Outward bound

[Ardenator]

Ardent peered over the catwalk at the ships lying below. There were quite a few of them, of all different shapes and sizes. None of them looked like spacecraft befitting Sith Intelligence.

"These are their ships? What's wrong with these guys?"

"Nothing. Look there. See the notches along the engines of that Wraid?" Copler said, pointing down to a Wraid freighter/bomber. He was an expert mechanic, and an even better pilot, although a bit heavy on the pragmatism.

Looking down, Kuundra spotted them. "I see them. What do they mean?"

"They mean that thing's souped up and modified beyond your wildest dreams. That's probably the fastest ship in the Sith Fleet. If the rest of the systems are modified like that, then it's probably the best ship you'll ever lay eyes on."

He whistled. "They like to keep low key then, eh?"

"Of course, their Intelligence."

Kuundra didn't miss the contempt in his voice. A feeling that matched his own. Intelligence was a horrible evil, albeit a necessary one. They acted almost like a Secret Police, answerable to none but the most high-up, and none surpassed them in arrogance, condescension, and evil wrath. He grimaced. "Why are they here on the Vengeance?"

"Who knows? Something special. One thing's for sure, they've got the run of the ship. Means a great time for us."

He sighed, shaking his head. "Great. Just great."

[Neology]

((Posting as NPC intelligence officer as requested.))

Chief of Intelligence, Matthias O’Hara, cut an impressive figure as he moved down the boarding ramp, tall and lean in his black and gray uniform. Steely-gray hair, lighter at the temples, was cut short but showed little sign of thinning and a once blandly handsome face was creased with nearly three decades of service. O’Hara was not a young man, but then, few of rank were, even among the Sith.

At the bottom of the ramp O’Hara paused momentarily, taking in the spacious hanger with a critical eye. He gave a neutral gesture and the small honor guard that accompanied him dispersed, either on business or to refamiliarize themselves with the luxuries of a much larger ship. There has been a significant docking delay and chief O’Hara was not the only one made unhappy by it.

Age had not dulled the intelligence officer’s hearing, and though he could not quite make out the words, the sound of human voices drew his eyes upwards. A frown touched his tight lips, straining the flesh to a bloodless pale.

”You two, come down here right now.” He was vaguely aware that his current position was rather undignified, and drew the considerable confidence offered to him by his rank and experience around him like a great cloak. ”You had better have a good reason for being in a restricted area, out of uniform no less.”

O’Hara smiled just slightly, but no warmth shone in his dark and deep set eyes, only a small and secret pleasure in causing others to squirm.

((OOC: Hope that's alright.))

[Ardenator]

He froze as he heard the voice from below. Now he was in very big trouble. Nodding, Kuundra walked down with Copler, coming before the Intelligence Officer. "Sir, we're Sith Elites, we're allowed access to all areas of the ship. And as for the uniforms, it's a little agreement we have with the Captain." In fact, standard procedure required Elites to be in uniform at all times when outside of the barracks, but the Captain detested the site of soldiers in constant uniform. Their commanding officer had refused to keep the men locked in the barracks, so a kind of unofficial deal had been struck.

Kuundra turned at the sound of footsteps, to see Rein, Hamstein, and Garner walking up in simple fatigues. "Is there a problem here sir?" Hamstein asked incredulously.

Kuundra gave him a warning glance. There was no need to get him involved as well. "No, there isn't a problem, we were about to go on about our business. Is everything all right now sir?" He tried his best to hide his views about Sith Intelligence from his voice and manner. There was no need for a conflict right now.

[Neology]

”Perhaps that is how it works under normal circumstances, but I specifically remember requesting all unnecessary personnel removed from this hanger until docking and unloading were complete. I do not think this request so unreasonable, considering the sensitive nature of cargo handled by my department. Were something to happen to you while you were here, I would not have it on my name.”

He smiled truly then, though not out of reassurance. The gleam in his cunning eyes seemed to suggest he was reflecting on what sort of most unfortunate accidents he could arrange for this young and vaguely irritating man before him. Cleaning the airlocks, perhaps? Maybe, if he could not arrange anything sooner…

At the bit about the arrangement with a caption, a stifled chuckle escaped O’Hara’s lips, uncanny and strange with only the barest hint of humor.

”I am sure you do. What is your caption’s name? I will have to speak to him about this, just the same, of course. Or, maybe, I should save him the trouble and administer punishment myself?”

The smile became utterly shark-like and one hand moved to the blaster pistol holstered at his waist. The weapon matched the officer’s painstakingly shined shoes in how the steel and ceramic gleamed, but there was no doubting it was as functional as any other blaster. O’Hara registered the arrival of three more men with feigned disinterest. Depending on their relationship to the young man who was doing all the speaking, their presence could be a problem, but rare was the Sith who would risk life and career for a comrade.

[Ardenator]

All the hope that Ardent might have had that things would be all right faded away. His smile faded, his eyes widening as the officer continued to speak, eventually drawing a blaster. And then, Kuundra felt something he had never felt before. All thoughts of subordination and being a good soldier vanished, replaced by a bubbling geyser of anger and contempt. This man was everything he hated, everything he stood against. And now he had the audacity to threaten him? To insult him? To belittle him and treat him like a chunk of dirt?

Moving lightning fast, Ardent stepped forward, grabbing the blaster with his right hand and wrenching it to O'Harras left, then bringing his left arm around while pulling back the other way with his right, bashing his left into the officer's wrist. Suddenly, the blaster was free, and Kuundra stepped back, the blaster in his hand and pointing towards the Sith.

Suddenly, the anger was gone; and as he stood there panting, he realized that he was now in very big trouble. There was no way out of this one; they'd have his head for sure. All he could hope for now was that the officer would back down and let the whole thing be finished.

He hoped that's what he would do.

[Neology]

A small grunt of pain escaped the man’s lips as the blaster was wrenched from his gloved hand, followed by a string of obscenities that would have made a grown man blush. Outrage flared in those dark eyes even while surprise lingered on the weathered face.

”How dare you…” He began but found the words beyond his grasp for one of the few times in his fifty-three years of life. Had he been toying with the idea of killing this young man indirectly through manipulations and subterfuge, he was certain of it now, and through simpler and more practical means.

There was a small, just barely audible, snap as O’Hara activated the sleeve holster of his holdout pistol. Somewhere, an alarm would be going off, triggered by that slight action. The tiny blaster fit easily in his hand without being so large as for its sudden appearance to draw the attention of the frightened soldier.

”That was a stupid move, boy.”

O’Hara brought up the hand which held the holdout blaster and pulled the trigger. Its battery was only good for two or three shots, but at this range, it seemed unlikely more would be needed.

[Ardenator]

It was all over. With a snap, the man had another blaster, and lined it up for the shot. His words never registered; Kuundra's soldier's reflexes had already taken hold, his strong form dropping into a crouch and instinctively pulling the trigger. The shot connected the bare instant before O'Hara's own shot rang out. The timing probably saved his life. Instead of taking him full in the chest, the bolt scorched through the top of his left shoulder. With a yelp of pain, Ardent went down.

O'Hara went down too. And from Ardent's view, it didn't look like he would be getting back up. With a grunt, Ardent rose to his feet, to find all his comrades standing around him. "Leave guys, hurry. There's no reason you need to be involved in this."

"It was self-defence. He pulled a gun on you." Copler said.

"You think Sith Intelligence cares? And us being gone or not doesn't matter. We were here, and, as far as they're concerned, we're all the same. Intelligence will kill us all. No fair trial, no military power-ladder. They'll kill us all right here."

Ardent sighed. He was right. But what would they do? "Fine. We need to hide the body, and then find a way out of here."

Quickly, he and Hamstein dragged the body over to an empty locker. It took a little effort, but soon the corpse was in. Walking back, he found Copler staring at the ship they had been looking at from the catwalk. "We'll take that. If we can just get out of this hangar, I'm sure it's fast enough for us to escape the system"

Ardent nodded, and the little group tramped into the freighter. He rushed to the cockpit, strapping into the copilots seat as Copler took the pilots seat, with Rein as the sensor/communications station and Hamstein at the engine and shielding area. As Copler began firing up the ship, Garner spoke up.

"So, how do we get out of the hangar exactly?"

Ardent thought a moment, then looked at Rein. "Open up a channel with the Bridge." He waited until he heard an affirmative click, and tried his best to mimick an Intelligence officer's voice, injecting in all the arrogance and condescension he could muster. "Bridge, we're ready to go."

"Um, I'm sorry, but I don't see any take-offs on the shcedule." Helm replied.

"That's right, and there won't ever be any, either. Now I'm ready to go. Are you going to stop me?" Ardent threw a little bit of a challenge in his tone, and waiting with tension and excitement.

"Um... Your cleared for take-off. Good hunting, sir."

Ardent waited for the connection to break, and let out a satisfied sigh.

"All right, let's get the hell outta here."

And with that, the Wraid took off, leaving the Sith Empire and all their lives behind.