masshysteria
Explorer
Episode V: The Kessel Run
The humidity of the jungle planet seeps past the ancient stone walls of the meeting, sticking Kaldo's skin to his chair. Jusrasco said the place used to be some sort of temple, but whoever lieved here apparently never heard of environmental filters. Kaldo shifts again in his chair trying to get comfortable as the holo image of Nakko snorts for the fifth time at the princess' plan.
She's been working on it for weeks and it is sound, but Nakko's right. It all hinges on getting on the planet undiscovered. Anywhere else and this wouldn't be a problem, but when talking about an Imperial prison planet with virtually no traffic to hide in, it's a different story.
The argument is the same one that's been going on for the last hour. Toth couldn't help but notice Set had already left the table and is slowly pulling apart an ancient terminal. Why the Jawa has left the comfort of Cloud City to go on little more than a suicide mission is beyond Toth, but the Jawa always did seem a little odd.
Having heard the arguments already, Jurasco clears his throat and waits for silence before beginning.
"Let me remind everyone we are all here for the same reason, to rescue Hull and Nali and escape in on piece. Let's start again from the beginning. Princess Xule, if you will please, Kessel security."
"Of course," says the Falleen princess as she stands and runs her hands over her dress. "The spice mines are located on the planet Kessel, in the Kessel system, in the Outer Rim territories near Hutt Space. The planet is orbited by a single moon, the Garrison Moon. It is so called, because this moon houses an Imperial garrison and administrative staff below the surface; approximately 700 people. If that isn't bad enough, the Empire keeps a massive relay of communications satellites in orbit to maintain control over the prison, to permit passage through the system, and to coordinate ship landings--"
"Huh, ship landings." Interrupts Nakko, "That's if you get past the Maw, kid."
"Yes, the Maw, a cluster of black holes surrounding the Kessel system. The fodder of smuggler's tales. I'm sure our friend, Nakko, can enlighten us on the subject... later." The way she says friend indicates anything but. Tam can't help but smile, Nakko still has his magic. "As I was saying, the communications satellites are vital to the Empire's operation on Kessel and as such are guarded by one Victory-class Star Destroyer, two Acclamator-class Star Destroyers, two Imperial customs corvettes, and multiple squadrons of TIE fighters, interceptors, and bombers. A formidable force and why I recommend a covert entry."
Her gaze hardens as she looks at Nakko and then returns to her serene pose. "The prison installation itself is planet side on Kessel. Only a small complement of Stormtroopers and administrative staff are present planet side. Every seven standard cycles, the Imperial forces are rotated back to the Garrison Moon with a new force to relieve them. Order, and I use that term loosely, in the mines is kept through inmate overseers. These are usually Imperial collaborators given authority in exchange for preferential treatment and absolute loyalty. It may be necessary to extract the information from these overseers to determine the location of Hull and Nali as normal prison conditions are not maintained in the mines."
"Thank you, Xule." Jurasco says, "Now, Nakko, I believe you had some light to shed on the entry and exit from Kessel."
"That's right." Nakko replies, "Everyone here has probably heard of the Kessel Run. The most dangerous and profitable run a smuggler can make. Moving pure glitterstim from Kessel into Hutt Space while walking a tight rope between black holes and Imperial patrols. Too close to the Imps and you'll be boarded or shot out of the sky. Too close to the Maw and you cease to exist. Not the way anyone wants to go, eh, kid?"
Rowintha groans and Nakko moves on.
"Now the problem with your highness' plan," Nakko gives a vile smile at Xule, "is that nobody gets into Kessel without clearance or someone looking the other way. Now the Hutts have gotten getting Kessel operators to look the other way while a ship lands, fills up with spice, and blasts off down to a science. You want on to Kessel, kid? Go talk to a Hutt, is my suggestion. They'll get you into the mines. From there, buying the time to track down these two prisoners will be up to you. Of course, the Hutts can only buy you so much time, so be quick or you're going to make a hot escape."
"Thank you, Nakko." Jurasco says, "Of course getting planet side isn't our only problem, but I believe I also have a solution to one problem.
"No prisoner has escaped from Kessel and the Imperials will go to great lengths to keep it that way. As such, if you are discovered at any point during the infiltration or extraction, Imperial operating procedure is to call for help while trying to deal with the intruders internally. However, due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, all communications traffic from Kessel is routed through a single holonet relay. Remove this relay and Kessel is effectively mute.
"My engineers have modified a Y-wing to deliver a payload of proton torpedoes to knock out the relay, but for the Y-wing be successful a diversionary attack must be staged. We can modified the Vagrant Heart's ship identifier to read as Null Drive, a ship of a known slicer group with a modus operandi for hijacking holonet relays. The Imperials will attack the ship and attempt to destroy or drive it off. The Vagrant Heart, or Null Drive, must stay in combat until the Y-wing can come out of hyperspace, make the attack run on the relay, and escape. Suffice to say, any losses the Imperials suffer beyond the relay will only aid your cause in keeping the relay off line and Imperial reinforcements from materializing.
"So, I believe that's all the information we have. Since you and your crew will be putting their lives on the line, I'll let you determine the final plan." Jurasco finishes.
The room remains silent as all eye are on Captain Voren. A smile lights up Tam's face, "Who's up for paying our old buddy, Ming, a visit?"
The humidity of the jungle planet seeps past the ancient stone walls of the meeting, sticking Kaldo's skin to his chair. Jusrasco said the place used to be some sort of temple, but whoever lieved here apparently never heard of environmental filters. Kaldo shifts again in his chair trying to get comfortable as the holo image of Nakko snorts for the fifth time at the princess' plan.
She's been working on it for weeks and it is sound, but Nakko's right. It all hinges on getting on the planet undiscovered. Anywhere else and this wouldn't be a problem, but when talking about an Imperial prison planet with virtually no traffic to hide in, it's a different story.
The argument is the same one that's been going on for the last hour. Toth couldn't help but notice Set had already left the table and is slowly pulling apart an ancient terminal. Why the Jawa has left the comfort of Cloud City to go on little more than a suicide mission is beyond Toth, but the Jawa always did seem a little odd.
Having heard the arguments already, Jurasco clears his throat and waits for silence before beginning.
"Let me remind everyone we are all here for the same reason, to rescue Hull and Nali and escape in on piece. Let's start again from the beginning. Princess Xule, if you will please, Kessel security."
"Of course," says the Falleen princess as she stands and runs her hands over her dress. "The spice mines are located on the planet Kessel, in the Kessel system, in the Outer Rim territories near Hutt Space. The planet is orbited by a single moon, the Garrison Moon. It is so called, because this moon houses an Imperial garrison and administrative staff below the surface; approximately 700 people. If that isn't bad enough, the Empire keeps a massive relay of communications satellites in orbit to maintain control over the prison, to permit passage through the system, and to coordinate ship landings--"
"Huh, ship landings." Interrupts Nakko, "That's if you get past the Maw, kid."
"Yes, the Maw, a cluster of black holes surrounding the Kessel system. The fodder of smuggler's tales. I'm sure our friend, Nakko, can enlighten us on the subject... later." The way she says friend indicates anything but. Tam can't help but smile, Nakko still has his magic. "As I was saying, the communications satellites are vital to the Empire's operation on Kessel and as such are guarded by one Victory-class Star Destroyer, two Acclamator-class Star Destroyers, two Imperial customs corvettes, and multiple squadrons of TIE fighters, interceptors, and bombers. A formidable force and why I recommend a covert entry."
Her gaze hardens as she looks at Nakko and then returns to her serene pose. "The prison installation itself is planet side on Kessel. Only a small complement of Stormtroopers and administrative staff are present planet side. Every seven standard cycles, the Imperial forces are rotated back to the Garrison Moon with a new force to relieve them. Order, and I use that term loosely, in the mines is kept through inmate overseers. These are usually Imperial collaborators given authority in exchange for preferential treatment and absolute loyalty. It may be necessary to extract the information from these overseers to determine the location of Hull and Nali as normal prison conditions are not maintained in the mines."
"Thank you, Xule." Jurasco says, "Now, Nakko, I believe you had some light to shed on the entry and exit from Kessel."
"That's right." Nakko replies, "Everyone here has probably heard of the Kessel Run. The most dangerous and profitable run a smuggler can make. Moving pure glitterstim from Kessel into Hutt Space while walking a tight rope between black holes and Imperial patrols. Too close to the Imps and you'll be boarded or shot out of the sky. Too close to the Maw and you cease to exist. Not the way anyone wants to go, eh, kid?"
Rowintha groans and Nakko moves on.
"Now the problem with your highness' plan," Nakko gives a vile smile at Xule, "is that nobody gets into Kessel without clearance or someone looking the other way. Now the Hutts have gotten getting Kessel operators to look the other way while a ship lands, fills up with spice, and blasts off down to a science. You want on to Kessel, kid? Go talk to a Hutt, is my suggestion. They'll get you into the mines. From there, buying the time to track down these two prisoners will be up to you. Of course, the Hutts can only buy you so much time, so be quick or you're going to make a hot escape."
"Thank you, Nakko." Jurasco says, "Of course getting planet side isn't our only problem, but I believe I also have a solution to one problem.
"No prisoner has escaped from Kessel and the Imperials will go to great lengths to keep it that way. As such, if you are discovered at any point during the infiltration or extraction, Imperial operating procedure is to call for help while trying to deal with the intruders internally. However, due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, all communications traffic from Kessel is routed through a single holonet relay. Remove this relay and Kessel is effectively mute.
"My engineers have modified a Y-wing to deliver a payload of proton torpedoes to knock out the relay, but for the Y-wing be successful a diversionary attack must be staged. We can modified the Vagrant Heart's ship identifier to read as Null Drive, a ship of a known slicer group with a modus operandi for hijacking holonet relays. The Imperials will attack the ship and attempt to destroy or drive it off. The Vagrant Heart, or Null Drive, must stay in combat until the Y-wing can come out of hyperspace, make the attack run on the relay, and escape. Suffice to say, any losses the Imperials suffer beyond the relay will only aid your cause in keeping the relay off line and Imperial reinforcements from materializing.
"So, I believe that's all the information we have. Since you and your crew will be putting their lives on the line, I'll let you determine the final plan." Jurasco finishes.
The room remains silent as all eye are on Captain Voren. A smile lights up Tam's face, "Who's up for paying our old buddy, Ming, a visit?"