[OBTJECTIVE #3]
Various coded cylinders and electronic tablets lay scattered across Calindra Hejaran’s desk; the owner of which was leaning into her chair and looking off into space, deep in thought.
Normally, Scholae’s Director of Intelligence wouldn’t really care who the Iron Throne was getting involved with (even if it was a point of interest); but in this particular case, the Collective was being particularly hell bent in squeezing the Iron Throne out of the equation. That in itself, was interesting, but that wasn’t what Calindra was fixated on. No, it was the Principate’s involvement that interested her and the possibilities that such a scenario could open for Scholae.
As it was, the Principate had made an enemy of Scholae when Lucian Niatinus had severed his imperial ties following Palpatine’s death at the Battle of Endor. Having an old score to settle, Scholae’s Director of Intelligence didn’t see them as potential long term allies that she could enmesh in Scholae’s own political intrigues down the road. Calindra couldn’t in good conscience let them ally themselves with the Iron Throne or the Collective either. No, Palpatine exploited alliances and conflicts whenever they arose, whether they had been orchestrated by himself or not, and in this particular instance, a weaker Iron Throne and a weaker Collective would ultimately bring Scholae the greatest rewards down a long road to supremacy. Truth of the matter, if the Iron Throne were suddenly busy with a war on three fronts, Scholae could bide its time and tilt the balance of power at a time of its own choosing. If she was lucky, the Iron Throne might even settle an old score for Scholae without even knowing it.
“It’s finally time to throw the Principate to the wolves,” Calindra said suddenly as she pushed aside the clutter on her desk.
---
Temnos Excavation Ship - Niatinus
"Tearl," said a small framed woman at the smelting controls as she engaged the comm's transmit button. The heat of the smelting machine made the place hot and stuffy, the air stale with the smell of melting ore.
While the woman was slight in size, her body was strong and and firm, with a muscular build. She sported dirty blonde hair cut roughly just above her eyes in the cut of a lifetime soldier. The most striking things about her, aside her size the sheen of sweat trickling down her uncovered arms were her icy blue eyes, the left overs of her mother's genetic heritage from the slave circles of the outer rim territories.
Today she wore black body armour around torso. Along with her chest armor, shin, knee, shoulder and elbow pads protected her joints, accentuating her muscular arms. She carried a blaster pistol strapped to her hip, her shorts were cut pretty high, and revealed what most gentlemen didn't dare comment on: her rock hard glutes.
"Tearl," she repeated into the comm unit at her left shoulder, her gaze going from unhurried to slightly annoyed at having to repeat herself. "This is Daci, come in Tearl." She let go of the transmission button and paced around impatiently as she waited for the mechanic to answer.
The term mechanic didn’t really do the man justice. He was more of an extremely talented savant engineer, or even a machine whisperer. He could recalibrate engines and reprogram droids so adroitly that it almost seemed like he’d hardly done anything at all. The thin, shady-lookin' human with wild wisps of brown oily hair falling over his eyes looked up from his latest puzzle and passed a hand in his greasy mop of hair. If he ever decided get himself cleaned up, he might pass for a Coruscanti noble, until he opened his big trap that is. That's when his thick Corellian accent comes out and leaves no doubt about his lower-class origins, but only the ladies know about his: "Made on Corellia" tattoo.
“Hold onta yer nickers, girl. Tearl’s only got two ‘ands, both of ‘em deep in this infernal contraption’s wirin’, an ya don’t want me to accidentally invert wheres them wires go ta, now would ya?”
“Remember when we were on the Resistance?”
Tearl was suddenly alert, understanding Daci’s deeper meaning: she noticed an infiltrator. The Resistance had had its share of trouble, because no one had noticed te infiltrator in time, causing a very ill advised descent into a gas giant.
“Ahhh, yeah... good times that. What’s got ya thinkin’ about that ol’scow?” he asked, catching her drift.
Daci visibly relaxed, “Stupid emmiter array, kept going on the fritz. This smelter keeps bugging, the left side is being sluggish.”
“Gonna check her out for ya, be with ya in two shakes of a spanner.”
It took Tearl some will power to only pass his hand through his hair, not to look around him as he was dying to do, and unhurriedly make his way towards Daci. The younger woman wouldn’t have used the Resistance if she hadn’t seen someone who shouldn’t have been there. She didn’t raise the alarm, probably hoping to capture the intruder, so the two pretended to discuss about faulty machinery, pointing and testing it while they discussed a plan.
---
A shadow had crept very near Daci and Tearl’s position, making its way from the back of the ship where the ore extraction and smelting happened, towards the cargo area, slipping between the excavation ship’s various crude ore crates and assorted mining supplies. The shadow remained at a quiet standstill, then when the two had their backs turned, dashed deeper into the ship as other shadows infiltrated the rest of the Temnos excavation fleet.
---
Tearl and Daci had planned to follow their particular shadow and corner it in the piloting cabin, assuming that the intruder wanted to steal the ship and the ore it had gathered, so when they stormed the cabin, weapons drawn, they were surprised to find it empty.
“Tell me, I’m not going crazy... you saw it too didn’t you?” Daci said as she lowered her blaster, eyeing the cabin suspiciously.
Tearl nodded, “Aye, that I did. Sawr’it, plain as day where ya said it’d be. Mayhaps we misjudged its intentions, but we ‘ave the cabin. Watch me back, guv,” he added as sat by one of the consoles and reached for a button. The consoles in the cabin suddenly went dim.
“Tearl! Now isn’t the time to swit...”
“I had nothin’ to do with it!” Tearl cut her off, “I’ve been locked out of the controls!”
The both stormed out of the piloting cabin, and rushed down the access corridor, only to come face to face with the lythe form of a woman in a tight fitting combat suit. Her fiery red hair was cut short, and her face was mared with various cybernetic enhancements snaking down various sections on her face and hands.
Daci was the first to move, only to get a kick in the gutt and for Tearl’s blaster bolts to leave scorch marks where the woman was before. She gave him a rueful grin as he leveled his blaster at her again, only to have her move so quick that she actually circled around the access corridor towards the ceiling and landed between Daci and him. The blaster was suddenly kicked out of his hand as Daci parried several quick jabs directed towards her.
The woman was terribly fast and strong.
Daci took advantage of the intruder’s focus on Tearl to tackle her, but the woman nimbly jumped out of the way by kicking off one of the ship’s bulkheads, and vaulting backwards out of Daci’s path, but she hadn’t expected Daci to bounce back with a similar trick of her own, and landing a boot directly across her left cheek. The woman staggered, some of the cybernetics to short, giving Tearl a rather curious idea.
“Keep’er busy!” he shouted as Daci punched and kicked her assailant. She wouldn’t be able to keep the fight going much longer at te same intensity, she could feel her legs and arms screaming from the effort, practically feeling the blood trickly down her forehead.
The woman was quickly wearing her down, and coming around for another round when Tearl rounded the corner again, odd pistol in hand. He aimed for for the woman’s back and fired, shooting two needle-like prongs at the woman’s back. As they made contact with her, they burried deep into her skin causing her to jump around in surprise.
Suddenly the needle prongs discharged electricity into the woman, sending it coursing through her body, sending her convulsing on the ground as the electricy wrecked havoc on her synapses and circuits.
Daci gave Tearl a puzzles look as she tried to steady herself, sweat and blood trickling down her forehead.
“I’ve always thought it foolish of them collective folks, wearing circuits like that... it’ll always leave’em exposed to shorting more than just their circuits,” he expained with a shrug.
---
The two managed to get the Niatinus back online, only to find out that the rest of the excavation fleet had been sent on a direct course towards the colony’s nova crystal reserves. Despite their best efforts, the colonists never managed to evacutate in time. The excavator fleet had been turned against the colony, leaving death and destruction in their wake, eventually cutting through the nova crystal depot, causing blast that nearly anihilated the half of the colony.
---
“If you were there to help, how is it that your fleet didn’t come to the colony’s defense,“ Mav growled at his Deputy Grand Master.
Evant swallowed, “We’re still looking into that.”
The Grand Master’s eyes became dangerous slits of molten lava, focused intentently on Evant. “You better find a good reason before the Principate starts putting two and two together, because if this alliance falls apart, I’d better have someone else to focus my anger on. Do I make myself clear?!”
“Crystal,” Evant said keeping his eyes downcast.