IC: E-i-E - Ardent Emancipation

[Felhammer]

Opening Crawl

You find yourselves aboard the Rogue Kestrel's stately briefing room. An obsidian-colored, horseshoe-shaped table stands at the center of the room. It is roughly three meters in diameter. Commander Zarn, a short, stalwart human stands in the center of the horseshoe. The lights have been dimmed, with most of the light in the room emanating from a gigantic blue and red holographic representation of Feldrona. Sitting around the table are the six of you, as well as the handsome, fifteen year-old Apprentice Bail Gann; the masculine female Zabrak Kaia Kalar; the beastly looking Herglic Jax Jade; the hulking Celegians Ronium Ette who floats inside a dimly glowing tube-like transport chamber.

Commander Zarn begins, "This is Feldrona. Currently there are no Star Destroyers in Orbit and a minimal amount of troops. Since this is a Prison World that still means there is an unfathomable amount of enemies stationed there. Our target is this man," The Commander flicks a button and the image of an Ee appears, "Doctor Pfiffigtein. He is one of the foremost experts in laser technology. His knowledge is vital to the future of the Empire, we must retrieve him at all costs."

The Clegian chimes in, "The fortress is strong. The enemies stalwart. A plan must be made."

The Commander agrees as he pushes a button on his remote to change the image again. This time displaying an image of a prison, "This is what we are up against - Icecrest Fortress - one of the most confusingly laid out and terrifying prisons ever constructed. We do not have data about the inner-layout of the Prison. We do know it is filled with lots of traps and a labyrinthine layout. There is only one entrance, which lies in the city of Feldraka. The only exit lies atop the glaciated Icecrest Mountain." You will enter in the foothills and be forced to find a way to get to the mountain's peak for extraction."

Bail Gann looks to his master before blurting out, "Why not enter through the Peak?"

Zarn smiles gently, "We have tried that once before, the shaft that leads into the bowels of the prison is specifically destined to destroy anything going the wrong direction. A hundred Heavy Blasters will target you and blast you out of the sky. It is, as they say, impossible to enter from that direction." He holds up a hand, "Before you say anything else, the shaft is protected from Ion attacks and is shielded from orbital bombardment."

Zarn looks at each of you in turn and says, "We need a miracle to pull this one off. Any ideas?"

[Noedig]

Jarik tugged at the collar of his officer's uniform. He'd never been able to puzzle out why they were all so damned uncomfortable. More uncomfortable was the mission being outlined by the commander. His metal fingers made a klinking sound as they drummed the table.

"A map would be a good first step. We're going to get chewed to karking bits when we go in there, and the longer we spend karking about inside, the bigger the butcher's bill is going to be. A control room would be a good initial target. Infiltrate, take it, hold it, get intel on the interior, snag our VIP, exfil. Maybe cause a riot are two, just for giggles. It'd be a great distraction."

He paused and tossed Jax a wolfish grin.

"Another way we could do this come knocking with the big guns and make doors where convenient. That'll probably be a lot messier. Bit more fun though, eh Jax?"

[Felhammer]

Jax slams his hulking fist down on the table. The sheer power of the slam violently shakes the table. The Hurglic looks over at Jarik and simply whispers, "Boom."

[Noedig]

Jarik chuckled. Jax did not seem the subtle type

"Read my mind. Commander, do they know who they've got? If we drag this out we could end up losing the VIP. Kicking in the doors may knock them off balance long enough for a team to secure Wormy. Course, you're talkin' to a sapper so I'm a little biased against subtlety."

[Thundercracker]

Ice
The diminutive Mrlssi rests in his booster seat, feathers ruffling slightly at the description of the prison.
"How about faking a prisoner transfer order?" Ice asks, without looking up from his datapad.

[Mithric Gunn]

Dr. Sharka stands in thought a moment, then speaks, "Good idea, Ice. Though if he is such a high value target, we should come prepared with a very convincing tale.
If they rely too much on technological surveillance systems, I could probably infiltrate myself and another. We could then secure the scientist and help clear the path to the extraction point.

If we strike hard for the PoW's while sending infiltrators to retrieve the doctor, we might be able to get to him before they realize what we're really after. Maybe bring a bag of blaster pistols for the PoW's so theyre not bringing fists to a gunfight."

Dr. Sharka reluctantly adds, "Another option would be to send me ahead alone. I can phase through the walls and maybe open some doors for you. I dont like the idea of being alone without hope of backup, but if we can't find a safer way, its an option."

[Major]

Kelaeon is quiet as he watches the meeting and listens to the various plans with his chin in his hand. As Ice mentions his plan, he removes the hand from his chin and points at the map slightly. "So, how many other high level prisoners are there? We don't want it obvious who we are going in for." Kelaeon states, "Depending on how well known this scientist is versus the other prisoners will make it easier to pick. Is it possible for us to get stealth field generators or something to help out?" Kelaeon asks. He was still trying to figure out how he felt about the strange doctor. The past few months hadn't helped. The man was a Force-user, but not an Imperial Knight and while some might call it paranoia he didn't trust it. The last thing he wanted was the man phasing in and out of sight. "Let's try not to risk the good doctor's life by walking through walls. We don't want our support staff walking into a trap and getting shot." He states calmly.

[Iron Victory]

Krells’aire’nurudo sits patiently at the table with his fingers folded. The Chiss' temples are mildly throbbing from his night drinking with Jarik. The previous evening was a haze. He vaguely remembered an arm-wrestling match, but couldn't recall who won. The edges of his mouth turn up into an almost imperceptible grin at Jax’s display. The cold planet reminded him of home, a fact which made his smirk vanish. “A direct assault may not be the most prudent course of action. If they realize the prison is under attack, the guards will immediately move to lockdown or execute VIPs. Subterfuge is our best option. Thindle's plan seems ideal, with the Sith in chaos we just might fall through the cracks.”

[Thundercracker]

Ice
Ice sighs, feathers flattening against his scales.
"Only my mom calls me Thindle," Ice says.

"Do we know if there's any Sith at the prison? If not, we could dress you two up like a pair of Sith and put together some red lightsabers," he says.

It's not immediately clear which two Ice is referring to.

"Or we could take a gamble and send them 'official' advance notification. They'd never expect a prison break to be advertised," he continues, "We'd have to change the IFF signal from the frigate to a valid Sith IFF, and we'd have to do the same to whatever ships we send down to the surface... it'd be tough but I think we could pull it off, depending on how much time we have."

"Who's in charge of this mission, anyway?" he asks, putting his datapad on the table, head swiveling about the room.

[Major]

"If I brought along that crystal you got off the Darth we might be able to use it to our advantage as well." Kelaeon says nodding, "Nobody would question a Sith and that crystal would make me feel like a Sith in the Force as well."

[Noedig]

Jarik snorted a laugh.

"Wait a minute. Your name is Thindle?"

[Iron Victory]

Sairen turns to the small avian. "My apologies... Ice, is it?" He addresses the table, "That plan actually has merit. If some of the squad were to masquerade as Sith, the officials would be too frightened to thoroughly question our motives. And even if a Sith is stationed there, Knight Kelaeon's crystal would mask our presence in the force."

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"Laugh it up, Tin Man," Ice says.

The Mrlssi turns to Sairen.

"Did you think everyone was saying 'Ice' because their drinks were warm?" Ice says, sighing, "speaking of which..."

Ice pulls out a Photon Fizzler from his pack and twists off the cap, taking a long swig of the sugary, carbonated beverage.

"It'll ONLY work if there's no Sith there, otherwise they'll be able to tell just like Kel would be able to tell a Sith isn't a Knight," Ice adds.

As he finishes speaking, he turns to Kel as if to ask 'right?'

[Major]

"Actually, I wouldn't fully toss it out. On one hand, I'd prefer there not to be any Sith, but Kyrat's gang is rather big. I doubt every Sith knows every other Sith. While I could tell a Sith from an Imperial Knight because of their dark side presence, and a Jedi due to their lack of discipline, it isn't always fool proof. It's one of the reasons that Force Sensitives should all be military so that you can add an extra step of official status, paperwork, etc. It's one of the reason I dislike rogue Jedi running around doing their own thing like little vigilantes. Hard to tell the Sith from the Jedi sometimes." He says with a shrug, "Regardless, the point at hand is that normally, it would be a bad idea because of the ability to sense them in the Force. However, that crystal we found is VERY tainted to the point where I'm not sure it is possible to purify. With that much of a dark presence, it would probably work..." Kelaeon hesitates and leans back trying to think of the wording, "I don't know...like a cloak? I guess that's the best choice of words. If things go right, while wearing that with so much radiating from it, it would be possible to feel like a Sith in the Force."

Kelaeon glances around, "Of courses, we'd want mundane disguises, temporary tattoos, eye contacts, sith robes, sith lightsabers, etc." Kelaeon explains, "But I'm sure we could get a hold of those. It's not like the Empire has never killed a Sith. So we get the right disguises, use the crystal to hide ourselves, I choke an idiot or two, and things might work. I'd of course still recommend a form of stealth and merely use that as a 'if noticed play it off', but shouldn't be impossible."

"Alternatively, I use the Force to hunt for our good friend from the Wheel, see where he is, and if far enough away we impersonate him. Being a specific Sith with his specific lightsaber crystal should make it even more convincing. At the same time, we'd have to work harder on the medical team or scientist or whoever disguising us. Perhaps a holoshroud if we can get one?"

[Philistine]

"Do we know for sure that this doctor is even bein' held against his will?" Graff drawls while the mission parameters download to the computer on his arm. "Might be embarassin' if we show up and offer to rescue him, and he doesn't even know he needs rescuin.'"

Hardly pausing for breath, he leans back in his seat and stares at the hologram display. "Commander. You said there's no Star Destroyers in the system. That's a good start, but what about smaller cap ships? Frigates, corvettes, system patrol craft and such? And what about starfighters? 'Cause I have an idea how we can get their IFF codes, but it needs them not to be watchin' the outer edges of the system real close."

[Noedig]

Jarik chuckled again.

"I will. And since when do we get to get drunk during briefings? Anyway, back to the prison break. I feel like the Sith imitation could work, but only if we were sure there weren't more Sith onsite. If that turns out to be the case, we dress up Stumbles and the boy as some ugly red bastards and send 'em through the front door. A second infiltration team could go in another way. Bones has got some pretty interesting talents in that regard. The two of us could cause a helluva lot of trouble working together."

[Felhammer]

Commander Zarn looks at a datapad, "Hmm, no one of interest is being held at the prison. A few thousand civies, sixty Imperial POW's... There are quite a few Galactic Alliance Prisoners - nearly three hundred. It appears the highest ranking Alliance officer is Commander Luke Solo. Hmm, never heard of him."

As he listens to the group, Zarn pipes up, "We do not have any Sith Lightsabers. The Emperor has been confiscating all of them for some unknown reason. We can create a non-functioning approximation. It won't fool a Sith but it will fool grunts."

"The doctor is definitely alive and in the prison. We have irrefutable - but secret - intelligence on this."

"We have enough men and equipment to assault the prison. We have the medical and disguise equipment necessary for subterfuge. With Chief Operational Scientist Ice's aid, we could even rig up a temporary IFF."

[Mithric Gunn]

"Worst case scenario, we sneak in, run into a Sith, and have to improvise from inside the prison. It's better than improvising from outside of the prison, and with assault teams distracting them from out side, and maybe Jarik and I from within, I think we can pull it off."

[Noedig]

Jarik's head snapped around at the mention of 'Luke Solo'.

"I've sure as hell heard of him. He busted me, Ice and Deadeye out of the Broadsword's brig a little over a year ago. I owe the kid a few drinks for that still. He's GA, but he pulled our collective asses out of the fire on that one. We personally owe him our lives, and without his help the Vicious would be a very real problem for us."

Jarik scratched his beard.

"Not saying we should shift mission parameters, but we can consider him an asset if we bust him out."

[Iron Victory]

Sairen's mismatched gaze sweeps across the table. "This is what I propose: You disguise myself and Knight Kelaeon as Sith Lords, rigging a shuttle up with the IFF. On approach we can drop Squadron Leader Graff, First Lieutenant Jarik, and Dr. Sarka, along with a detachment of paratroopers. They would have to to exit at a low altitude in order to avoid detection. We can discover the whereabouts of the VIPs while you infiltrate. If our ruse works, we stroll out with the scientist, if it doesn't, then our boys go in shooting. Chief Operational Scientist Ice could accompany us into the prison as one of our aides, to size-up its security systems."

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"If it works, how do we pick up the other half of the team and the paratroopers?" Ice asks.

"What about the AT-TEs and AT-MTs? I say if we're going to have a backup plan involving a lot of shooting, we shouldn't hold anything back," he says, "might make them seriously consider surrendering."

"What if the Kestrel hides out just outside the system? Only problem is how do we rig up a signal for the infiltration team to call the cavalry if things go sour?" he asks.

[Mithric Gunn]

"I can help with that. If things go badly, Knight Kelaeon can send me a sensation of danger, and I can telepathically alert someone on the ship."

[Iron Victory]

In response to Ice's concerns Sairen pries a band off his left middle finger and holds it up, "As for the signal, this panic ring could be programmed to alert the infiltrators through their comlinks, not that I don't have faith in Dr. Sharka." He nonchalantly rolls it across the table to the Mrlssi scientist. "Provided we get out without complication, we could pick up the infiltrators a few miles from prison. However, I don't see us extracting more than a few prisoners without a firefight. The scientist, maybe, sixty POWs, not likely. The Kestrel on standby would be ideal."

[Felhammer]

A green and black R4 Droid bursts into the briefing room, squealing. The Commander looks down at the Droid and asks, "What is it?" The little droid whistles and buzzes for nearly ten seconds. Zarn nods, "It appears we have a complication. According to Imperial Intelligence, Darth Krayt will be arriving on the planet to extract Dr. Pfiffigtein. The Alliance on one side and the Mandos on the other, obviously the Sith are running scared. R4 says Krayt will arrive with a full fleet in six hours."

Jax jumps to his feet, his poor chair flying backward into the wall, smacking it with a loud thud. "Not good."

Flight Lieutenant Kaia Kalar pulls out a datapad and performs a few calculations, "Even with our best pilots and navi-computers, we're still an hour outside of Feldrona. That means we will have five hours to get into a fortified citadel - and get extracted - lest we become permanent residents of the Prison."

Jax quietly echos the Lieutenant, "Permanent..."

[Major]

"Darth Kyrat? Personally?" Kelaeon says his eyes wide and surprised. Suddenly a frown crossed his lips, "Alright, this is too much. Who knew about this mission?" Kelaeon says clenching his fist, "Between the mission aboard the Wheel and now this? We just find out our mission and coincidentally the Sith decide to extract him NOW?"

[Mithric Gunn]

"I think we don't have much time for discussion. We must move if we're to have a chance at accomplishing this mission. You make a good point, Knight, but to pursue it now would be waste of precious time. We must focus on the mission."

[Noedig]

Jarik frowned across the table at Jax.

"Sith me, Jax, calm down. He's not in the room. So we're playing on hardmode? No biggie."

[Iron Victory]

Sairen merely raises an eyebrow at Krayt's sudden appearance, "If we have such little time, we must move immediately. Ice, could you please connect that ring to the infiltrators' comlinks?" The Chiss stands.

[Thundercracker]

Ice
"We know where Krayt's going to be in six hours? We could alert the Mandalorians and the GA, get them to try and take him out," Ice says, "after we've left the system, of course."

"Not sure what we're waiting for, we should be preparing to jump to hyperspace right now, and exit just outside the system, perferably far enough away or behind a dust cloud or something so their long range scans don't pick us up," he adds, "we can plan on the way."

[Felhammer]

All of you feel the sudden wave of gravity as you zip into light speed.

Jax looks over at Jarik. As he does, the Herglic thrusts his behemoth-like arm into the air and flexes his beastly bicep, "I could take him."

Zarn taps his comm and makes a ship-wide announcement, "This is Commander Zarn. All hands to battle stations. Prep the Red Dawn, the Predators and the LA-AT's. Muster up the Stormtroopers, rouse the pilots. I want Alpha and Gamma Engineering shifts on duty with Delta and Beta shifts covering damage control. I want all cannons brought on line and all gunners to man their posts. Lieutenant Tenant, I want a ship wide status report in fifteen minutes. That is all."

Zarn looks to each of you and says, "We have a mission to complete people. Move."