I did to discuss with Alex and Dan…that’s Alexandria Tarn, the Ghosts Captain and Dan Halcyon, the Executive-Officer” She shrugged, “However, if we’re all in agreement, you may have a place with us”
“What are my chances?” Yorinaga asked.
“Depends on how soon our next mission is” Ash answered.
“I’ve just had a message from the Captain” Sacul spoke up, “We leave for our next mission in three days. Briefing to be held before then” She looked at Yorinaga and made a show of punching commands into the datapad she used as a prop, “Do you have a preferred battlesuit model? I can start a search of the Sprawls online marketplace for something to suit you, just in case”
Yorinaga shook his head, “That shouldn’t be necessary. When Devlin Tomaz helped me flee, he helped get my Orca transported here too. It needs some repairs, but once repaired, it could be quite useful to your needs”
Ash stared at him, an Orca battlesuit would give the Ghosts some heavy duty fire-power, “I think, that your chances of being accepted may have just increased”
The Wolf.
Alex was in her office reviewing the details for their new missions when Dan stuck his head around the door.
“Hey, Alex” He said, “Ash and Sacul are here with our last three recruits” Uncertainty played across his face.
Alex nodded as she stood, “Well, two and a third that she wanted to clear with us first”
“I think I know which one she wanted to clear first” Dan nodded with a nervousness she hadn’t seen in him before.
“Let’s go meet them then” Alex smiled, then shook her head, “Not sure why Ash felt she had to check with us. She’s done well on selections so far”
Dan led the way down the corridor from her office to small stairwell that led down to the main cargo bay, “You’ll understand why in a few moments”
“Why the big mystery?” Alex scowled, “I’ll just remind you that I’m not a big fan of practical jokes, if that’s what’s being planned here”
“No jokes, Alex, no jokes” Dan shook his head.
Alex frowned, but said no more as they entered the cargo bay. To Alex’s surprise, almost all the Ghosts were gathered there staring in no small amount of shock out of the main cargo doors and at the small group heading towards them.
“What’s everyone standing around for?” Alex asked aloud, “And why the shocked expressions, anybody would think Yorinaga Tortorelli was making his way over here”
Heads turned in her direction. Someone gave an awkward cough, Alex thought it sounded like Helene, but it could have been Leeza.
“What?” She frowned, “Seriously, Stop staring like that, freaks me out”
She turned and looked at the approaching group. She picked out Ash and Sacul quickly enough. Of the other three, one was a female Nagai. Her pale white skin contrasted heavily with her jet black hair and the equally black leathers she wore. Another was a tall slender man, his head shaved bare and a Coruscant Jets sports jacket slung over his shoulder.
The third one though, it took her a moment to recognize. She’d only ever seen his face in holos, but they were older holos dating from 291ABY and she took a few moments to recognise him, but when she did……..
“Holy crap!” She said aloud, “It IS Yorinaga Tortorelli”
Forcing her suddenly leaden feet to move Alex made her way over to the approaching group and smiled tightly at Ash, “Natasha” She said evenly, “Why don’t you make the introductions for everyone?”
Ash sighed, her expression clear that she knew there’d be a serious talk from her girlfriend later, “Yes, Captain!” She replied, just sarcastically enough to let Alex know she’d pay for her tone later when the two were in more private surroundings, “Captain Alexandria Tarn, this is Randolph ‘Scooter’ Barnes, late of the New Republic Military and Rei, formally a member of the Oberon armed forces” She indicated the shaven headed man and the Nagai respectively and Alex shook hands with both, Then Ash indicated Tortorelli himself, “And this is Yorinaga Tortorelli, until recently a commander of the Circinus Federations forces”
“Quite the legend that precedes you” Alex managed a smile as she shook Tortorelli’s hand. She looked him up and down, “Funny, I always had you pegged as a younger man, I forget that you didn’t get command of the Third Sword of Light until you were already in your fifties”
“And I always thought you’d be taller” Yorinaga neatly deflected the remark about his age with another about Alex’s height, “Appearances are deceiving”
Alex winced, but nodded to accept the jest about her height with the same grace that Yorinaga had accepted the one about his age, “You’re all battlesuit trained?”
At the nods from all three, Ash cut in, “And all bringing their own suits, though some repairs are needed first”
Alex nodded, “We shouldn’t actually need them on our upcoming mission, but our techs should be able to get them up and in shape, just in case” She looked back at Yorinaga, “You were a Regiment commander, can you handle serving under me?”
As I told Major Loran, I look forward to it” Yorinaga smiled, “It’ll be a new experience and possibly I will learn something about myself too”
“Fair enough” Alex raised an eyebrow at the older man’s tone, but let it pass for the time being, “Now, we’ll get you introduced to everyone, get you in quarters and then we’ll get your battlesuits transferred from wherever they are being stored and get them squared away aboard ship. Communal dinner tonight, so we’ll all be able to get to know each other a bit better”
She smiled, “Welcome to the Ghosts”
———————————————————————–
As he unpacked his meager possessions in the privacy of his cabin, Yorinaga reflected on what had actually been an interesting few hours. The introductions to the other members of the Ghosts had been enlightening, he’d been surprised at the relative youth of many of the members. Helene Marshall -he’d been surprised to find the former leader of the Oberon Confederation here- was a very youthful eighteen years old. The oldest member was Jasek Garcia and at seventy, he was still two decades younger than Yorinaga. The majority of the crew were in their twenties and early thirties.
He did admittedly find it somewhat disconcerting that the units commander, Alexandria Tarn, was only twenty-seven years old, not even a third of Yorinaga’s age.
Yorinaga thought about what he knew of the Tarn girl. He didn’t really know much about her. She’d not had a particularly illustrious career so far. He knew she’d graduated from the Nagelring, having entered the academy somewhat later than she might have done, a result of a delayed entry into the Alliance’s higher education system for reasons that were never made public, though he’d heard rumors that it had something to do with an assassination attempt on the Skye Royal family in 305ABY and her mothers death.
Her actual military career to date had been relatively unimpressive, a stint with a training battalion, then a Captain’s commission when the unit was put on active duty with the Tarn Light Guards just before the war started. She served in a number of battles before Col Levin’s Delta Company became part of the First Anobis Jaegers for the successful defence of Anobis and a subsequent assault on Coruscant to rescue two spies.
In fact, if not for the scandal that erupted shortly after the wars end, then little attention would have really been paid to Alexandria Tarn, despite her noble status. He frowned. He wasn’t sure if that lack of attention had been simply due to her avoiding the limelight in general, or due to a career that was focused more on getting the job done than on flashy heroics.
He cast his mind back to the group dinner. It had been…interesting. His own meals with his soldiers as a commander had always been semi-formal occasions. Uniforms had been mandatory. Discussions had been limited to strategy or combat tactics or the latest military technology. The meal was multi-course and served by an array of servers and the atmosphere would always have a slight air of tension and alertness.
In contrast, tonight’s dinner -a very enjoyable serving of Roast meats and vegetables with a rich Nabooian sauce along with a selection of wines- had been a far more relaxed affair. Everyone helped themselves to the food that had been laid out. Uniforms were optional and pretty much non-existent, everyone simply wearing what they felt comfortable in and the conversation moved through a variety of subjects and arguments such as favorite foods, popular holo-movies and the latest results from the Sprawl gladiatorial games. The entire meal reminded Yorinaga of a family gathering.
It was so disconcerting compared to how he had approached life that he’d eventually made his excuses and had slipped away to his quarters.
He thought what unbalanced him most was that Alexandria Tarn knew all of her people, even the new recruits and engaged each in direct conversation more than once. She showed a genuine interest in them and made them feel welcome.
Yorinaga thought back and realized, he could probably name less than a dozen of the officers who had served under him over the years. He didn’t even know anything about Devlin Tomaz, the man who had been his XO during the war.
Had he been a better commander because he distanced himself, or was Alexandria the better commander because she took the time to care for her people?
The door chime stirred him from his ruminations, “Please come in Captain” He called out, already knowing who would be there. The upcoming conversation was one he’d expected since their initial meeting.
The door hissed open and Alexandria Tarn stepped into the cabin, “How did you know it was me?” She frowned.
“I’ve expected you to come to see me at some point” He shrugged, “You’re the only person with a reason to do so this soon. The others are still wary of me”
“Would help if you weren’t effectively a living legend” Alex pointed out, “That would intimidate anyone”
“Does it intimidate you?” Yorinaga asked.
She shook her head, “Not as such, but it does confuse me. Why would a decorated commander with almost fifty years experience want to join a mercenary crew and serve under me, someone who’s never held a rank higher than Squad Leader?”
“As I told Miss Loran, I’m not certain myself” Yorinaga answered.
“Not good enough” Alex shook her head, rainbow coloured hair swinging with the movement, “You don’t just wake up in the morning and think about taking what’s essentially a massive reduction in rank”
“It is true though” Yorinaga frowned, “I honestly do not know nor can I explain my reasons”
“Want to know what I think?” Alex asked, leaning against the rooms little desk and folding her arms across her chest, “It’s ego”
“Ego?” Yorinaga laughed, “You think my ego was involved in my decision?”
“In a way” Alex shrugged, “Though not in the way you’re thinking I’m suggesting” She held a hand up to forestall comment, “Bear with me on this. You’ve often been called one of the great military commanders of history. Ranked right up there alongside Carth Onasi, Obi Wan Kenobi, Jan Dodonna, Thrawn and Elric Antilles. Reports and play-by-plays of your campaigns and battles are required reading in many of the academy’s in the galaxy, including the Nagelring. Your planning of the battle for Telos in 291ABY is part of the mandatory coursework for the officer command track at the Nagelring”
Yorinaga was surprised at that, “Yet that battle was a defeat for me”
“Irrelevant” Alex smiled, “If not for the arrival of the Genyosha and the Tarn Seventh Guards as late reinforcements -and that was a stroke of luck since they hadn’t already hit hyperpsace for Elom when the call of the attack on Telos came in- then Telos would have fallen to you” She chuckled, “And you’d have taken my father prisoner -or worse- and the galaxy would be a lot different” This time she laughed, “Also, I likely wouldn’t have even been born”
“There is that” Yorinaga nodded.
Alex smiled, “Now, to my point. You’ve been wildly successful in many of your battles and campaigns. Often winning out against some pretty steep odds. That builds quite an impressive reputation” She shrugged, “It also builds a lot of pressure. For each and every success, you were lauded and rewarded and your legend built up and that’s the part that’s toxic” She paused for a moment to watch his reactions, “Your people started believing that legend always confident that you’d lead them to victory and those that fell simply didn’t believe in the great Yorinaga Tortorelli enough”
She looked him in the eye, “And at some point, I think you started believing it too”
Yorinaga opened his mouth to refute her claim, but immediately clamped it shut as found the truth in what she said. And from the expression on her face, she knew she’d hit the target.
“I’m right, aren’t I” She smiled, “You actually began to believe your own legend and then Morgan Varik and the Genyosha embarrassed you on Telos and stole Harrison Tarn from your clutches. After that, you burned with a desire for revenge, culminating in the battle with the Genyosha on Korriban in 315ABY, a battle you neither won nor lost, but you did something inexcusable in your cousins mind. You yielded the battlefield” She scowled, “Something happened there. Something that scared you and it brought it crashing down that you were not invincible, that you were fallible. And when you returned during the war, your desire to avenge yourself on the Genyosha consumed you to the point where you could not focus on anything but revenge. When your were defeated in a battle Varik didn’t even want from all accounts, I think you came to a realization that shook you to your core, didn’t you?”
Yorinaga sighed, “There is truth in what you say and yes, I have come to the same realization over the last few weeks. I was too far removed from the reality of myself”
Alex smiled, “Let me guess, you also kept yourself aloof from your troops?”
“Yes” He sighed, “That is why the dinner tonight was so disconcerting. You are the commander of this little group, yet to take the time to talk with your people, learn about them and forge a loose bond. I never had that with my troops, I always believed that a commander was best to remain separate from those he commanded. Less pain caused when they fell”
“That’s why I never really wanted to be more than a squad leader” Alex shrugged, “In the thick of things, a close knit unit. Knowing absolutely instinctively that I can trust my people. That’s what I’m trying to do with the Ghosts. I don’t want a disparate group of individuals. I want something that’s almost like a family in many ways. We watch each others backs, we help out with any problems and we learn to trust each other”
Is that why you permit relationships?” Yorinaga asked, “I saw the closeness between Helene Marshall and Jedi Solo and there was something between your XO and the pilot with the tattoos”
“Yeah, Dan and Kitten are on odd pairing. Apparently started today” Alex shrugged, “Considering my Intelligence Officer is also my partner, it would be hypocritical of me to then say relationships aren’t permitted”
“That is true” Yorinaga conceded, “To say one thing and do another would only cause friction. You have given me much to think about”
“And to bring us back around to my original point” Alex smiled, “That ego was why you applied to join us. Your ego is telling you that you can do this, that you can take orders from someone much younger, much less experienced than you and that you can handle it”
Yorinaga winced, “I had not considered that”
Alex shrugged, “I think you’re in a position of finding your feet again. You want to relearn your abilities and your limits, before it’s too late. You want to prove that you are as good as you always were” She sighed, “Besides, please don’t be afraid to voice an opinion or offer advice, believe it or not. I’m still new to all this myself”
Yorinaga frowned, “You seem to be doing well so far”
Alex laughed, “You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d seen the disaster our first mission nearly turned into” She sobered, “Look, I’m not going to pretend that having the great Yorinaga Tortorelli serving in my little unit isn’t a little intimidating, but I honestly think we can work together. In fact, while I will usually command the battlesuit squad on most ops, I want you to be the squad commander when I can’t be. If you’re happy with that?”
“I think I can be” Yorinaga said after some thought, once again surprised by this young woman and feeling very old indeed.
—————————————
ISF Headquarters.
Skye.
Skye Alliance.
324ABY.
February 25th
General Hohiro Kiguri smiled to himself as he read over the various reports before him. Everything was going according to plan at his end. With the removal of Subhash Indrahar, the ISF and the Ministry of Intelligence and Operations had been neutered. All reports by agents were directed to him or Constance Suthorn and The Masters movements and deployments of his troops were going largely unnoticed.
Meanwhile, Skye itself was heavily under defended. With only elements of the Royal Guards and the First Skye Rangers on world and the First Fleet in orbit, it would be a simple matter to capture the world. Especially as plans were in place to deal with the loyalist forces as quickly and bloodlessly as possible.
Meanwhile, young Angus Tarn was progressing well in preparing to become the new First Prince should it come to that. He would make a very easily controlled puppet.
In the meantime, General Canis continued to evaluate Alexandria Tarn to see if she could be useful to the cause as well. Kiguri doubted it, he suspected that the moment she learnt of their plans, she would no longer be a useful tool, but a very big problem.
He thought about it for a few moments. If she were to find out their plans, she could warn other elements in the Skye Alliance. Therefore, he needed a way to prevent her from finding that support.
With a smile he began composing a very special ISF bulletin.
———————————
The Wolf.
The Sprawl.
Mandalorian Space.
324ABY
February 26th.
“Good morning” Alex smiled around the little mess hall once everyone had taken a seat, “I’d like to welcome everyone to our very first full mission briefing as a unit” She waited as the little round of applause petered out then continued, “First, we’ve a few basics to cover. Due to our new blood, we’ve a few organizational changes to cover”
She indicated Karl Sims, “Firstly, Doc Sims now has the medi-bay fully equipped. So you all have somewhere to go if you get yourselves hurt”
Sims nodded, “I’m also available for guidance and advice, in my capacity as a Shepard, if you’re so inclined”
Alex grimaced at Sims remark, but carried on, “Natasha and Garcia will share intelligence duties. Natasha is up-to-date on current techniques, but Garcia also has a lot of experience in the sort of stuff they don’t teach you. Garcia is also an expert of disguises and mannerisms and will be a great help in missions requiring us not being recognized”
“Connor will continue to be our primary pilot for the Wolf, sharing duties with Dan who will continue as XO and our primary slicer” She indicated both in turn, “Helene will continue on as navigator and Sacul will handle communications” She sought out the three pilots, “Antioch will head up our fighter contingent. Kitten is also our third pilot for the Wolf and Leeza our backup shuttle pilot when Connor isn’t avaliable. Samson and Notha are our security detachment, responsible for keeping the Wolf secure. Both will also handle the turrets and as you’re all aware, Samson will also be keeping us well fed” She pointed to the Quarren and the giant.
“Unless you annoy me, then you would do well to not eat what you are served” Samson deadpanned eliciting a round of laughter.
“We’ll bear that in mind” Alex said dryly, “When I’m not suited up -which is pretty much going to last until we can sort out a battlesuit for me- Yorinaga will lead our battlesuit squad. Scooter also doubles as our second slicer and Rei is also trained as a combat medic, so when she’s not suited up, she’ll assist Doc Sims” She picked out Galatea and Esm, “And lastly, Galatea and Esm will ensure everything keeps running smooth around here”
“Now, we’ve got a mission to take care of” Alex explained, “Well, two separate missions, but they overlap somewhat. We’re to go to Tattooine and pick up some cargo from the TEC shipyards. Easy enough. Now the second part is more interesting, we’re to break into the TEC storage vaults and steal a prototype battlesuit” As she spoke, the holoprojector on the table burnt into life and displayed a layout of the vault, “For the first part of the mission, Garcia will play the role of captain for the Wolf, running under the name ‘Bridget’ for the mission. The Wolf will dock at the TEC shipyards and the transfer of cargo will begin. Objective here is to try and cause a few delays without being obvious about it” She smiled, “Meanwhile, Dan, Natasha and Rei will slip aboard the shipyards using the Pup and access the Vault and grab the battlesuit. Dan and Natasha will be disguised courtesy of Garcia, fortunately for Rei, there’s a large contingent of Nagai working for TEC, so you won’t need the hassle of a disguise”
“Thank the force” Rei said dramatically.
“The actual plan is simple” Alex explained, “Dan will slice the access to the vault and then Rei will get into the Vault, don the armour and get it to an airlock where Connor will pick her up in the Pup. Meanwhile, Dan and Natasha will work their way to a secondary pick up point, they will also try and get a dump of Terah’s files” She frowned, “Now just in case something goes wrong, Antioch and Leeza will be waiting on the systems edge in their fighters. If needed, they’ll fly in and strafe the shipyards and draw off security enough for the Wolf to make a pick-up. Kitten, since your fighter still needs some work, you’ll be flying the Wolf in”
“Just to add, myself and Dan have worked up a little sensor camouflage program for the pup using a few back doors he left in the TEC systems” Sacul smiled, “When a sensor scans the Pup, it’s IFF when send out a particular signal that will be picked up by Dan’s programs and reconfigured into something that the sensor systems will simply see as one of TEC’s little work drones”
Dan nodded, “It won’t stop a full scan, but it’ll be good enough to get us past the security. It also won’t work for the naked eye, but as long as Connor keeps us far enough away from observation points, we’ll be fine”
Antioch cut in, “And in case anyone’s wondering, My fighter and Leeza’s will be painted up as Oberon Loyalists. At the very least, it’ll give Baron Terah a couple of uneasy nights”
“This plan gets better and better” Galatea laughed at the thought of her father having trouble sleeping.
Alex looked at Galatea, “I know you wanted to be in on the infiltration, Red, but I need you to accompany Scooter to your family estate”
Galatea stared at Alex, “Dare I ask why?”
“Your fathers personal files” Alex explained, “We need a dump of them as well. You know the estate, so unfortunately, you’re the expert since we have no maps or layouts for the place”
“I’ll be in disguise I take it?” Galatea sighed.
Garcia cut in, “Trust me. Nobody will recognize you when I’m done”
Alex nodded, “If it’s any consolation, your father won’t be around. From what Sacul’s been able to find out, he’s currently touring some of the worlds of his little nation and won’t be back at Tatooine till the 18th of next month”
Galatea let out a breath, “I’ll do it if my father isn’t going to be there. If he was and I ran into him, I’m likely to shoot him and blow the whole thing”
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise” Alex smiled, “Now those of us remaining on the Wolf are going to be very visible, deliberately so. Though of course, some of us will be in disguise, due to our being recognizable. You’ll also have very distinct roles to play, which we’ll go over en-route to Tattooine”
“Think of it as preparing for the stage” Garcia nodded.
Alex nodded, “Right, we lift off in ten, so make sure you have everything that you need from the Sprawl. We won’t be back for a while”
The Wolf.
Inbound to the TEC Yards.
Tattooine.
324ABY.
May 10th.
Alex leaned in over the back of the pilots chair as Kitten brought the Wolf in through the outer ring of defences at the TEC yards. A network of sensor platforms formed an outer cordon, with a trio of defense platforms sitting just within them. A full battle group of starships patrolled the system, ranging from from Corvette size up to a pair of battlecruisers.
Craning her head to look through the viewport, she was able to count at least eight other defence platforms in various states of construction.
“Changed a lot since I was last here” Garcia muttered.
Alex looked over her shoulder, “You’ve been here before?”
Garcia nodded and smoothed the big bushy beard that comprised part of his disguise, “I had a mission to come here and steal some of the designs from Baron Terah’s technical files” He smiled, “That would have been the father of the current empire carving Baron. Nicias Terah himself designed the Crassius Class Destroyer and the League wanted the plans”
“How’d it go?” Alex asked.
Garcia shrugged, “Smoothly, unfortunately the designs were incomplete. But League scientists were able to use what we’d got to develop the FWLMS Alaric Destroyer that entered service just before the war”
“I hated those things” Kitten cut in, “My squadron ran up against them during the war a few times. In fact, it was going up against one at Duro that wiped out our squadron and prompted me and Leeza to desert. Vicious things, more flak guns than any ship has any right to have”
“Well, assuming everything goes well. That’s something you won’t have to worry about” Alex said patting Kitten on the shoulder, “Just keep it nice and casual, but not too casual, if you know what I mean”
“Right you are, sis” Kitten looked up and grinned over her shoulder.
Alex laughed. Garcia’s idea for her disguise had been to turn her into Kitten’s near double. Between the pink, braided wig and the body covering tattoos -temporary thankfully, though she was quite taken with the stylised eagle that rode across her collarbone- and with her body wrapped in a body tight jumpsuit with multiple strategic cut outs, she looked so unlike Alexandria Tarn it was scary.
Patting Kitten’s shoulder again, Alex smiled, “Once Sacul gets the all clear from TEC control, take us in” She turned to Garcia, “Dan still wasn’t happy with his disguise when he boarded the Pup”
Garcia shrugged, “He’ll get over it. I did a similar disguise no less than seven times during my career. It’s so far from his normal appearance that his own mother won’t recognize him”
Alex grinned, “I certainly didn’t recognize him and I sort of knew what to expect”
Sacul spoke up, “TEC control have cleared us. Directing us to Sector Four, Berth Nine”
“Taking us in” Kitten called and and nudged the throttle forwards.
———————————————————————-
TEC Yards.
Colonel Ivan Sinclair slipped into the small control room and sought out the officer on deck. It was unusual for him to be here, but this Major Wehlin had been insistent.
“I’m here Major, what is it?” Sinclair asked brusquely.
If Wehlin heard the icy tone, he didn’t show any outward sign, “It’s this ship that’s just arrived. Polaris Freighter, a Class IV. It’s here to collect supplies and weapons for our friends from the Rim Worlds. Everything checks out, they have the correct pass-codes and everything, but something doesn’t seem right”
“In what way?” Sinclair asked, a little wary about trusting someone else’s gut.
“Just something I can’t put my finger on” Wehlin frowned, “It might be nothing, after all, they do check out, but I can’t shake the feeling. We’ve directed them to Four-Nine”
Sinclair scowled and looked over the screens detailing the ship in question, “Have an inspection team prepared. I’ll lead them myself, it may be nothing, but better to be safe”
———————————————-
The Pup.
Connor effortlessly flew the little shuttle on a graceful path through the spider-like web of the TEC yards. He’d spent hours watching footage of the way work drones moved and did his best to replicate that movement in the shuttles maneuvering.
He glanced at his screens, then cut the Pup to port to take it on a nice sweeping curve to the airlock where he was dropping Natasha, Dan and Rei off.
“Everyone set back there?” He asked without looking.
A chorus of ‘readys’ answered him back, though Dan’s tone did make him look over his shoulder,
Rei was sat in the co-pilots seat, her usual leathers replaced with a bulky techs jumpsuit and an expression on her face that said she was uncomfortable without her Tehk’la blade.
Ash was sat behind the Nagai, looking completely unrecognisable. Her skin shone a darker pink than normal and her blonde hair had been dyed a bright red. Strategic padding on her body emphasized her curves even with the jumpsuit she wore. She looked every inch like a Zeltron.
Dan though sat there with the unhappiest expression Connor had ever seen on him. In fact, had Connor not known it was him, he’d have had to use the force to identify him. Connor knew that Dan had protested Garcia’s proposed disguise for him, but he’d obviously backed down in the end, though not without a lot of complaining on his part.
Connor wondered what Dan complained about more. Was it the the carefully applied latex makeup that built up his cheekbones and made his lips -themselves painted a light pink- fuller? Was it the fact his scraggly ponytail had been washed, combed out, conditioned and styled into an array of braids surrounding a large bun at the nape of his neck? Or was it the padding that filled out his figure and gave him a set of curves any girl would be proud of?
“Hey, cheer up. Pretty girl like you should be more chirpy” He grinned.
“Say that again and I’ll make you a girl for real” Dan -his voice altered by the device fixed against his throat and hidden by a layer of latex makeup- shot back.
Ash laughed, “That’s not very ladylike at all ‘Danielle’”
“You can really fall out with some people” Dan muttered in his feminized voice.
“There’s our target airlock” Rei indicated ahead.
“Bringing us in” Connor nodded, rotating the Pup to put it’s hatch up against the airlock, “We’re on, your turn Dan”
Dan nodded and produced his slicing keypad and began tapping in commands, muttering curses about the longer, bright red nails his fingers now possessed, “I’m into the security network, making the handshake, requesting airlock C3356-A to be opened”
A clunk echoed through the shuttle as the airlock obligingly opened and a moment later, a second one as Connor cycled the Pup’s own hatch, “We’re open”
“Keep the meter running” Ash grinned as all three slipped from the cockpit and headed to the hatch.
“Good luck girls” Connor shouted and was rewarded with a string of curses from Dan.
——————————————-
The Terah Estate.
Tatooine.
Of all the ways Galatea had expected to return to her families estate, this was not one of the ways she’d have considered. Her skin had been dyed a deep blue, her hair pulled back and hidden in two twitching Lekku and contact lenses hid her natural eye colour. She looked perfectly like a Twi’lek and not even her own mother would recognize her.
“You okay there?” Scooter Barnes asked as they rode in the landspeeder as it raced across the desert flats towards the estate.
“I’m okay” Galatea sighed, uncomfortably aware that her fake lekku were twitching as she spoke, “I just hate this world with a passion”
Barnes frowned, “You hate your homeworld?”
Galatea nodded, “Yeah. Always have. There’s too much sand, I burn too easily here, it’s too dry, there’s too much sand and it’s the last place I ever want to be” She grimaced, “Did I mention there’s too much sand?”
“I couldn’t even imagine feeling that way about Corellia” Barnes said.
“What’s Corellia like?” Galatea asked.
Barnes shrugged, “It’s a beautiful world. Green plains, blue seas, there’s snow capped mountains, forests. Long sandy beaches along the coasts”
Galatea made a face, “Sand, ugh”
Barnes shook his head, “Not sand like this. Beach sand is, I don’t know how to really describe it, it’s softer, less abrasive, moist. Plus you have the ocean a short distance away if you want to swim to get sand off”
Galatea laughed, “I can’t swim”
Barnes smiled, “Yeah, can’t imagine that swimming would be a useful skill here” He glanced ahead of them at a series of low domes and spires rising from the desert dunes, “Estates up ahead, you ready for this?”
“No” Galatea sighed.
“Worried about running into family?”
“Not really” Galatea answered, “My father won’t be here, we know that. My mother, well, last I heard she was on some archaeological dig in the far reaches of the Free Worlds League. She left my dad five years back now. I have four brothers and three sisters, but they all left home long ago, I’m the youngest, and I was the only one who joined the family business”
“The way you said that” Barnes frowned, “It saddens you?”
“Yeah” Galatea nodded, “TEC can be traced back three centuries to a small work shop on that estate that Zan Terah started. Over three hundred years, the Terah’s have built up TEC to be one of the premier shipyards of the galaxy and now, I fear this is the end” She sighed, “I fear my father’s actions are only going to bring destruction to TEC and three hundred years of history will be gone”
She looked at the buildings of the Terah Estate as the speeder pulled to a stop, “I’m simply dreading the memories that are in that place”
Galatea and Barnes exited the speeder and stepped briskly through the hot sun to the shade of the main entrance. They were met by a protocol droid, a far newer model than the one Galatea remembered.
“Greetings, may I help you?”The droid said in that prissy voice all protocol droids seemed to have.
“Yes” Barnes stepped forwards, “My name is Joe Shen, this is my secretary. I represent Outer Rim Republic Trading and I have an appointment today with Baron Terah”
“One moment” The droid said as it accessed it’s appointments database.
Galatea took a deep breath, this was the nerve racking part. Between them, Dan, Barnes and Sacul had sliced into the TEC appointments computer and faked an entry for today here at the estate. But until this moment, they didn’t know if the droids had a remote link or acquired a data dump of appointments at the start of the day. If it was the latter, they’d be sunk.
“Ah yes, Mister Shen” The protocol droid said, “I see you have an appointment. But I do apologize, there appears to have been an error. Baron Terah is currently off world”
Barnes exaggerated a frown, “This appointment was made weeks ago. Surely somebody should have made arrangements, this was a very important appointment. ORRT don’t just offer trade agreements just to be ignored” He pulled out a datapad and made a show of inputting commands, “I suppose we could see if the Oberon Government is more interested”
Even a protocol droid understood the implications of what Barnes said, “That won’t be necessary, Sir. I’m sure that one of the other TEC executives will happily make the trip here to speak with you”
“That would be acceptable, I think” Barnes nodded. , “You have somewhere we can wait?”
“Of course, Sir” The droid answered, then nodded to Galatea, “Ma’am, this way please”
Leading them down out of the desert heat and into the main house, the droid took them to a small waiting room next to Galatea’s fathers office. She wasn’t surprised to see that the house had changed little, in fact, she suspected that like herself, her father spent as little time on Tattooine and only really saw visitors here in order to show off the luxury of the estate.
After the droid left, Barnes tapped a command on his datapad and waited for the program he started to finish, “Right, rooms clean. How long do you think we have?”
Galatea shrugged, “Depends where the nearest executive is. Most will be on the shipyards, even the nearest will be no closer than Anchorhead. My guess we have an hour, minimum”
Barnes nodded and moved to the door to the office and made a show of examining the wood, “Fujihi wood. Very expensive” His datapad beeped, “Okay, stay still, don’t make sudden moves for the next few minutes” A few minutes later, the datapad beeped a third time, “Okay, “We’re in the security system and I’ve just looped in footage of us for the cameras” He tapped a few commands, “The door from the corridor is going to give an error message for the next person to try and open it, which will give us warning and the door to the office is now open”
“I’m impressed” Galatea smiled.
Barnes shrugged, “Yout father has the worst security ever. I’m not Dan’s level, but writing programs to handle everything was child’s play”
Moving into the office, Galatea shuddered as her eyes alighted on the various decorations in the room. Hunting trophies from around the galaxy, none of which were actually hunted by her lazy father, hung from the walls and still filled her with revulsion after all these years.
Barnes moved to the rooms terminal and sat down. Producing a cable he connected up his datapad and began the process of slicing past the security, or so he’d planned.
“Sithspit” He exclaimed, “Does your father even understand what security is for? He hasn’t even pass-worded this thing. What was it you needed me for again?”
“To get us this far at least” Galatea moved and stood at his shoulder to watch him work, “Besides, there may be other surprises”
“True” Barnes nodded, “Okay, I’ve got a lot of data here. Designs, journals, communications going back years. Transcripts from meetings. Anything in particular to grab?”
Galatea frowned, “Grab a dump of the communications, the meeting transcripts and the journals. Sacul will be able to sort through them later. Keep on eye out for anything weird as well”
“Define weird”
“Anything that you wouldn’t expect to find” Galatea smiled, “The sort of thing a CEO of shipyard company wouldn’t normally have unless he’s been plotting with shadowy groups”
“That really narrows it down” Barnes muttered.
The Wolf.
Colonel Ivan Sinclair nodded a greeting to the man in front of him and offered a hand, “Captain Alverez? I am Inspector Dominic Corl”
“Inspector” Garcia nodded, dropping the timbre of his face to a rumbling bass, “Welcome aboard my ship. What do I owe this….pleasure” He injected just the right level of sarcasm into his words.
“Just a routine inspection” Sinclair smiled and clasped his hands at the base of the spine, “Nothing to be concerned about. If you have nothing to hide”
Garcia shrugged, confident that the non-nonchalance would be the sort of attitude a long time spacer like Rufus Alverez would demonstrate in such a situation, “The only things hidden are my crews vices. I’m an honest man, you’ll find nothing on this vessel that isn’t in my manifests”
“Other than your crews personal possessions?” Sinclair frowned.
“Other than personal possessions” Garcia smirked, deliberately showing the twin rows of shiny platinum teeth implants that filled his mouth -really uncomfortable aluminum dentures that sat over his own teeth. He turned his head sharply as if noticing something and shouted out, “Alita, Alanna, where the hell are you? You were supposed to get those power converters squared away?”
A pair of young women with matching hair and heavily tattooed bodies emerged from behind the crates stacked in the cargo bay. Despite their height and build differences, they looked enough alike that Sinclair supposed that they were sisters, “We were just about to do it” The shorter one said sullenly.
“Why hasn’t it been done?” Garcia thundered, keeping firmly in role.
“We were busy” The shorter one shrugged.
“Doing what?”
“Nothing” This time the taller one replied. Though Sinclair had noticed that when they appeared, the taller one had slipped a flask into a back pocket and the shorter one had palmed a small packet of powder.
“Some definite vices there” He thought.
“Just get it done” Garica snapped and the two girls picked up the converters and carried them out of the bay. He turned back to Sinclair, “Sorry, about that. If there’s one type of crewer that you have to keep an eye on, it’s family”
“Family?” Sinclair raised an eyebrow, “Your daughters?”
“Nieces” Garcia replied with a shake of his head, “Took them in after their parents were killed during the war. Had the bad luck to be on a freighter that got caught up in a firefight between Republic and Skye forces at Kuat” He sighed, “They work well if you give them jobs that keep them apart, but put them together and they spend their time drinking and smoking instead of working”
Sinclair scowled, “Can’t imagine it’s easy. Shall we get this inspection done, Captain Alverez?”
Garica nodded, “Yes, let’s”
———————–
Thirty Minutes later.
“I know him” Helene Marshall -her hair hidden under a mousey brown wig and carefully applied makeup adding thirty years to her face- muttered as the inspection team left the mess hall to continue the inspection.
Samson frowned, “You do?”
Helene nodded, “He’s a spy. Worked for Oberon Intelligence. Must’ve been working for Terah all along. No way he’s just an inspections officer”
“I concur” Yorinaga Tortorelli said, “His attitude is wrong. He’s too alert, his questions are subtle, but they are probing”
Helene glanced at Yorinaga. His normal face was hidden by a latex mask similar to the one that aged her, but his instead of aging him, made his features less pleasant to look at. With the mask, Yorinaga’s face was disfigured heavily on the left side by a mass of scar tissue, supposedly the result of injuries incurred during a childhood accident. They served as a way of hiding Yorinaga’s identity, but they looked real enough that Helene’s stomach gave a little heave every time she looked.
“That concerns me” Notha Wel cut in, “Why would a spy pretend to be an inspection officer? Do they suspect us?”
Samson shook his head, “Not enough to do anything. Not yet. It may simply be a random inspection, security has been tightened up here after all. We may simply have had the misfortune to have him leading the inspection and it really is random”
“Maybe” Helene shrugged, “I just don’t want to trust in coincidences”
“That makes two of us” Yorinaga grunted.
TEC Yards.
“He was staring?” Dan muttered.
“What?” Rei answered, the white skinned Nagai watching both ways up the corridor.
“That tech, he was staring” Dan repeated.
“Hard not to” Ash shrugged, “You make a pretty girl”
“Shut up” Dan muttered, and checked the program on his datapad. It was still working to code them into the security systems between here and the Vault itself, “And why did Garcia make my boobs so big?”
Rei shrugged, “Don’t ask me”
When Ash didn’t answer, Dan looked up, saw her staring at his chest, “Stop it” He said, his voice sounding more whiny than normal because of the device that altered the pitch of his voice to a more feminine level.
Ash grinned, “Sorry distracted. But I just proved a point. A guy is more likely to focus on a girls other assets than her face if she’s well endowed. That’s an advantage to you, because you’re not a natural girl, there’s going to be certain mannerisms that are going to give you away or at least make people wary. Hence, the distractions”
“Great” He muttered. Then smiled, “Okay, we’re in. We’re cleared for access all the way to the vault and for the next thirty minutes we have a clear run. Security patrols have been diverted, holo cams have looped footage in place and security droids are now programmed to ignore us”
Natasha nodded, “Let’s make this quick. We go in, grab what we’re after. Rei takes it to rendezvous with Connor and we’ll head for somewhere to access the mainframe”
It was eerie for the three of them as they made their way down the empty corridor, each door opening obligingly to Dan pointing his datapad at the door and transmitting a signal. Droids patrolled the halls, but took no notice of them to the point where several times they had to dodge out of the way of a moving droid that was unaware of their presence.
Eventually, they reached the vault door and Dan went to work. As he did so Natasha thought again how weird it was knowing that her friend was right in front of her, but all she saw was tall, slightly fuller figured girl that could have been Dan’s sister.
“This will take a little longer” Dan explained in his altered voice, “Unlock process is a little more intricate. There we go!”
The big heavy doors opened and slid out of the way and the three of them stepped through, The room beyond was cluttered with the various prototypes TEC and developed or acquired and hadn’t yet began development work on.
Natasha noted a whole array of starfghters in various states of dis-assembly, stacks of crates filled with everything from parts to datacards and flimsis and ranks of battsleuits and power armour, most of which seemed to merely be upgrades of existing designs.
Rei frowned, “I think that’s what we’re after” She pointed at a suit stood away from the rest.
It was a design Ash wasn’t familiar with though it was reminiscent of the New Republic’s Fox battlesuit. Human proportions and silhouette, a heavy rail-gun made up most of the right arm and a pair of micro missile launchers rode on each shoulder.
“Wasp Class” Ash nodded, “New design from TEC’s battlesuit division” She looked at Rei, “Let’s get you in”
Rei stripped off her tech jumpsuit to reveal the much tighter bodysuit underneath,then with Dan and Ash’s help, loaded a charged power core into the suit and then climbed in to the Wasp. Dan and Ash made sure the suit was locked and sealed up and then Rei triggered the start up procedure.
“HUD’s online” Rei reported, “Everything checks out green. No ammo for the weapons, but if I need them we’re already in trouble. Life support is optimal and medical feedback is accurate. Communications are working, already locking into Connor’s frequency. Damn!”
“What?” Dan frowned.
“Sensors are non-functional” Rei muttered, “I’m limited to two mark-zeros”
“Mark-Zeros?” Dan frowned.
“Eyes” Ash smiled, “You alright making the rendezvous with the shuttle?”
“Yeah” Rei answered, “I know the route to the pick up point. I pop the airlock and Zero-G for Connor to pick me up”
“Good luck” Dan nodded, echoed a moment later by Ash.
“You too” Rei answered then headed off, leaving the two of them online.
“Computer core?” Dan asked.
“Computer core” Ash replied, checking her chrono, eighteen minutes before security kicks back in. Let’s go”
———————————————-
The Wolf.
Ivan Sinclair shook Garcia’s hand again, “Well, Captain Alverez, everything definitely seems to be in order. Sorry to have wasted your time”
Garcia shrugged, “Just doing your job inspector. Besides, my cargo has been loaded in the meantime” He sought out the two tattooed girls, “By some miracle”
In response the shorter one shot him the finger and went back to the sabbaac game she was playing with her sister.
“Ungrateful little….” Garcia muttered, then turned to Sinclair, “I take it there’s nothing else, inspector?”
“No, nothing more” Sinclair smile. He was sure there was something going on here, but he had no idea what. This Alverez had a very eclectic mix of crew and despite his claims otherwise, Sinclair suspected the guy did a lot of smuggling work and maybe more.
The half disassembled fighter in the top bay and the empty launching racks spoke to that. Alverez claimed he’d recently had the racks fitted for the defensive fighters he wanted for protecting his ship, but Sinclair suspect the the freighter was better armed than it appeared at first glance.
There was also the three half repaired battlesuits including an Orca. What the hell did the captain of a freighter want with an Orca?
No, Sinclair suspected Alverez was involved in a lot more than just transporting cargo, but he didn’t think he was a threat to TEC nor to the Terah Protectorate.
“Good day Captain” He nodded to Alverez then slipped out through the hatch.
Garcia watched the Inspector leave, then aware of the TEC workers that were still transferring cargo aboard and wary that they might still be observed until they were away from the yards and keeping in character, turned the full ire of Captain Rufus Alverez against his disrespectful nieces sending them both scattering and fleeing from the hold deeper into the ship.
————————————-
Galatea rubbed her head, disparate to scratch her scalp, but prevented from doing so by the latex that formed her Twi’lek characteristic head and Lekku. Convincing as it was, the disguise was heavy and sweaty and was starting to become uncomfortable.
“We’re running out of time” She said to Barnes, “Ten minutes before we run the risk of a TEC exec getting here”
Barnes shook his head, “I’m done” He unplugged his pad and slipped the lead back in his jacket.
They quickly slipped back into the waiting room and With a few quick commands on his datapad, Barnes locked the office door, unlocked the waiting room door and setting the holocams rolling again.
It was fortunate timing as just a few moments later the door hissed open and the protocol droid entered the waiting room, “Mr Shen, sorry for the wait, but I have just been informed that one of the senior executives is on his way from Mos Espa and will be here in an hour”
“Don’t bother” Barnes said with the tone of a man tired of waiting, “I’ve run out of patience. If the Baron wishes to meet with me again, tell him to contact my office and we may send a representative”
The droid managed to convey horror and despair despite a complete lack of expression, “But Sir….”
“No, I’m sorry” Barnes shook his head as he and Galatea breezed from the room, “Just give my card to the Baron. It’s on the table”
Ignoring the further protests from the droid, the two of them quickly left the estates buildings and climbed back into the speeder. Barnes immediately powered up the engines and it shot off, almost clipping the droid which had followed them all the way out.
“That was cruel at the end there” Galatea laughed.
“It seemed to fit the act of a frustrated man” Barnes shrugged. He frowned, “You okay, really?”
Galatea sighed, “Not really. Too many memories from that place. I forgot how empty it is. I guess my father still doesn’t bother paying for much of a staff to be there when he’s not” She grimaced, “Let’s just get off this rock, I hope I’m not back here for a long time”
Fractured Galaxy 