Garret hears what Sya says and also hears what she means. He looks longingly for a few long moments at his sniper rifle sitting quietly on a weapon rack, and then checks the newly mod'ed spare blaster rifle and the newly transferred scope to make sure everything is aligned properly. Once that is done he holsters it and makes his way up to the cockpit.
Cockpit
Garret leans in close to Sya while she is working in the pilot's seat and whispers "Everything will be OK. I'm a big boy and I can take care of myself. The rest of the group will be there as well. We can take care of anything that comes around.
Besides, there are pilots to rescue and I think I have done rather well at that."
He lets that sink in a little bit, and then will gently pull her from her dial watching and switch flipping, and kiss her warmly on the lips.
Garret looks deeply into her eyes and says "Everything will be OK.", before clearing his throat and glancing to Sarah before going back to the group's preparation.
Preparation Area
Garret stands at attention and then looks to Istara and says "At your beck-and-call Madame Rima Beria.".
Preparation Area
Garret stands at attention and then looks to Istara and says "At your beck-and-call Madame Rima Beria.".
"Kay's playing the heiress. I'm just one in real life." Istara said. "Even if I were as good as she is at this sort of thing, we're too close to Anaxes for me to claim to be an heiress not named Istara Kandorian."
As Garret left the cockpit, an annoyed look flashed across Sya's face a moment, "Yes, yes...perfectly fine. Just landing on a heavily garrisoned Core World in a stolen shuttle. Sometimes I wish I was back in a starfighter and not sitting around waiting to get shot at..."
She then looked to Sara, who opened up a comm channel and, after a moment, began to relay the necessary information to the Docking Control Officer. The man had a thick, Coruscanti accent but didn't seem to be any trouble. In a short time, the comm system was off and Sara looked over her shoulder and called back to everyone, "We are good. It seems to me that they were quite impressed, even."
"Just say 'They bought it' and we'll all understand..." Sya rolled her eyes but went back to the controls, bringing the Vortex in closer to Corulag in a casual, slow course that was meant to make it clear they weren't a target.
In the front viewport of the shuttle, the planet grew until it consumed everything. Star Destroyers and other Imperial cruisers could be seen easily, and it was at least slightly unnerving to be flying so closely under them. It was rare to get so close to Imperial ships without being fired upon. But the defense fleet was soon behind the Vortex, and space gave way to atmosphere.
Below, the oceans of Corulag could be seen clearly, and in only a matter of minutes, so could your destination. Curamelle was easy to spot below, a huge span of durasteel buildings rising high into the planet's sky and stretching for kilometers on all sides. There looked to be various hangars and docking bays, along with offices and other kinds of buildings expected in a Core planet. But what truly stood out was the Imperial Academy, a huge pyramid-like building surrounded by kilometers of training facilities. It was actually quite impressive.
Soon, the Vortex's stabilizing wings were folding up and Sya was gently bringing the ship down into a square-shaped collection of docking bays, all with roof-top openings. Some were closed, likely occupied, but others were open revealing empty spaces or transports of various types. Some were even large enough to hold freighters that were larger than most of the ships in the Alliance fleet.
As the ship finally reached the ground below, a very nicely crafted duracrete landing bay, a group of four white-armoured Stormtroopers could be seen off to one side with a grey-uniformed human waiting with a datapad in hand. Behind them was what looked to be a door. The hangar itself was clean, looked brand new, and looked to have everything from fueling stations to a small, windowed room that very well could have been a lounge of some kind.
Once down, Sara was on her feet and headed back to the hold to the rest of you, extending a datapad, "They transmitted this to us on approach. Looks like local maps and other helpful things. I believe, as Sya said, they bought the story quite well. I have a little experience with certain...people of status. I believe it would be beneath you to deal with the docking officer. Shall I assume an overly haughty attitude and make it understood to them that price is no issue while you ignore them and go about your much more important business?"
"Yes, that would do quite nicely. Thank you Sara." Kay said to the Hapan and gestured that Istara should take the proffered datapad. The Corellian woman was already dressed for her role, dressed well enough to make any male's eyes pop out really. A teal body stocking hugged all of the young woman's curves most flatteringly and a gold chain encircled her waist like a belt, though it was entirely for show. The top was cut low in the chest leaving a rather generous V of tanned skin showing, a tan that had been applied evenly on the trip to Corolug by Istara. A green nerf-hide jacket gave the faux heiress a rakish party girl look that was well complemented by the make up she was wearing.
"I woulddn't expect much trouble given the clientele they are used to getting, but keep your eyes open, ok?" she instructs Garret and Deurr. She'd had the pair paint their armor's to match the green and teal of the majority of clothes in her wardrobe, using her body guards to accessorize would add to the disguise, and they could spray them out matte black in maybe 20 minutes, and it wouldn't take much longer then an hour to repaint them the Teal and green when they were done.
The clothing of her 'body guards' wasn't the only thing that she had picked out, no she had picked the clothing for every member of the team to create and reinforce the image that she was a spoiled rich girl being followed around by a group of long suffering professional baby sitters. Istara was in a business suit to fill out the role of Kay's financial factor. Lia was dresed in pilot clothes of high quality and obvious expense, clothing approriate to the personal pilot of one of the Empire's upper crust.
"You sure this is necessary?" Lia says after she changes into her disguise picked out for her by Kay. "I don't completely like being this noticible." Lia shrugs. "It's kind of an old habit."
__________________ "Sometimes things must be broken in order to be rebuilt." --Sith Proverb.
"You sure this is necessary?" Lia says after she changes into her disguise picked out for her by Kay. "I don't completely like being this noticible." Lia shrugs. "It's kind of an old habit."
"If we're going to pull this off, we have to look the parts." Istara said. "Besides, this looks good on me."
Somehow she'd managed to get a business suit from home aboard the ship, one that she'd worn when appearing on behalf of her father more than once. And of course, Anaxsi being Anaxsi, it looked good with a pistol holster.
For this guise, though, she wasn't quite herself. She was really only two years Kay's senior, but between a little work to make Kay look slightly younger and a bit to make Istara look closer to 30 herself, it made Istara look much more likely as Kay's minder. She also had to get back into the mindset of talking about money first and foremost; she had spent most of her free time since formally joining the Alliance millitary studying strategy and tactics, but the woman who had been rather close to finishing an economics doctorate was still there, she thought.
"Don't think of it as a disguise. Your a pilot and your wearing something that pilots wear. If your uncomfortable wearing it, thats fine they'll probably think the anxiousness comes from having to deal with a real pain in the ass all the time, and wondering what silly and dangerous thing I'll do next." Kay replies brightly.
Garret spends most of the time that it takes to repaint his armor almost in tears. Most of what can be heard is an occasional sniffle and then a grumble.
Once he was done he sighed deeply and forlornly, and then put the gauchely colored armor on. He shook his head, and then resumed a more purposeful stance.
The sniper clears his throat, and clearly feeling quite uncomfortable about not being able to blend, he says to Duerr "Ok, so which of us shall be in charge of security? I am more than willing to follow.
You can be the man in charge and I will follow your lead, but since you have the heavier weapon, I can do most of the work keeping people at bay, performing introductions and so on, while using a rather stiff and professional demeanor. That way you can keep your huge hunk of metal there to keep people honest and on their toes.
Sara finished some preparations of her own, before grabbing a second datapad from her belt, "I've got all the forged documents here. Weapon permits, too. They should hold up to a cursory glance, but nothing in depth. Hopefully there won't be any reason for them to really look into things. You guys take care of yourselves out there. I'll make sure Sya doesn't wander off looking for trouble, so we'll be here if you need anything at all."
After a polite bow of her head, the Hapan woman took in a deep breath, let it out, and hit the switch for the boarding ramp. There was a hiss and then the sound of the ramp slowly dropping down from the 'neck' of the shuttle. Immediately upon opening, a rush of warm, somewhat uncomfortable smelling air filled the hold. A look of distaste washed over Sara a moment before it was gone. She'd been aboard starships so long that 'natural' air was hard to miss right away.
The second the ramp was down, she was walking down it dutifully, datapad in hand. The uniformed man and the Stormtroopers approached casually, weapons at their sides and managing to look bored, even through all the armour. Right away, Sara extended the datapad and began to reiterate the information she'd told them on the comm. The officer seemed to be accepting things fine, only going on about permits looking in order and the fees for the docking bay.
Istara watched with professional disintrest as Sara arranged docking with the port officials, remembering to slip in a well-placed frown when a docking fee was mentioned. When they reached their lodgings, she made a quick scan of the room for bugs before allowing everyone else to set up for work.
Lia takes her forged documents, commiting once again her "new" name to memory. As the ship lands, she is one of the first down the boarding ramp, keeping her nervousness well concealed.
__________________ "Sometimes things must be broken in order to be rebuilt." --Sith Proverb.
Kay held out her hand to forstall Lia's departure and then shrugs. The bodyguards should be going first but it wasn't too important since they wouldn't be guarding Lia. She hoped that the armored pair would remember to stay in the background like bodyguards, and let Istara handle the social nicities on her behalf.
"Deurr, Garrett head out and look around for a moment and then I'll join you. Remember your suppoused to watch everything for possible threats, and let Istara and me do the talking." She tells the pair of armored males.
"Thank you Sara." Kay says, waits a suitible period and then descends the ramp in rolling sensual glide that'd do a Twi'lek dancing girl proud, especially in the outfit she was wearing. She looked around at the storm troopers and officials before waving at Istara to handle it, whatever it was since it was obviously below her notice. She waits haughtilly while transport to their lodgings is procured, and then chats inanely and vapidly with Istara and Lia as one would expect of a wealthy party girl.
Other than a short question about permits for the weapons that you carried, there were no problems with the Stormtroopers or the Docking Officer. But they seemed to accept the permits on Sara's datapad, and not long after the Imperials were gone from the bay.
The show seemed to pay off...or maybe the money had. Either way, the Docking Officer had given Sara information on local transport and a few upscale lodgings near the landing bays. It was only a matter of minutes when Sara's comm beeped, and the airtaxi reported it had arrived and was waiting outside the bay. At that point, she handed the datapad to Kay, just in case the papers and information were necessary, and pointed out which of the local lodgings would likely be best suited for their cover and its location. She then wished you all good luck and headed back to the Vortex, presumably to help Sya finish powering the ship's systems off and then securing the docking bay.
Outside the docking bay was exactly what was expected from a Core World. There were towering buildings all around, busy streets and air lanes, roars of repulsorlifts drives from overhead starships. There were a fair of Stormtroopers around, but most seemed to be minding their own business and not at all concerned with the population, all of whom were dressed in very expensive looking clothing. There also seemed to be no sign of any non-Humans.
The airspeeder sitting out in front of the docking bay looked brand new. It was fairly large, likely able to hold twice as many of you, and the interior was quite comfortable. The pilot was, of course, Human, and spoke little beyond asking where to go. You were back in the air in moments, navigating between airspeeders of various types through the upper levels of the city. There looked to be at least six levels of occupied areas, with large walkways crisscrossing the spaces between the buildings that were populated by countless numbers of Humans.
In just a few minutes, the airspeeder set down on a small landing area outside a spire-like building htat went up at least twenty more levels into the sky. While it wasn't the largest of the buildings around, it had a much more unique design. It was less block-shaped than most of the structures, and much more like an elongated pyramid structure with golds and silvers lining the four corners. The main entrance was a huge archway into an extravagant lobby, and you were greeted immediately, by your assumed name, by an older human with a thick, Coruscanti-accent that was almost had to understand.
Apparently, Sara had let them know you were coming, and while the man didn't seem to recognize your name from before, the amount of money was more than enough to provide at least some special treatment. Thanks to this, you were quickly shown to a very beautiful apartment on the twenty-fifth floor. The turbolift opened to the apartment itself, which was definitely the kind of place perfect for your cover. It was also apparent right away why Sara had chosen this place.
Sure, the furniture was new and very nice, and there were multiple rooms that easily would keep it spacious even with all of you. It had everything one could want. But more important, it had windows. Windows from a building high enough up that you could see almost all of Curamelle and its air traffic. You could even see the huge Imperial Academy, several kilometers off to the west. Not only that, but off to the north you could see beyond the city itself, where Corulag's natural grasslands took over...and in the distance, even further out, the glint of distant buildings of some kind. Maybe another city.
Overall, it was the best lodgings any of you had seen for a very long time.
Lia looks surprised as she sees the accomodations of their temporary safe house. She begins setting what little operational equipment she has down and then takes a seat. "Not a bad place to stay for a while..." she says with a smirk on her face before chuckling.
__________________ "Sometimes things must be broken in order to be rebuilt." --Sith Proverb.
A bodyguard? Deurr thinks to himself as he frowns upon his fake ID. Well to tell the truth he wouldn't have been credible in anything else. He sets to check his gear, making sure that everything is where they are supposed to be and starts cleaning the blaster.
"Not a bad place to stay at all," Kay agreed. "Rima wouldn't have accepted staying in a lesser accomodation." looking at the others, she grins. "I take it you want me to use a cover like this more often huh?"
"Istara, if you'd be so kind as to get us an appointment with Siener, we can start to plan around that. Remember, your a facts and details person, and always looking for the best deal that can be had, in spite of your employer's exuberance."
Catching up
"This is a game I have not played before." he thought to himself while waiting. Upon his cue, Garret walks out upon the boarding ramp to check things out. With his modd'ed helmet sensor package he looks out and about to see if there is any danger amiss. He looks at potential sniping positions and checks a few out with his electrobinocs. Once his curiosity is with that is satisfied he will take a look around the ship's docking area, and then take a cursory inspection of the immediate area outside the docking bay. When that is finished he will stand at the base of the boarding ramp standing guard vigilantly with scoped rifle in arms.
Now'ish
Garret looks about at their new lodgings with a surprised, yet satisfied smile. "Good docs." he says to no one in particular while shaking his head.
He says to Duerr "Lets check the place out." The sniper will spend some time looking out the windows for potential sniping points to their room, as well as possible surveillance spots. He will also spend some time looking for electronic bugs and other such sundry stuff in the room. This part is not his specialty, but he will make a good of a show of it as he can.
"Perhaps one of you can check for installed surveillance in the room? That's not my forte."
"Istara, if you'd be so kind as to get us an appointment with Siener, we can start to plan around that. Remember, your a facts and details person, and always looking for the best deal that can be had, in spite of your employer's exuberance."
"I'll be on it as soon as finishing checking the room." She said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FreeXenon
"Perhaps one of you can check for installed surveillance in the room? That's not my forte."
OOC: I'm not quite sure how this would work mechanically. Seems like some combination of Use Computer, Mechanics, and Perception (the first two Istara's excellent at, the latter, not so much).
For finding any devices, I'd put that solely into the realm of Perception. Though I'd say one could get a +2 bonus to the check with the use of equipment and such.
As for the Perception checks. Istara got a 22, and Garret a 28.
The apartment was not terribly difficult to search, despite its size. There didn't seem to be any cameras or listening devices in any of the obvious places, wall slots or corners of rooms, and even the more concealed locations, such as the plants here and there and around the furniture, seemed to be empty of any devices. Though you found nothing malicious, many interesting compartments that were not initially apparent were found. They mostly seemed to be extra closet space and other storage sections, all of them empty save for dust, and mostly positioned behind the beds in the sleeping quarters.
Looking out the various windows to the city, Garret could spot countless areas that would serve his purposes well. There were ledges and empty roofs everywhere. Though most looked difficult to access, there seemed to be enough areas that one could find a good position to cover large sections of the city at once. The only real problems would be the pedestrian walkways that crisscrossed the skies at various levels of the city and the speeder traffic between them. Both could easily get in the way, but the latter would likely be easier to deal with as it looked like some areas had lighter traffic than others. There was, of course, one area you could see that looked entirely empty: the area around the Imperial Academy. Beyond a few shuttles that looked to be landing craft moving here and there, the entire area was empty of traffic and was likely very well protected by surveillance equipment and personnel.