"Perfect Square Act I" Pt. 6

An even longer time ago, in a galaxy just as far away...

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"Not corporate poaching, more...personal poaching," Kelly smirked as she once again spoke with her imitation of Lien'Rysulu's accent. "Verta would never engage in corporate tricks or espionage, but we all have our own interests as well, don't we, general?"

The general gave her a curious look briefly before Mischa linked her arm through Kelly's and rested her head against the shoulder of her holographic disguise while flashing a sweet smile at the General, "What can I say, General... I really have a thing for long lekku!" The General's expression slowly turned a wry grin as the realization of what he was looking at dawned across his mind, "Aah, well good for you two!" he turned his attention back Kelly, "Anyway Lien, I just wanted to let you know that your idea worked a charm and the aid distribution is going a long way to ease people's wariness regarding my troops presence on the streets... /and/ the troops are much more content to be actively doing something as opposed to waiting around for potential orders. If there is ever anything I can do for you in return; all you have to do is ask" he bowed his head respectfully before the two before bidding them both a good day and 'fun times' and heading back the way he came from. Mischa watched him walk away and once he was out of earshot she turned her gaze up to Kelly, holding her faux pose for the moment, "Well, I'd say you passed the believability test there. Shall we continue?"

Kelly looked to Mischa, her smile turning into a sigh of relief as the general was far enough, "I thought he was going to recognize me for a moment there! Good to see my acting's up to the task...but let's keep going before someone else nearly exposes us. Go on, I'll follow your lead."

Mischa nodded and led the way up the stairs leading to the palace entrance; declaring their cover identities to the guards who promptly confirmed their appointment with the Prince and directed them to wait inside the foyer for an escort to meet them. The wait for the escort was short as the Prince's staff were a proud measure of efficiency and so before long, the two were being led back through the reception hall they had previously seen at the party and beyond into the private areas of the palace. The long and quiet walk with their escort allowed Mischa to observe all the finer points of the palace security systems including guard deployment, armaments, automated defenses and surveillance systems. Eventually they arrived at a large set of ornate doors which the guards took up position either side of. With a cursory glance to Kelly, Mischa pushed open the doors to be presented by a large and extravagantly ornate office; staring out of the full height window at the opposite end of the room stood the Prince, arms folded behind his back. Mischa looked to Kelly, giving a gentle nudge with her elbow to step forward and greet him

Kelly stepped forward, addressing the Prince with a simple "Your Highness," spoken in her imitated Republic accent. The Lannik royal turned, looking to the two women with a confused expression. He raised his right arm, tapping on a computer worn on his wrist before moving cautiously towards the mysterious visitors. "I don't seem to recall scheduling any meetings at this hour," the Prince finally responded. "Who are you?" "Lien'Rysulu, Verta Foundation," Kelly continued to use her alias, letting the senior agent decide when to abandon their disguises. "I was at your party last night. I'm terribly sorry about your friend, but I'm here to help." "The medical company," nodded the Prince. "I respect your cause, but I'm afraid there's not much I can do right now." "A mutual friend sent us. He said you could provide information that'll be good for our cause and the welfare of your planet." The Prince narrowed his eyes before suddenly catching on and playing along, "Right, I'll be with you in a minute. Just need to finish this HoloNet conversation and shut down the connection." Sitting down in front of his desk, the Prince started to type on computer as he momentarily ignored the two. Kelly looked to Mischa with an expression that clearly read "What next?"

Mischa watched the Prince carefully as he worked on the holoterminal. Pulling a small device from her jacket, she activated it and scanned around the room; retrieving a number of small jamming devices from her her belt pack which she placed strategically at various positions around the room before confirming with her scanner that any present listening devices were nullified and surveillance equipment was looping the moments up until they entered the room, "That should do it, your Highness; we can speak freely now" she looked back to Kelly, sensing the pending question about removal of the holodisguise, "At your own discretion" she pre-emptively advised before looking once more to the Prince. "Very astute read back there, your Highness; you clearly have a practiced hand in the art of subterfuge by now. What is the situation as you see it?"

"You learn these things when you have to live in the shadow of someone like my father," the Prince said solemnly. "One small misstep and you end up like Elix Ciede." Rising to his feet once more, he walked up to Kelly, examining her Twi'lek form, "Lien'Rysulu of Verta Foundation...I must admit I'd never have thought you were an Imperial spy." "She's not," Kelly smirked as she tapped the device on her waist, the holographic projection of the Twi'lek flickering momentarily before it faded, revealing the human underneath. "But I am." "Oh, very clever," the Prince smiled. "I see your organization is as resourceful as your reputation says. Hopefully resourceful enough to do what needs to be done here. The situation isn't good. My father's suspicions of everyone around him has only gotten worse and I don't know how much he knows about what Ciede and I have been planning. Perhaps he killed Ciede to send a message to me, as opposed to killing his own son. Whatever the case, we must act now, before he puts even more drastic measures in place, like living permanently in a bunker or something."

"My sentiments exactly your highness" Mischa said, pausing to consider the Prince a moment, "So being that you were already involved in plans with Ciede, I assume you have an alternate means to establish contact with his rebel forces? We must indeed move swiftly as his guard will be down just now if he thinks he has eliminated the risk along with Ciede. What can you tell me of the plans you two had in motion?"

"We had plenty of ideas but no suitable way to carry them out," the Prince explained. "Sabotaging the King's armoured transport, poisoning his food, reprogramming his medical droids, that sort of thing, but it all requires someone on the inside with the technical knowledge. I have a feeling that's what got Ciede killed, trying to buy off someone who works close to the King. As for rebel forces, my father saw to it that they're all gone now. The only people that still dare oppose the regime are probably Underworld groups, and they're not people who want to see Lannik prosper, they're just anarchists who want to destroy everything we've built."

"Perfect!" Mischa smiled, " That is likely better than we could have hoped for to work with" She could see the bemused looks on both the Prince's face and Kelly's, "We can use these anarchists to serve our purpose in dethroning your father. Then, we can sweep in under your command to enact quick retribution against them; heralding you as a hero of your people in both the eyes of your own followers, and those loyal to your father's regime!" Mischa turned to Kelly, "We will need Adin on the inside with these anarchists. Once we direct them as needed, I want him in position to turn their defenses against them, similarly to how you handled the situation on Nar Shaddaa. I would suggest we approach them as Haron Inc. offering a favourable donation of battle droids to their cause, we use this to sneak Adin into their systems. Think he is up to the task?"

"Certainly," Kelly nodded. "Infiltration is what ADIN's made for. I'll set up a special subroutine for it in the droid body he'll be using to make him more effective at it. I'm not sure I'll be able to get enough battle droids to give the anarchists, though; it'll take at least a few days to reroute a shipment here. I might give the other ADIN bodies basic guard programming and pass them off as a few demo units or something, if you think that'll be enough." "Taking out two problems with one blow," the Prince joined in, smiling as well. "Excellent plan. The anarchists shouldn't be too hard to manipulate. Just be careful with them- we don't want them doing too much damage to the city or killing innocents. A few guards might need to be sacrificed for the greater good of Lannik, but please do avoid getting civilians caught in this."

Mischa nodded, "Fear not your Highness, we have already set a plan in motion on that front that has seen a stronger bond of trust formed between the troops stationed in the city and the civilian population. If my calculations are correct, they should now have sufficient focus on protecting the innocent lives they have been made to know more personally." She turned to Kelly, "Divert the shipment, no need to sacrifice your Adin shells unless we end up having to provide that demo in order to establish an arrangement with them. You will of course be compensated for the donation, and the short time delay should allow us sufficient time to establish a foothold with the anarchists and set a plan in motion with them" Looking back to the Prince, "Your Highness, with all this set in motion; you should have your forces primed to react. Position yourself at a place of safety and prime your forces to clean up once we turn things against the anarchists, the General's troops should make short work of them then"

"Thank you for your assistance," the Prince bowed his head respectfully. "Your role in bringing Lannik a brighter future will not be recorded in the history books, of course, but we shall forever be in your debt. When this is done, ask whatever you need, and I will do everything I can to provide you with it." Kelly looked to Mischa, her hand moving towards the holo-disguise projector on her hip, "So, back to the Underworld?"

Mischa nodded, smiling as she watched Kelly flicker back into her Twi'lek alias, "Back to the underworld. But I think we can leave Ms. Rysulu behind for that leg of the journey" she smiles turning back to the Prince, "Your Highness; it is our privilege to aid your cause and I very much look forward to working with you in the future. But for now, this is the last you will see of us until this is all over. We all have much to do and little time to do it. The droids will arrive in approximately two days; from there we will put things in motion and it will be soon after that your forces need to act. Good luck your Highness, I look forward to your coronation" With that she turned to lead Kelly back outside the office where they reunited with their guards to be escorted out of the palace. Once safely away from the palace, they found another suitably discreet location where Kelly could lose the holodisguise before heading into the underworld.

The cool, damp feeling of Lannik's underground waterways hit the two Imperials immediately as they once again descended into the planet's Underworld. Once used solely by maintenance technicians or illegal spice and arms dealers, more and more of Lannik's populace had been driven into the tunnels in recent years by the oppressive regime. Now, the sections of the Underworld built beneath the cities was transformed into a shanty town, a dark, gloomy world beneath the glory and majesty of the surface. Here, poverty was the norm and the only rules were set by those who could afford and use blasters.

Upon coming across an empty segment of tunnel, Kelly retrieved and activated her communicator, "So, ADIN, where do we find these anarchists?"

"Follow the graffiti," the artificial intelligence responded through their earpieces. "You'll recognize it when you see it. Only simple organic minds can conceive of symbolism so blatant and uninspired."

Kelly and Mischa made their way across the shacks and huts, past the downtrodden citizens of Lannik as well as gangs and smugglers, comprising of both locals and off-worlders. It did not take them long to find the symbol to which ADIN had referred- the emblem of the royal family coated in flames, spray painted onto a large metal plate. Following a trail of such graffiti, the two descended deeper and deeper into what was presumably the territory of a group of anarchists.

As they walked, they could hear distinct footsteps forming around them, as if they were being followed, though there was no sign of anyone in the tunnel with them. The moment the anarchists showed themselves, though expected, was still sudden and surprising as a stream of fire spread behind them, sealing the way from which the two Imperials had come. Grates swung open all around the tunnel walls and numerous Lannik crawled out, armed with rough pikes and clubs of metal. A few carried actual weapons- vibroblades, stun batons and even a blaster pistol.

One of the group, a Lannik with two cybernetic eyes that whirled audibly as it zoomed in and out, stepped forward to look over the two, his expression difficult to read through the scarred and augmented face. He held what appeared to be a roughly crafted shotgun pieced together from salvaged materials, the weapon pointed at the Imperials at all times. After a few seconds of gazing, he finally spoke, his dialogue heavily accented, which was reflected in the translator which struggled to interpret his words.

"Aliens. Why you here? What you want?"

Kelly exchanged a glance with Mischa before taking the initiative, as this was officially a Haron Inc. negotiation, and she was an executive officer of the corporation, "My name is Kelly Haron. I believe we share an enemy."

"How do you find us?" the Lannik asked yet another question.

"We..." Kelly briefly paused as she carefully considered how she would approach this, "we have resources. And we'd like to offer you some of these resources."

"Why...why we trust you?" the scrutinizing gaze of the anarchist was clear even through his mechanical eyes.

"Because we have something you need" Mischa interjected, "You do not need to trust us, simply take us to someone who can make that call after hearing what we offer. Which - if you were wondering - is a means to bring total anarchy upon the royal family" she added looking the cyborg squarely in the ocular implants.

The Lannik lowered his weapon but continued to question them, "What is your problem with royals?" Kelly responded to his query again, "As much as your planet wants to segregate itself from galactic politics, the, uhh...the unhealthy governance of your king eventually has an impact on everyone, including us. The agricultural imports are lessening, which is bad for those that depend on it, and the expansion of the Underworld encourages criminals to arise from Lannik and make trouble for the entire galaxy." "And you want royals burn for this? For not sell crops?" "The Empire shows no mercy to those who wrong us," Kelly nodded. "I know we haven't been through the suffering you have, but-" "Wrong?! Suffering?!" the anarchist cut her off. "What do you know about suffering? You don't see suffering until you see fields set ablaze, family cooked alive, home in ashes. That is what I last see, before Riders take my eyes. But I see your Empire, on news holos. You burn worlds. You kill millions. You don't care about suffering." "My friend here is right," she spoke once the Lannik had finished. "What we want doesn't matter. We're good at burning things, and you want to see the royalty burn. Work with us, and that's your best chance to see it happen." "Okay," the anarchist turned back to his people, who looked to him expectantly. One of the older females limped up to him, whispering something into his large ears. After a few seconds of conversing, he returned his metal gaze to the humans, resting his shotgun casually on his shoulder, "There is nothing left here except evil and death. If Empire want to burn Lannik, I say...welcome!" With a flourishing wave of his hand the rest of the anarchists dispersed, and he beckoned the Imperials to follow, leading further down the tunnels to make the promised deal...

Following an enduring two days of careful plotting and manipulation; all the agents pieces had been positioned on the proverbial chessboard. Mischa sat back, crossing her legs over and shifting her weight in her chair slightly as she looked across the table to Kelly, whom she could see was far less at ease with the trepidation than she herself was. Offering a small and reassuring smile to Kelly, she turned sideways to look out over their balcony - raised high above the city streets below, the hotel suite she had selected for them presented a fine view across the upper districts of the city; a view capped by the royal palace in the distance - Mischa took in a deep breath of the early morning air as she sipped from her mug. The peaceful dusk was soon interrupted by the sound of a fiery explosion as a plume of black smoke could be seen rising up from the palace. This shortly gave way to the sound of sirens wailing across the city and weapons fire breaking with increasing severity. Mischa again turned her gaze back to Kelly, hoping to see her equally at peace with the way things were transpiring. Several more large explosions reverberated through the city streets below as more plumes of smoke rose from the palace; the chaos striking fear and panic into the populous. Eventually the distant sound of weapons fire faded, which Mischa took as her cue, "Time for the endgame" she said to Kelly with a nod, confirming an instruction for Adin to initiate the war droids override and turn them on the anarchists, along with all of the supporting tech. Leaving Kelly to liaise with Adin, Mischa casually set her mug down on the table and retrieved her holocom which soon flickered into life with the image of the Prince - wearing something akin to the trooper armour she had previously seen worn by those on the city streets - though this was clearly a lot more ornate, "It is time; tell the General to give the order" Promptly closing the holocom for fear of a signal trace, she looked back to Kelly once more to see that she too had given her required attention and returned her gaze towards the distant chaos. A chaos which had now taken on a distinctly different tone as the pitch of weapons fire was shifted from before. Mischa retrieved her mug and once again leaned back in the chair looking out as she marveled at their success with a satisfied smile, "I do love the smell of revolution in the morning" she quipped, enjoying a sip of her morning refreshment.

Their relaxed observation of the chaos in the city below was suddenly interrupted by ADIN's voice as it streamed in through their earpieces, "Ladies? Apologies for barging in during the middle of the show, but I'm getting a communications request from Imperial Intelligence. They say it's urgent."

Mischa shared a cursory glance with Kelly before responding, "Well, had better put it through then". As she replied, she retrieved her holocom once more and set it on the table ready to receive the incoming transmission.

Kelly awaited the familiar face of Keeper as she initiated the transmission, however, the image which emerged from atop the communicator was not that of the director of Intelligence. This figure was also dressed in an Imperial uniform, though it was a woman with dark hair. She wasted no time beginning to speak, addressing the two immediately. "This is Watcher Nine. You are the operatives currently working with Moff Ceylor?" "We are," Kelly nodded proudly. "Our mission should be accomplished now. You'll start seeing the results on the HoloNet soon." The only response she got was a simple and quiet "Oh." Kelly furrowed her brows, "Is something wrong?" "It's about the Moff," the Watcher explained. "The financial information you recovered from Gundo the Hutt's palace contained information about a payment to Gundo from SIS front companies, a payment which was then rerouted. We were not able to track the payment much further. However, while looking into another case several hours ago, I noted that Moff Tomen Ceylor received a sum of credits identical to the amount that Gundo passed on for supposed mining supplies. Working from both ends of the transaction, I am able to confirm with 99.33% certainty that Moff Ceylor has received funding from the Republic Shadow Guard."

Mischa frowned at this uneasy news, sharing a glance with Kelly, "What are our instructions from here; are we to investigate the Moff further or take him into custody for processing back on Dromund Kaas?"

Watcher Nine nodded, "Your orders are to investigate the Moff, but you are not to reveal what I've told you. If he is a Shadow Guard mole, he will be too resourceful to catch directly. Don't make him suspect anything and continue to work with him." "Uhh...I don't think that's going to be possible," Kelly pointed across the hotel room at a screen mounted on the far wall. The image on the screen was a news program with the Prince in the centre. In the corner of the recording General Navon and another uniformed officer of the Lannik military could be seen standing behind the royal. Two rows of text were highlighted beneath, one in the Lannik language and one in Basic. Kelly understood only one but presumed they both read the same message- 'King Assassinated By Imperial Agents.' "Turn up the volume, ADIN," she instructed. "...the Empire has infiltrated our society, rallied our insurgents and led an attack that led to the loss of our King, my father," the Prince's voice began to boom across the room. "Like the Empire of Darth Revan three centuries ago, minions of the Sith have once again struck our world to take our homes, our families, our liberty! With the help of the Republic we drove them back once, and we shall do so again! From this day onward we can no longer stand by and watch their crimes. I warned my father that their tyranny will reach us one day, and he did not listen. But under my reign, Lannik remains neutral no more!"

"...the Imperials responsible for the assassination will be hunted down and brought to swift justice!" continued the Prince over the news broadcast. "Rejoice, people of Lannik! No longer shall we live in fear and depravity, no longer shall we be oppressed, by the Empire or by our own. Brighter days lie ahead! Henceforth we shall be under the protection of the Galactic Republic! To attack us would be a violation of the Treaty of Coruscant, and any who try will answer to the Republic fleets!" "I should've figured it out- the party we went to, the Prince was celebrating the Republic victory here against Darth Revan, of course he would be loyal to the Republic!" Kelly exclaimed before turning her attention to Mischa with a more composed look. "Right, I'll, uhh...wait for you at the ship, they won't know what docking bay we're in, I think. ADIN and the battle droids should still be active, they're not under the Prince's control and I can't see any reason they'd be compromised."

Surveying the room as she regained her footing, Mischa easily identified the Moff cowering behind an upturned desk. Smiling quietly to herself, Mischa drew her sidearm knowing that this was not an honorable death she was about to inflict, but a traitor's execution. Mischa approached the Moff with her weapon drawn, deactivating her stealth field as she stood with the weapon held inches from his forehead as she glared down at him. His face said it all as he looked up into her eyes, though being the man that he was - and knowing his time had come - he calmly stood and folded his hands neatly behind his back - never breaking eye contact with the agent, "And so it is" He opened confidently, "Imperial Intelligence may win this battle, but the war is far from over. You may take me into custody for all the good it will do; we both know nothing fruitful will come of it." She continued to glare back at him with the ice cold eyes that a lifetime in Intelligence had trained into her and shook her head lightly, "You deserve no such luxury as setting foot on Dromund Kaas again - even as a traitor in chains - nobody betrays the Empire on my watch and gets away with it... and nobody uses me!"

With that she fired a single bolt straight between his eyes, watching with an emotionless expression as his body slumped unceremoniously to the floor. Kneeling down by his side as she holstered her weapon, Mischa quickly patted down his tunic before finding and retrieving a datapad. She did not know if it would contain anything useful - if it would even prove to be accessible, but it was worth taking at this time. Finally, she grabbed his ankles as dragged him out to be perfectly visible in the centre of the room, drawing his legs straight and pulling his arms out straight at right angles to his body; his form representative quite clearly as that of someone who had been hung on a sacrificial cross. With his body laid out, she made the final move of removing his dog tags and all the rank insignia and decoration from his uniform - quite brutally so - making further emphasis that whoever this man was in life, he had been stripped of every shred of honour in death.

When the last breath left the body of Moff Tomen Ceylor, his nostrils began to flare up, growing larger and larger until his nose became massive. At the same time, his cheeks began to deflate, deep wrinkles forming across his jaw and mouth as his appearance turned dramatically gaunt, seemingly having aged another decade in just a day. It did not stop there as his eyes swelled up unnaturally and his entire skin flushed a deep shade of green. By the time the transformation was complete, the corpse that lay before Mischa was no longer that of a human. This was not an Imperial Moff. This was a changeling.

Mischa's journey back to the ship was uneventful, though wrought with silent contemplation. Deactivating her stealth field as she ascended the boarding ramp, Mischa emerged into the into the ship to be met by the sight of Kelly busying herself with flight preparations, though her attention was instantly redirected towards Mischa as she appeared. Kelly's expectant look was met with a small nod of confirmation from Mischa, "It is done; we should break orbit and re-establish contact with Watcher Nine... there is much to discuss"

The holographic symbol utilized by ADIN flashed into view on the holoprojector as the droid's disembodied voice ran through the ship, "I'm afraid that's not possible right now. We have a roadblock." "By roadblock, he means Republic cruisers in orbit," Kelly clarified. "Looks like the Prince and the Moff had this all planned out with Republic ships ready to jump in as soon as Lannik declares allegiance to them." "My calculations suggest a mere one-point-two-five percent likelihood of escape," ADIN informed them. "Your calculations are based on your piloting subroutines," stated Kelly as she gazed to Mischa. "ADIN's better than an autopilot, but its piloting program is still a program, more predictable than a clever organic pilot. Good pilots can evade multiple ships, even an entire fleet, and I think I know just the person...if you approve, that is."

Mischa smiled back to Kelly, harboring a suspicion as to who she had in mind, "Make the call Kelly" she nodded.

Kelly walked up to the console, sliding a datachip in and tapping several buttons before stepping back and folding her arms. After a minute of waiting, the image of ADIN disappeared to be replaced by the familiar form of a Weequay. He seemed to be dressed even more raggedly than the last time they met, and the signal was poor, flickering every few seconds. "Yatuni, are you reading us?" Kelly asked. Hey!" the Weequay greeted them with a smile. "Sorry about the holo quality, they don't exactly build signal boosters down in the Underworld. I'm guessing all the explosions I heard earlier were you?" "Well...it wasn't us doing it, but we kind of got it to happen," confirmed Kelly. "You really have a habit of blowing up every place you go, don't you?" Yatuni smirked. "Good thing I never liked this planet anyways. So, I take it this isn't just a social call?"

Mischa stepped up to Kelly's side as she addressed the Weequay, "Yatuni, you may recall that whole business of your owing us a favor following recent events. Well, we need to call that in; and from what we have learned this may well be of much benefit to you as to us." The Weequay rolled his eyes, "Let me guess... you need a getaway driver again" An amused smile crept across Mischa's lips, "Something like that. Please meet us asap at Ms. Haron's hanger in the spaceport" Following a slight underbreath grumble about sitting down for five minutes, he he nodded in response, "I'll be right there"

They waited in the ship's lounge for a good ten minutes before Yatuni arrived at the hangar. ADIN lowered the boarding ramp for him and the Weequay strolled inside, looking extremely impressed with the lavish surroundings he suddenly found himself in. "Big change of scenery from the Underworld, isn't it?" Kelly smiled as she rose from her seat. "You know, when you said your ship I was expecting another rusty old transport," Yatuni replied. "This ship looks like it can actually pull off some speed!" "I don't usually try to outrun military cruisers with this, but it's a good ship." The Weequay nodded, "I was afraid you were going to ask me to fly us past the Republic ships that's all over the news now." "Can you do it?" she asked. Yatuni smirked, "Yeah, but there better be hazard pay." Kelly raised her brows, "I thought this was a favour." "It was, when I thought you were going to ask me to outrun some planetary authorities or something! So, where's the cockpit?" Leading Yatuni up the flight of stairs in the lounge, they found themselves in the upper deck of the ship. This layer of the vessel was clearly not built for luxury, as its ceilings were notably lower and the walls illuminated with less bright lighting. It was still by no means poor, and the crew of the vessel still had an optimal amount of room to conduct the activities necessary for operating the ship. Once in the cockpit, the Weequay slumped down onto the pilot's seat, enjoying the cushioning for a moment before snapping to work as he began to familiarize himself with the controls of the vessel. He flicked switches expertly as his hands glided over the terminals. No longer the cowardly, stumbling prisoner they had met in Gundo's palace, Yatuni truly seemed at home here, at the controls of a starship. "This ship has weapons?" he remarked as he discovered a new readout from one of the consoles on the side. "Yes it does," affirmed Kelly. "They're not visibly weapons from the outside and they're nothing too powerful, but-" "But you might need them now," Yatuni finished for her as he looked at the Imperials. "You know how to use it, right?"

"I'm sure we can handle that much" Mischa said with a smirk as she looked to Kelly, "Ready when you are!"

Kelly motioned for Mischa to follow before heading down to the engineering section. Like the crew deck, this area was clearly not meant for the occupant of the master bedroom to visit, but it was far from unfinished. Unlike the engineering compartments of freighters or civilian transports, the machinery were neatly arranged with the three engines in the centre, all evenly spaced out with a console in front of each. There was no exposed wiring, though the walls and floor were lined with various access panels which allowed direct intervention when necessary

Without stopping to observe the engine room at all, Kelly immediately turned to her left, stepping through a small doorway that led into a room with a single rotating chair that was connected with weapon controls. The weapon was a long single-barreled laser cannon which, as indicated by the controls, possessed two modes: a single fire which released one powerful bolt which could travel further distances, or a rapid fire mode which released a quick succession of weaker bolts.

Kelly looked to Mischa across the compartment as she slid into her chair, giving her fellow Imperial a nod to indicate that she was ready before returning to the controls in front of her. Pushing a button on the panel to the side she activated the communications system and began to speak.

"Yatuni, get us airborne," she called as she powered up the weapon.

"Uhh, we're not authorized to leave the spaceport," came the Weequay's response.

With a turn of Kelly's chair, the gun aligned itself parallel to the ship. Kelly pressed the trigger and the laser fired a single bolt into the blast doors in front of them. Though the viewscreen provided by the weapon controls, a spectacular explosion could be seen as the shot smashed a massive hole into the thick metal. Before the smoke could clear, she opened fire again, melting what was left of the exit blocking them from leaving the hangar.

"Now we are," smirked Kelly.

"Well, that's one way to do it," Yatuni chuckled over the comm as the ship darted out of the docking bay.

"Local defense airspeeders are moving to intercept," ADIN's voice chimed in. "They are armed with basic anti-vehicle lasers designed to bring down other speeders rather than starships."

"Should be a nice warm up, then," Kelly shifted her weapon towards a target coming into range, aiming carefully before firing a spray along its projected travel vector. The first few bolts missed it as it zoomed them by, but the second slammed straight into the speeder, disintegrating it instantly. Two more of the craft charged at Mischa's side, opening fire as they made for the ship.

Mischa quickly worked to adjust herself to the less familiar setup of the mounted weapon seats. As she settled in with the controls she unlocked the weapon, allowing it to swing and pivot with hear seats movement. Swinging around to aim at the approaching speeders on their rear arc, Mischa opened with a small volley of bolts to drive them back, winging one of the speeders with a lucky shot that caused the wounded speeder to leave a trail of black smoke in it's wake. The second adjusted it's vector to avoid being blinded by the smoke, but only served to run right into a single bolt fired from Mischa's weapon. As that speeder exploded the first attempted to close. Mischa took aim at the wounded speeder - using it's slowed pace to her advantage in practicing aim with the ship's weapons - it took a few single bolts, but she eventually managed to land a central hit which disintegrated the speeder with a fiery explosion, "Scratch two" she called back to Kelly, "Any more on the horizon? I think I'm starting to enjoy this thing!"

"I'm seeing three on my side but they're all retreating," Kelly replied after destroying another that had come for her. "Don't worry, there'll be plenty for both of us to shoot once we get in space." Just when she said this, the viewscreen flared up as the ship broke atmosphere. A few seconds later and the stars become visible, though half of the tiny glittering dots in the distance were blocked by a massive T-shaped object. Drawing closer, the object became clear as one of the signature Hammerhead-class cruisers utilized by the Galactic Republic. Flanking it was a Thranta-class corvette, a ship with a similar profile but smaller in scale. Kelly opened fire immediately, carefully aiming single shots at the large cruiser ahead, "Take out as many of their turbolasers as we can before they start gunning for us!"

"On it!" Mischa called back as she swung her seat around to bring the weapon into a forward facing position. It was difficult work to pick the turbolasers off from this range, but she managed a couple of lucky shots before they entered the corvette's firing solution, "Kelly, I would suggest we see if Yatuni can get us in close and skim the hull - it will make their targeting harder and give us a cleaner shot at taking them out so we can make a break for it"

"Will do!" Yatuni shouted back over comms. "I don't think we can take down ships of that size but distracting them will help!" Their vessel sped towards the Republic forces as both the cruiser and the corvette began to open fire. The Weequay pilot dodged and weaved around the bolts, evading the first volley skilfully. As they closed in, Kelly shot back, targeting the enemy's weapons to disable their ability to attack. The turbolasers of the cruiser fired again as they skimmed by, one bolt grazing their hull as they were too close to evade. The ship shook as it took the hit, but ADIN assured them that no vital systems were damaged. "Keep shooting, we're almost home free!" informed Yatuni as the ship began to zoom away from the Republic vessels.

"That's it Yatuni! They can't lock on when we're passing so close and fast, keep it up!" Mischa called back encouragingly as she sprayed the path ahead with one flurry of bolts after the next, since their proximity made it virtually impossible to track in a precise shot of their own. As their ship hurtled over the hull of the cruiser, the combined weapons fire peppered the large Republic ship's hull with impacts; a few fortunately placed shots striking the turbolasers ahead; which lit up with fiery explosions projected outwards from the hull directly in their ships path. The sleek - and comparatively - small ship bolted headlong through the explosion as they weaved from one large cruiser to the next.