Hotsprings, massages, & hostage situations!

[Kella]

ooc// Heh, sorry it took me so long to get back in here. X) Silly Ashley crossed it off her mental checklist, when there was still work to be done! //

Grizzelda barely even blinked as her hand flashed up to catch the bottle. Her reaction time was quite impressive, and just enough so to hint at the midichlorians in her blood. Just a hint. She just barely cast a shadow in the Force, and similarly, the Force was little more than a shadow to her. Albeit a helpful one.

She shook her head as Strae strung up her hammock; Grizz was hardly one to enjoy simply sitting. She stood, returning the bottle to its place in the minibar. She needed her wits about her today.

"I'm going to go do some exploring. If you hear any alarms, they're probably my fault. I've my comlink, if my presence is required."

Grizzelda offered a quick mock-bow and quickly departed the room. Ah, so many halls to wander. Grizzelda really was a fringer at heart, her only home a place untraveled. It was an unforgiving occupation, but Grizzelda loved it.

~

Eventually, her wanderings brought her down to the lobby bar, where she spied a most peculiar creature. There, having just finished pushing up a drink cart, was a Kowakian monkey-lizard. Grizzelda knew little more about the species than their name, having only seen one before-- and that one in the service of a Hutt. She certainly didn't remember them as being the most intelligent of creatures, what with various things implied during that audience with the Hutt, but this one seemed to look upon the world with a spark that identified it as going beyond semi-sentient.

Grizzelda wandered up to the bar, putting on an air of nonchalance. She was curious. Sure fingers extracted a thick-glassed bottle from the stack, and Grizzelda mused over the label.

"Hello," came the somewhat scratchy voice of the monkey-lizard. It reminded Grizzelda of a harsh reptillian call, which is what the critter's voice had probably evolved from.

"Hallo. Look at this! I haven't seen a bottle of Tarisian ale in ages. The knock-off brewers are far too impatient now; don't let anything cure long enough. If this label is to be trusted, it seems to be the genuine thing. A very, very rare commodity, wouldn't you say?"

Grizzelda quirked an eyebrow, looking upon the Monkey-Lizard. There was certainly more to him than met the eye, but that came as no surprise, seeing as very, very few people could be accurately judged by appearances.

"Are there more of your kind around?" Grizzelda asked innocently, genuine curiosity coloring her tone. "Or are you a special one?"

She slipped the bottle of ale back into its lonely spot on the cart.

[Deceit *Drinker of Jawa-Juice*]

Strae watched Grizzelda return the contents of the minibar. She almost laughed, and then Grizzelda was gone, after a few parting words, Strae simply nodded and waved her away, openly taking a large swig of the liquid. The moment Grizzelda was gone though, Strae got up off of the Hammock, moving toward the sink, and draining the contents of the bottle until there was only a little bit left, she removed the second bottle, and drained all of it.

Strae grabbed her knife, bringing it with her to her Hammock and tucking it inside of a secret fold within her attire, near the waist, almost imperceptible. Now, she took the completely empty bottle, and placed it sideways on the ground beneath the hammock, and allowed the second one to fall against her body as she sprawled out across the hammock, one hand dropping down to her waist, the other draped across the edge of the hammock.

With a simple application of the Earwig she seemed always to carry around, she allowed herself to fall asleep.

Her intention was to make it look as though she was drunk, and if any assassin, contact, or anyone just looking to play any stupid games with her, were to walk in right now, they'd think her helpless. However, their footsteps, with the help of the earwig, would have long awaken her, and her hand was quick enough with a blade to take advantage of their sudden surprise...

With her hat covering her face, she closed her eyes and allowed the sleep which she desperately needed over these past few days come to her. Comfort. Darkness...And sweet unconsciousness...

( @ Everyone:

I was planning on letting Strae get a few hours rest before the Mercenaries attack. If anyone feels a bit impatient and whats to speed things up, feel free to say so. But until then, I'm gonna have her get some relax for now. )

[Zabasaz Volgarius]

Twelve hours prior...

Zabasaz released the throttle on the speederbike, decelerating eventually to a sharp stop at the edge of the camp. The speeder wasn't his, of course, hell if he could afford one what with all the inter-system travel he constantly purchased. It was loaned to him as a means of getting around and keeping up with the shady folks with which he had to deal in order to get a break on this planet, and also to get off-planet. Two armed mercenaries approached him, one a weequay and the other a quarren, and the quarren spoke in his harsh dialect to Zabasaz, who responded in Galactic Basic, although he hadn't understood a word that the alien said.

"Jen holophoned me, take me to him."

Whether or not the two understood him was inconsequential, for if it was not reason that dictated their decision to oblige - it was the unnatural mental influence enforced by the Force. Their minds were weak and easy to manipulate, even for Zabasaz who didn't show much aptitude in that sphere of manipulation. Thus, they turned, carbines still in their grips, and walked towards the command tent centered in their field base. Zabasaz toggled the E-brake on his speeder and dismounted, walking after them.

He was wearing a mercenary disguise, for the last thing he wished to do was draw attention. It wasn't unlike Kuat resorts to occasionally harbor a fringer who had the credits, likely illegitimately earned, in addition to the more wealthy off-worlders. Zabasaz just fell into that category without a second thought, though an Iridonian with tribal tattoos was definitely a sore thumb under any circumstances. His tattoos were rather simple, simply a streak below his nose, mouth, and eyes, but they were there nonetheless. His choice of regalia could be better described as a simple sickly-green flight jacket with an armor underlay underneath, resilient to weak repeater fire at best, and a pair of dark-brown paramilitary slacks. Of course, he also had boots and black gloves, and overall his image was unflattering and even mundane.

He followed the two goons to the mouth of the command tent and stepped inside without even acknowledging them, only to encounter two more mercenaries seated at a fold-up table therein and a third man, the most imposing of them all, standing near a communications relay terminal. They had stopped speaking on his entrance, and the man who stood greeted him immediately. Zabasaz recognized him as Jenim Roan, the human who was leading the ground troops and the man who he had come to dislike secretly. His holophone updates seemed more like check-ups, to make sure Zabasaz wasn't enjoying himself TOO much. His little vacation was after all paid only so he could infiltrate the structure and assist in taking control of it.

"Glad to see you're still in the system, Zab," said Jenim, and Zabasaz was bothered both by his suggestion that he might cower out of the deal, and by the fact that he regarded him by a nickname (or potentially a shortened form of the racial term Zabrak, which would be even worse.) "I wanted to brief you personally, because their holophones are likely monitored by the syndicate we're here for."

"Cut to the chase, I don't want to know why we're doing it, just what I've got to go," spat the Iridonian.

"Aggressive, as all Zabraks tend to be," he said with a sneer, and Zabasaz knew now that his prior nickname was intended to be a racial slur of sorts. "We're waiting for the bird to give us the go, which'll likely be in about twelve to twenty hours. We speed in and make magic happen. What we need you to do is get back to the complex and rendezvous with our lady inside, and help her wrest control of the security systems. Once done, we'll contact you via commlink with further orders. We may need you to get us entry should the security doors engage."

It was part of Zabasaz's role - nobody knew yet he could use the Force, perhaps they suspected it, but he outlined his abilities rather crisply and one of the things he said he could do was, "get them through any door with or without a terminal to slice." Zabasaz was a master of telekinetic Force disciplines, rivaled by few in the galaxy, more of a result of his condition than fruit of laborious, specialized training. In any case, his briefing was short, as he preferred. Too bad he had to be pulled a ten minute ride from the resort to hear it, but what had to be done had to be done.

"Who's the operative and how do I find her?"

"Her name is Ven Alstra, she's a human. She'll contact you when it's time to set the party favors via holophone with a coded message. Here's the cipher." He gestured at the table where a datapad was set, and Zabasaz approached the table and seized it, not giving it a second look yet. "When you decode her location, you'll rendezvous and do what she says. She's the expert here, so don't get fresh on us."

"I take my leave of you," said Zabasaz, no longer eager to hear references to wariness and a lack of trust on the part of the scum what commanded him.

"Greyon Leguas," recited Jenim, a salute that similarly was the name of their band.

"Greyon Leguas," Zabasaz said in a lax fashion as he stepped out of the tent and returned to his speeder.

"Lau," cursed he in his Iridonian tongue spitefully, and he sped off.

---

Presently...

Zabasaz stepped out of his suite, a portable carrier in his right hand, and walked out into the hallway after a cursory glance for any other individuals in the area. Heading in the direction opposite of the recreational center and the lobby, he had to really look casual - so he looped around a corridor so it didn't look like he went straight from his room into the deeper confines of the resort, for that in most circumstances would make little sense.

He had decoded his contact's location and their rendezvous point, and thus he himself was heading for the staff elevator. When he reached the terminal, he didn't need a pass-code or anything of the sort to get the door to open, only a keycard which had been supplied to him already. Zabasaz wasn't at all capable of this espionage and infiltration gig, so it was fortunate that they had made things easy for him. As the elevator opened, he saw that it was empty and thus, with the Force, he shorted the light causing the elevator to go dark. This way, the surveillance cameras inside would not be able to see him, but the inability to do so would be low priority, perhaps pinned to light fixture failure rather than tampering, since there was no footage of anyone -actually- breaking the lights.

Stepping inside, he sent it for the security level, and as it made the trip to the bowls of the resort, Zabasaz opened his carrier and made a change of clothes that would better fit the operation...

[Deceit *Drinker of Jawa-Juice*]

Ven Alstra took another sip of her large glass of ale. She sat in the crowded bar silently, and alone. Two bar stools from the guards she had been tailing. They worked in the Security control room, and only they had the keycard to open the doors that led to it. Ven had cursed her luck when she realized this, finding no copies in the offices near the lobby, and none anywhere else. Luckily, they took regularly scheduled breaks.

The plan was for her to sneak into the room after they opened the door with the key-cards, kill them inside of it, and open the door for their contact. From there, it was only a short hallway and a small door away from the main security terminal, which she would lock herself inside of and turn all of the alarms, turrets, and cameras off, as well as activating an emergency lock up, immediately locking every side entrance and exit.

However, she just needed to wait for these men to finish up their break and head back.

She wore a plain maids outfit, which would allow her to use maintenance access ways without question. It was a plain blue shirt and skirt combination with some under-leggings ( Me not know proper names for all this attire describing! ) to make it not appear...too Promiscuous. The shirt came with a golden colored collar and cuffs, which signified to the visitors that she was worker.

She finished up her glass, seeing the two guards getting up and walking out of the tavern. Hastily, she paid the barkeeper and went off after them, maintaining her distance at first.

[sparrow]

The assassination of the royal family of Corellia had been quite the news. Rumors of all sorts floated around as to who the perpetrator might have been, ranging from the Prime Minister or other noble families, the Hutts, the Exchange, even a few truly ridiculous ones blaming the ragtag recently emerged Guild of Calamitous Intent. Of those, the Exchange was probably the closest to the mark. The organization's influence wasn't what it once was, but what it had left had, with the help a few transaction-smoothing credits, was what allowed one of the true culprits to check into this resort on Kuat.

Zarene Yin's veiled wide-brimmed hat sailed across the room, landing neatly on a coat hanger, just as its wearer closed the door behind her. Having been able to skip the front desk meant that she was able to slip into the establishment mostly unseen. Her former status as an assassin within the Exchange meant that most of the local bosses knew little about her. But they recognized her and assumed that she worked for someone close to the top (something not too far from the truth), and so listened to her demands and complied when she insisted that everything be kept hush-hush.

She removed the small hold-out blaster from her belt and placed it on the table, along with a single energy cell pack. These weren't her normal weapons. She had left those aboard Gabriella's ship. It was easier to get someone to look the other way when there was less to look at, and the point right now was for her to lay low a bit before returning to Korriban, so there wasn't really a need for her to be packing enough firepower to assault a small mando military base.

Her coat and scarf soon joined her hat on the coathanger. In a resort full of rich, easily spookable guests it had been practical to cover up her appearance a bit, but now in her own private room there was no need. Zarene walked over to the sink to wash her face, slowly cleaning the scarred area with a piece of soft cloth. She wondered when the last time she had a chance to shower was. It would be good to have one now. Sit back, lay low, and relax for a bit,... what could be easier?

(( Here's my somewhat late entry into the resort. Hope I didn't make any mistakes and that nothing clashes with what's already been happening. My posting over the next two weeks will probably be a bit sporadic... hopefully that won't end up holding things up too much.

Zarene will be staying in her room, but will use violence if disturbed. The could be bad news for any mercs who decide they want to cause some destruction. There's also some bad blood between her and Crumb, due to a few things she did to a friend of his.

Upezza Keeza might know her as someone employed with the Exchange. Any info concerning her involvement with the assassinations on Corellia should probably be vague and sketchy at best at this point however. Her involvement with the Sith at this time should still be a secret))

[Kella]

ooc// Alrighty, and how we face a dilemna.. Either Zab or Aaron needs to post, because posts from anyone else would be superfluos and out of place. X) Zab and Strae, you go ahead and continue your infiltration until it effects the other chars, at which point we'll hop in during our respective moments. Something like that, anyway. X) I really, really dun want this one to die. //

[Deceit *Drinker of Jawa-Juice*]

( Okey Dokey. We're primarily just waiting on Aaron, everyone else seems active. )

Ven easily got into the less public areas of the resort. She strolled out of an elevator, peeking outside to either direction. The two guards, completely oblivious, were just walking around the corner down a long hall. Ven ran forward, not even caring about any possible cameras. Her footfalls were quiet, near silent, despite her vigorous pace. Soon she came to the corner, and pressed herself against the wall.

Peeking around, she saw the men about halfway down a new hallway, on the far side, there was a fourway intersection between two different halls that went either left or right. If they turned right, on the far side of the hall, just before the next turn, would be the security access door...But Ven couldn't be seen by those two. Luckily, these interior halls basically formed squares around each important room, with doors leading into various places. All she needed to do was go around the other perimeters of the 'square' with the security access door and hug the corner right next to it. She smirked, breaking into a run.

Passing the turn the two guards had gone by, and going a good distance further down the hall she was already in, Ven came to another left turn. She took it, and dashed down to the other side, slowing down by the corner. The door was just around the corner, say eight feet from it. If she peeked, she'd be seen. Might cause suspicion. Luckily, she would hear the door opening...

Waiting for a few moments, she eventually heard the voices of the two guards. They slid their keycards in the door, and she could hear the soft opening noise. Grinning, she counted. She had a solid five-six seconds before it closed again. Waiting three seconds, she whipped around the corner, dashing the slight distance. She didn't even look into the hall.

She passed through the portal silently, entering into a slightly more gritty and metallic room. It wasn't painted or anything, the walls being a dark grey color, and covered in metal to prevent anything from breaking down a wall to get in. It was a very important room...

The two guards didn't even hear her. They continued walking down a hall, which lead about twenty feet forward, and turned left into a door.

Ven Alstra crouched, moving directly behind the two guards. The hall narrowed out, making it so that only one person could *comfortably* walk forward, so one guard was walking in front of the other. Ven got right behind the first one, and showed that she was stronger than she looked. She put him into a hold at first, sliding her arms up his pitts and holding them back. He gasped with surprise, but Ven lifted her self forward and jammed her knee right into his back, pulling backward as she did so.

There was a sickening crack, and the man had been gasping in surprise just before that. Confused and worried, the other guard turned around, to see his body falling forward in front of him, his unholstered weapon in Ven's hand. She pulled the trigger several times, firing three rounds into the mans chest, and one good laser into his throat. Ven then smirked, and walked up to the second door.

There would be more guards in here...Probably about three...

Better call in her back-up.

She spoke into her earpiece, "Hey, Zabasaz, get over here. The first two are neutralized, and I will need help with the rest. I'll open the door once you arrive. They don't know I'm here...No cameras inside inner hall."

[Zabasaz Volgarius]

While it was normally counter-productive to put on a clunky high-tech helmet first when hurrying to change regalia, Zabasaz had no choice. His commlink was built into it, and if Ven Alstra gave him the go or had any other messages to get to him, he'd only be able to hear it if his helmet was on.

He had already put on his form-fitting black clothing and his bounty hunter's chestplate and was in the process of digging through the blackness of the darkened elevator when her voice came through. It was crisp and song-like in his ears, as it was an extremely clear and effective high-grade voice transmission device. Heeding her words, he replied in his deep voice with an ominous, "I copy."

The plan was that Zabasaz would take the security lift to the appropriate portion of the resort, a higher security location where the access portal to the inner hall was located. Unfortunately, it was impossible for any of the operatives in the mercenary organization to get their hands on the higher-level security keycards. They were harder to replace and would send up too many flags for the success of the mission to be safely guaranteed. So, it was Ven Alstra's responsibility to infiltrate the inner halls and Zabasaz's job to be the muscle, dealing with the guards in the manner only a freelance Dark Jedi of his experience could - effectively and with no possible chances for failure. Zabasaz slid his arms into the sleeves of his cloak and raised his hood over the helmet, and at that very instant the security lift stopped right at the level where he was headed.

When the Iridonian stepped out of the elevator into the illuminated halls, he had undergone a rather large regalia change and left his old garb bundled up in the carrier he held in his right hand. His clothing wasn't necessarily as subtle as was recommended, but it suited what he'd need during the following phase of the operation once the security mainframe was under Ven Alstra's control. His choice was a composite durasteel armored chestplate, pauldrons, and helmet with a glowing orange visor that contained a high-tech, interactive interface. The rest of his body was covered in pure black, including a Dark Jedi's hooded cloak which flowed behind him as he tread through the hallways to the first security door.

About a minute after Ven's contact, Zabasaz's voice came through her ear piece.

"I'm at the door and the coast is clear."

[Deceit *Drinker of Jawa-Juice*]

The door slid open, and Ven stood leaning on one hand against the doorway, grinning coyly, "Not the most low key of outfits...But I see your point." She spun around and allowed him entrance, truning and walking toward the end of the room, "Behind this room is the control room."

~*~

Three guards, two of them carrying blaster rifles strapped to their backs, and the final one incredibly efficient with dual blasters, worked in the room. The two with the longer ranged guns were further back from the door, staring at two large machines, full of screens that showed all of the various cameras. Nothing out of the ordinary. The final one sat in a seat to the right, with a large dashboard. Buttons, switches, lights, and a single screen were there. He sat in what appeared to be a cock-pit of sorts, with controls to a turret. With this seat, you could activate and control one of the hundreds of turrets throughout the facility, provided that you knew they were there, and switched to the right one.

The room was dark, and the same style as the hall. It was about twelve by twelve yards, with a few, seemingly superfluous machines and screens scattered about the walls. It was a perfectly square room. With the two guards direct center and on the far way, it would be a good distance to them, and time enough for them to aim. The one on the right was as far to the wall, closer, and easier to get to, what with him having to buckle out of his seat and stand up.

All of the people inside were humans, and wore no real armor, except some slightly resilient vests. They were antsy, hence the vests. The other guards were due in already, but neither had arrived. In fact, they had seen their fellow guards on camera, as well as a large dark man, and a sneaky looking maid. None of them liked this whole situation...

~*~

Ven stood by the door and waited for Zab to arrive, "One, two..." She readied her pistol, "You first...THREE!" Then she slid the keycard.

[Zabasaz Volgarius]

When Ven Alstra allowed him through the security aperture, he stepped through silently and followed her to the corridor that led to the central control mainframe. According to logic as well as his reason for being present, there were some armed personnel just beyond that very door. Generally, even a large group of blaster-wielding were within Zabasaz's capabilities, provided they weren't particularly experienced like a bounty hunting gunslinger or something to that effect. He had quite some experience in the defensive stylings of Form III and the martial skills that came with being a tribal Iridonian. A hail of blaster fire could easily be deflected and in some cases delivered back to the gun-men responsible for unleashing the bolts in the first place - but ideally, Zabasaz's foes would never get to fire their blasters.

When Ven slid the card and the door opened, the personnel were somewhat on edge as it were, and so they scrambled quickly for their triggers. Stepping into the room far enough so that Ven could follow him in (if she hadn't entered first) he thrust his hand forward, using the Force to wrench the rifles free from the desperate grips of the two standing guards and casting them out of the way. Then, thrusting his hand again forward he hurled one of them into the console nearest to him, causing him to crash through one of the screens headfirst and immediately get a lethal dose of electricity. Convulsing for a moment before going limp, the deceased guard lost Zabasaz's attention as he immediately turned his visor-concealed gaze to the second guard. The third was inconsequential for now, as he was in a less martially-endowed position. He suspected Ven Alstra would pull some stunt to execute this guard as Zabasaz handled the more immediate threats, but if not this singled out foe would provide him with no difficulties, he suspected.

His visual interface immediately locked into the hands of the threat as it pulled a sidearm from its holster and aimed the pistol at him or Ven - it wasn't his purpose to bother discerning which. The man's attempt at defending himself was cut short, however, when his body was lifted from the ground, causing him to twitch with terror and lose the grip on his pistol. Then, with a series of pleading, desperate no's as his final words, Zabasaz clenched his outstretched right hand into a tight fist. The capillaries in his hand, gloved though it was thereby making it impossible to perceive, immediately flared and bulged.

With a grotesque cacophony of splintering and shattering bones, the man's body violently imploded into a bulging mass of nigh-discernible limbs, twitching faintly if only due to spasmodic muscles and nerves giving their last yawns of despair. Zabasaz released him, slamming his crumpled carcass to the ground with a sense of rage that was no uncommon thing for a Dark Jedi channeling the Force with the purpose of decimating his foes. Lowering his right hand, his heart rate returned to normal and his hand relaxed, a sense of cathartic warmth running through his body.

He turned his armored visage to Ven Alstra. "Neutralized enough for you?"

[Deceit *Drinker of Jawa-Juice*]

"Yes." Ven Ven, her arms around the seated man. There was a slight crack. "Force user? No one said."

She unharnessed the man, which the work was already more than halfway done for her already, and slid the body out from the turret control seat. She quickly checked to make sure he didn't sabotage the controls. "Alright...You know the plan, get down to the front to make sure they don't seal our boys out. I'll seal the room the second you leave."

"Begin the next phase." She said into her comm.

~*~

The camps were swarming with mercenaries now, as they lined up their speeders and readied for the coming assault. Mercenaries of various different races gaver their weapons one final check. Then the call came in, and like a swarm of locusts, they mounted their speeders, and gunned the engines. The hum inside of the camp of at least twenty speeders all goinjg off at once was almost unbearable for the few mercenaries remaining, but it luckily did not last long.

Four groups of speeders all headed straight for the main complex, until one of them, the far Western one, began to deviate course, heading to secure the hangar bay.

The guards at the edges of the buildings, scouting outwards, saw the movements as they got closer, and began to move in order to sound the alarm. Only to hit the button, and realise it wasn't sounding. Ven had turned the alarm systems off. Various groups of minor resistance would be able to form up, but were of no real threat. The only truly dangerous prospect were the possibilities of fringers among the resort...But neither Ven nor the Mercenary leaders were worried.

~*~

Strae awoke to the sound of her room door opening. She snapped her eyes open, but remained still, looking through the fabric. It wasn't Grizzelda. She almost tensed up. Instead, it was someone else, someone she couldn't see very well. They appeared to be wearing a workers outfit. Strae didn't trust it, but it might be a simple butler. No need to overreact.

She watched slightly and listened intently to his heavy breathing and slow footsteps. He was approaching her, with ill intent apparently...She remained still and silent, allowing him to approach...

Slowly, he rose above her, his breathing halting, trying to remain silent. As far as he knew she was out of it, but he didn't seem to want to take the risk. The man craned his head, and raised his hand. Strae exploded into motion, rising and catapulting off her seat, sending her knee right into his belly. He flew back, the breath blasted out of him.

Strae could now get a good look at the man. It was the bell man who had tried to make conversation with her earlier. She slipped her dagger out, and as he writhed in pain, got right behind him, putting her dagger to his neck. "Pardon the rough play, but I'm not use to sneaky bell-hops." She seethed.

[Zabasaz Volgarius]

Zabasaz gave a curt nod and turned harshly, his cloak flourishing and following him as he quickly walked out of the security center and back out to the inner halls. Stepping over the other two downed guards, he didn't bother checking any for a remaining key card. Espionage was no longer of consequence, everything could be done with the full extent of his brute force approach without fear of sounding any alarms and jeopardizing the operation. When he stepped through the outer security aperture, the one she had slipped through in chasing the guards, he raised his left hand lightly as he passed. The terminal that operated the door from the outside was wrenched out of the wall in a hail of sparks and crushed into a shapeless mass of scrap. It fell languidly to the floor, released from Zabasaz's telekinetic grip. He figured it would be a good extra layer of security for Ven Alstra, for even if it required a fusion cutter to burn open the sealed door to the mainframe where she was located, they still would otherwise have access to the door giving her low chance of escape. Now, she at least had several minutes of warning if anyone was going to try and break through the outer door.

His next job was the one he felt more capable of beforehand, but now in retrospect it looked as though it would be the more bothersome of the tasks he was given. Killing two armed guards with some element of surprise was much simpler than rounding up civilians, neutralizing an entire staff of armed resistance, and breaking through sealed security blast doors that were impossible to override even for a slicer in control of the main control systems. Sure, the mercenaries could spend at most an hour piercing these doors with fusion cutters of their own, but Zabasaz could blow them open in just a few seconds with the Force.

It would be several minutes before they arrived, Ven Alstra had just given word and a safe ride from the mercenary camp took Zabasaz ten minutes. Likely they had faster swoop bikes that could clear the gap in half the time. This was just enough time for him to march directly for the resort's entrance and rendezvous with them. While it seemed illogical for a man on the inside to go outside, Jenim did not trust Zabasaz in the slightest. Therefore, it was part of his exclusive orders that the Iridonian work with them and not independent, that way Jenim could keep his eyes on him and make sure he pulled his weight.

Zabasaz paraded down the halls swiftly, with no regard for being subtle now. Any individual who accosted him found that his preternaturally strong arms had no issue throwing them aside. In time he made it to the resort's main lobby, and then out the doors to the rendezvous point. The hum of the distant speeders was already present and growing louder, so his timing was without flaw. He turned to see a guard eying him, and hurled the guard into the wall behind him with a minor application of telekinesis, knocking him unconscious (or perhaps killing him, he couldn't know how concussive of a blow to the head it was when the guard hit the wall.)

[Kella]

ooc// Post number 1,000!! Woot! //

A surging sensation raced up Grizzelda's spine, a chill she only felt in the most specific of circumstances. Something was not right, and of that, Grizzelda was quite definitely sure. Her eyes glazed over as her mind raced, and Grizzelda tried to deduce what that something might possibly be...

And then she remembered she'd engaged the Monkey-Lizard in conversation.

"I'm dreadfully sorry," She said, no doubt cutting off whatever it was he was saying, "But I must take my leave... Unexpected business to attend to." She might have sounded sincere, but her tone was definitely somewhat... distracted. "Perhaps we may talk some other time."

That strange sense of foreboding continued to crawl up and down Grizzelda's arms as she turned and left the bar area, without another look behind. Surely this would appear very, very strange to the poor monkey-lizard. However, Grizzelda was hardly concerned with appearances. Two things took precedence in her mind. The first; fetch her blaster and her shatter-gun. The second, check up on Strae. There were usually only two things that could trigger this strong of a vague premonition... immediate danger to a friend, or approaching danger of a large magnitude. A very large magnitude. Usually involving the Dark Side. And there was a possibility, nay, a probability that it was both.

Grizzelda definitely wanted her blaster.

As she made her way through the hallways, Grizzelda was irked that she had not paid closer attention to the usual state of things... too much stood out to her mind as unusual, which pretty much equated to not enough. That maid was shuffling her feet and looking evasive... or did all maids behave that way? That bellhop wouldn't look her in the eye... Or had they always been like that?

Hm, in any event, it was of little consequence. Improvisation was a skill born of necessity, and Grizzelda's life had met a great, great deal of necessity.

With a quiet ding, the lock on her room door clicked open, and Grizzelda stepped in.

There was Strae, holding knife against neck. That neck was rooted to a familiar face, the face of one of the Bellhops. His expression was twisted with a mix of aggravation and pain, and Strae hissed something threateningly.

The sight surprised her more than anything had in a good long while. Which is to say, she simply lifted her eyebrows.

"Thought you could have all the fun without me, eh? May I kill him? Or are we going to try to interrogate him first?"

All that spine-tingling just for a Bellhop? Grizzelda thought not. No, there was certainly something much more sinister brewing, but for now, there were more immediate matters. Even as she spoke, Grizzelda quickly plunged a hand into her bag and extracted her blaster. She began to load it and prime it, a symphony of clicks ringing through the air, menacing. Intimidation was a tactic she used sparingly... but it could be quite effective. And it was also somewhat fun; a guilty pleasure. Grizz waited for Strae's answer...

[sparrow]

A warm shower later, Zarene Yin lay reclined on the couch wrapped in a towel, a warm cup of hot chocolate in her hand. Zarene wasn't someone who smiled very often but she did now as she took a sip of the warm beverage. A bit of an odd choice of drink considering that it was actually a rather warm day, but the mixing materials had been in the room, and she hadn't felt like calling room service for anything else. Zarene had first been introduced to the beverage many years ago by her late master. She had been skeptical at first. Brown bean juice... seriously? This was followed by a gentle reminder from her master that all foods and drinks had to come from somewhere, and after she decided that brown beans were about a good a somewhere as any, she actually came to enjoy the stuff.

She thought about her late master for a bit, but very quickly realized that that line of thought was only going to eventually lead to memories of her accident, anger and rage, and so stopped right there. She was supposed to be relaxing after all. It would be her last chance before having to return to that depressing rock which was Korriban. She sighed as she ran the fingers of her organic left arm through her dark, untied hair. Say whatever about what years of battle had done to the rest of her body, but Zarene Yin still at least liked to think that despite all the scars, she still had nice hair.

Suddenly, she shivered. A wave of cold, dark energy seemed to hang in the air. Something was nearby. Something dangerous,... and strong in the dark side. Zarene was no stranger to the dark side, but the magnitude of it was, considering that this place wasn't that depressing rock known as Korriban, quite frightening. She thought of leaving her room to investigate, but then thought better. At least she would get dressed and keep her blaster close by, just in case.

[Deceit *Drinker of Jawa-Juice*]

( Oh, and here I had prewritten my post before Grizz showed. LAWL Edit time:

)

“Ladies!”

Strae sneered into his ear as she directed his face to the blaster that Grizzelda held in front of him, signifying that she was going to interrogate first, “Who are you!” She spat. The man squirmed in her grasp, but another good poke, drawing a bit of blood, made him stop. “No avoiding the question!”

“Dangit! I'm the dealer!” He said, “You called...Something about a ships deal?”

Strae laxed her grip on him, but did not release her blade. And there was always the matter of the gun in his face. Her eyes, from behind the man, looked up at Grizz quickly, a sign of wondering if it was true, a quick doubt, “And why did you come so close to me?”

“I needed to know if you were awake or if I should return later.”

“Why didn't you tell me at the elevator?” She replied.

“And blow my cover?” He asked, snorting.

“Cover? Your not covered in any way.” Strae replied swiftly, wrenching her knee into his spine, “I'd still recognize you. There's a hole in your excuse. You die now.” She looked up at Griz but shook her head, it was a bluff...For now.

“NO!” He said, “Fine, I thought you were gone. I was going to sniff out my client, see what you had...”

“You mean rob me?”

He snorted “I mean, sniff out my client. See if I could have worked you better to get a great deal. Doubt you've got anything I want.”

“Except the upper hand.”

“Well...There's that.”

Strae laughed, and looked up, "What do you think, Zelda? Probably telling the truth. If our intel's right, nobody else would know of our deal here, and nobody else would know of him."

[Zabasaz Volgarius]

Zabasaz watched as Jenim's gang, the main infiltration party, shot up to the entrance on the speederbikes. They had infiltrated the outer perimeter, slowing to a stop in front of the actual resort. Zabasaz knew that at this point of the operation, called the first phase for everyone but him and Ven Alstra, all of the other mercenaries were perching in a tight perimeter around the complex with the ship up in orbit keeping its sensors at the ready. With remote communication, all attempts to escape were monitored by the bird in the sky which was ready at any moment to swoop in for the kill. If one blip began moving out of the inside of the complex, the nearest parties were notified and ordered to round them up. With speederbikes such as theirs, nobody could escape. The perimeter was tight and the boys were armed too well for a bunch of fleeing civilians to get away.

Zabasaz also knew team B was securing the hangar, a comparatively easy job he would imagine considering their inside woman was in control of the hangar bay doors and security turrets. He imagined at this point the hapless hangar personnel were wondering why their own manual defense systems were blowing them away. Ven was so deep in control that the only thing she couldn't prevent was the security lockdown doors, which literally had no possible override. An extreme security measure to be sure, but past occurrences made it necessary for that extra touch whereupon if something happened, the only way to get in or out was with a hefty explosive or a binary saw.

Shifting all of their bikes into brake, Jenim's team (twenty-some armed men, most of them green but morally flexible nonetheless) approached Zabasaz in imposing unison, with Jenim at the head and the two men that were in the command tent with him at his sides. He recognized one of them as a human named Dorman Jerzyck, the type of guy who was right at home taking shots at civilians while puffing away at the cigar perpetually locked between his lips and to the side. If the other red-shirts were morally flexible, Dorman Jerzyck was the anti-Christ so to speak. The other one was a Twi'lek named something that Zabasaz could not be bothered to remember, a Ryloth name that made the tongue do impossible rolling motions if properly spoken. He didn't know much about the man other than the fact that he wasn't Jenim's second in command for being all flowers and perfume.

Jenim's smug look of condescension made Zabasaz's blood boil, but even for a Dark Jedi Master such as he, the temper was restrained. For someone who possessed such power, he felt painfully powerful in the face of xenophobic scum such as this man.

"Alright boys, we're going to be taking over the compound. Set guns to stun, take down any personnel you see and round them up in the lobby. We'll gather up hostages after all of our communications jammers go online." He set his dubious gaze upon Zabasaz.

"The zab'll break open any security doors you run into. Dorman, I said set your damn gun to stun."

"Bah," voiced the man with helpless disapproval. "My gun ain't got no stun setting. Stun is for sissies."

"I'll lead squad one, Gavruiqo will lead squad two. Zabrak, you stick with my squad. I want to keep an eye on you. Dorman, go with the other squad. Try not to blow anything up."

With that, the two squads poured into the lobby, firing off blaster bolts wildly to establish mass panic. Zabasaz, his concealed face fraught with disgust, took point of squad one, hurling anyone who got in his way into the hardest nearby object he could find.

[Kella]

ooc// Mua ha ha. ;D Grizzelda was being impatient, what can I say? //

"Y'know," Grizzelda said, grin sly, "That sounds like just the sort of under-handed, slimy, dishonorable, clever tactic a ships dealer like this would use. You can't make this stuff up; it's much too entertaining. I say he's telling the truth. Whether we let him go or not..."

Grizzelda fingered the safety on her blaster, as if she was debating whether to re-engage it.

"... is negotiable. Trespassing is trespassing." She flicked the safety off, and though her blaster wasn't pointed at him... it was clear that it could be. At any moment.

"You know what I say?" She looked up at Strae. "I say he gets us the good deal. Shall we say... compensation, for this... offense. And if he doesn't..." Her smirk deepened, and Grizzelda turned flashing hazel eyes on the man, "He, can be our compensation. And his company looses the pleasure of our business."

Grizzelda snapped the safety in place then slid her finger through the trigger-guard, spinning her blaster around a few times before grasping the grip, and flicking the safety off in one motion. She made it look as if it was simple fiddling, the occupation of bored hands. And if Idle hands could handle a blaster as such... One probably didn't want to see her when she was trying. And she hoped the Pseudo-bell-hop would pick up on that.

"Sound fair to you?" She inquired of Strae, smirk deepening.

[Deceit *Drinker of Jawa-Juice*]

"Hey, if I die, you get no ship."

Strae laughed, "Your just a formality." She replied, "The ships are ours with or without you. There's always someone lower than you ready and willing to take your business and start with a bang, selling some ships to us for cash."

He gulped, stressed suddenly, "My...Workers are all friends..."

"Are you sure about that?" Strae ran a finger across his cheek coyly, then leaned her face in right next to his ear and whispered something, something Grizzelda couldn't hear. She reeled back and said, "Sometimes you can't even trust your best of friends."

"Look, if you don't kill me, I'll give you a discount." He plead.

"I'm thinking five fingers?" Strae asked Grizzelda, holding out her free hand and dropping all her fingers one by one.

He seemed to struggle with this one, "B....Bu...I CAN'T!" He argued, suddenly seeming like a whining child. Strae grew quite satisfied.

"You can." She replied, talking as if she were a parent, "And you will." She pointed at Grizzelda, "My colleague over there isn't exactly what you'd call the most...Restrained. The holster for her blasters just a formality as well."

He gave her a quick look, then whimpered, "Shit..." He cursed, "Fine."

[Kella]

"Oh Roddar," Grizzelda sighed mockingly, "I really wanted to shoot him." She let her blaster fall to her side. Reluctant to put it down, she instead stepped toward her luggage and quickly fetched her thigh-holster, buckling it into place and stowing her blaster. She had the strangest of feelings that there would be nobody to argue with her... but it was a vague premonition, and she gave it little thought.

Grizzelda threw herself across a couch again, lounging, and expecting Strae to bring their... guest, to the one across from it.

"Business, then?" She inquired, still pretending to pout about being denied her fun.


ooc// Shortness... however, I don't want to do too much, not knowing precisely when the mercs will show up. I am guessing it will be very, very soon. Right now, they're in the lobby, if I'm not mistaken? I'm thinking Strae and Grizz 'escort' their 'friend' to the lobby, and find the trouble, or trouble comes and finds them... or whatever trick it is you have up your sleeve. X) In any event, I'm ready for some action! //

[Zabasaz Volgarius]

"Attention all occupants and personnel. This is an emergency. Repeat, this isn't an emergency. All occupants and personnel are to approach the main lobby. The complex is under attack by dangerous infiltrators. The main lobby is the current hold-out, report in immediately for safety reasons. Do not bring any blasters, due to security purposes personnel are advised to target armed occupants. For your safety, leave your blasters and other weapons safely in your rooms or at your current location and come to the lobby. This isn't a drill. This is a genuine emergency. Do not panic; please come to the lobby and do not bring weapons for safety purposes. Thank you."

The complex-wide information broadcast system blared out in every lounge, every suite, every single place where an ear could possibly be - even the hangar. In regular intervals a message similar in nature was repeated by a soft-spoken male, as calm as is necessary to suppress panic.

In the main lobby, however, an armed and geared thug set down the intercom system. The actual personnel in charge were bound and silenced to prevent their intervention as the mercenaries set up the bait for their trap. A large group of them were stationed in the lobby in numerous tactical locations, standing men that were not part of either squad. They oversaw the herding of the hostages, which were gathered in the nearby recreational lounge one room over from the main lobby and accessible only by a door in the lobby and an elevator which was disabled due to the 'security lockdown' that was actually put into motion by Ven Alstra. It was a clean set-up.

Meanwhile, the first squad led by Jenim and tailed by a wary Iridonian Dark Jedi Master known as Zabasaz (it was impossible to know why someone such as him was tangled up in this mess) paraded down the halls and into the researched hot-spots of the resort, looking for hostages to round up. By now, communications were totally disabled and the occupants were cut-off from the outside world, knowingly or otherwise. Additionally, a perimeter of mercenaries with an eye-in-the-sky were watching for attempted escapes. In essence the plan was in motion and victory was virtually assured. Zabasaz didn't understand why he was further needed in this cake-walk - he didn't seem to see any security doors being activated and he got Ven Alstra where she needed to be. He wasn't about ready to round up occupants, it was pointless work. However, Jenim was adamant that he stay present. Perhaps he was needed for something that went unmentioned in his briefing.