03-15-2017, 03:33 PM
Ghost was about to exit the turn-in point for imperial bounties when a shady figure stepped in their way in the hallway. They were dressed in a manner oddly reminding of Ghost themselves: big sand-colored clothes that served as camouflage and to ward off heat at the same time, with goggles and a piece of cloth over their eyes and mouth and gloves and boots concealing every remaining shred of skin. However, unlike Ghost, they were not out to conceal their identity, but to protect themselves from sandstorms and the desert heat. With no voice modifier or similar tech the first word spoken revealed them to be a woman. "You are ze one zat calls 'imself Ghost, yes?" she asked with a heavy french accent.
"I refer to myself as that, yes", Ghost replied, ignoring the gender pronoun. Let her think that they were a man if that made her any more comfortable.
"Merveilleux. I vould need your services, monsieur, your unique... talents."
"I do not take direct offers. I only pursue open bounties." Ghost tried to walk around the woman but she moved to block his way.
"Please, hear me out first. I 'ave been vaiting for you for a vile now. It vill not take long, I promise."
"... you have five minutes, and not in here." No reason to stay in a location where other bounty hunters came and went every hour. If one of them caught wind of their speech they may decide to pursue Ghost and beat them to it. Or worse, snatch their proof of the deed to claim the credit. When the woman did not object Ghost walked back to where they had left the Speeder. While speaking with the woman, they pushed it to a close gas station to recharge its batteries.
"Zere are some... annoying individuals 'ere in ze Endless Dunes who are causing trouble. Zey are but a bothersome mouche in ze face of ze mighty aigle zat is ze Empire, of course, but lately zey 'ave been getting bolder. Zey captured two of our men on patrol, one of vich met an unfortunate end shortly after - ve found 'is body in ze sand recently. But ze other, ve 'ave reason to believe zat he is still alive. Ze problem is, he is 'eld prisoner."
"And you need me to break him out, or at least confirm that he is dead."
"Oui."
"If you work for the Empire, why don't you send Stormtroopers, or elite infiltration units?"
"Stormtroopers vuld be a very bad idea, monsieur!", the woman exclaimed. "Zey vuld see us coming and hold our man hostage, or escape through secret escape routes. As for infiltration units... vell, ve 'ave nobody zat we can really trust."
Ghost shook their head. "Miss, be honest. These two men were not just peacekeepers that were caught, which you could write off. I imagine that they are researchers or scientists with very important knowledge. Knowledge that you cannot risk to lose. An imperial infiltrator would draw the suspicion onto that particular individual should they be discovered, whereas someone without clear affiliation such as myself could be there to steal any document or free any prisoner."
"You are... correct", the woman admitted after a moment. "Ze truth remains 'owever, zat we need you to break in as stealthily as possible, and zere are few bounty hunters zat stand up to you in zat regard. In addition, your weapons of choice..."
"... would put the prisoner less at risk of dying to a stray bullet. I understand."
"Vell! Vuld you be interested in zis job?"
"A special job requires special payment, Miss. Not to mention, you have yet to provide me with any details on the location and whom you believe I would encounter."
"Ze payment is more zan adequate, monsieur, paid out in Imperial Credits." She named a number that was 'more than adequate' indeed. "Details I vuld prefer to divulge only if you are interested."
Ghost shrugged. "Okay. Tell me then."
"You are interested?"
"Yes."
"Vell! If you vuld let me upload..."
"No. I do not accept direct file transfer... please project the images and text using a holocron if you have one, otherwise I know a Café here in Carrefore that would..."
The woman interrupted him as she pulled out a small cube from her sleeve. "I 'ave one. But, you are too paranoid, monsieur Ghost, you know zat? Ze Empire is not your enemy."
Ghost simply shrugged. "Other bounty hunters aren't my enemies either and yet they wouldn't think twice about backstabbing me over a handful of credits. Don’t take it personal, Miss, but I prefer to be paranoid and stay alive. In my line of work it’s not as easy to do so.”
The woman shrugged as she projected various images and text documents onto a nearby housewall, using their bodies to cover it from passing civilians. Ghost’s sensors photographed the data as it scrolled through and compiled it into files. The whole process took only a few seconds. “Ze turn-in point vuld be ‘ere, in Carrefore”, she added as she packed the cube away again.
“Understood. When should I set out?”
“Immediately! Zis is of la plus haute priorité, monsieur! Every hour zat he is left ‘is capturers are more likely to get what zey need and dispose of ‘im. Ve cannot allow for zat to ‘appen!”
“In that case I’ll set out immediately. Should any additional info be required, please contact me in the next...” They ran a quick check of the map data. “... the next hour. After that I will initiate radio silence until I am finished.” They paid for the battery recharge with a few coins inserted into the station, then climbed onto the Speeder. “Ghost out.”
“Oui, I vill be sure to inform you. Goodbye, monsieur.”
Exactly an hour later, Ghost turned off the comms on their helmet. They had arrived at their destination a few minutes ago and taken the time to scout out the surprisingly unguarded entrance. This facility relied not on man- and firepower to defend itself, but on stealth, being built underground and with large rocky outcrops acting as a roof over the entrance, covered with sand to make them indistinguishable from the surrounding dunes unless someone came very close. In this sea of sand it was the figurative needle in a haystack, even if the Empire used planes, drones or satellites for aerial mapping.
The Speeder was covered by a blanket that, much like Ghost’s own suit, was colored like a dark brown rock, making it look like a boulder among dozens of others, just in case that someone had the idea of going for a breath of fresh air or took a look around the perimeter. In Ghost’s case, the dark brown would conceal them during their approach and later provide cover in the darkness. No doubt did the facility have guards and cameras... the first priority was to find maps and to discover where the man in question was being held. The second was to set up the field for a quiet approach, without raising suspicion that there was an intruder. In other words, a blackout. Ghost couldn’t afford to put too many guards to sleep or to shoot out the cameras as that would raise suspicion very quickly. At least on the way in.
After several minutes of verifying the entrance for guards through the scope of their rifle, Ghost rolled up, pretended to be a rock rolling down the slope towards the facility, and ended up slightly off to the right of it. Out of sight of the automatically turning camera... from there they timed their approach to sneak past it, and unscrewed the grid blocking the entrance to a small ventilation shaft. Waltzing in through the main entrance would be far too risky... but in a place like this, ventilation was sorely needed considering that the facility was underground and the shafts were the only way to get in fresh air. There probably were other shafts all around, concealed amidst the rocks and the sand, but the necessity made them large and spacious enough to fit through - barely.
And here came the time for another of Ghost’s little toys, developed for imperial security-guard droids, acquired on Coruscant’s black market and refitted to their purpose: sound amplifying microphones deployed on thin portable cords. As soon as Ghost came up to another grid above their head they slid the microphone between the bars, just enough to pick up that there was breathing coming from the room. There were two, maybe three or four people in there. And from the echo sounds it was a widely open room. Better not go out here.
The next attempt was luckier already: it turned out to be a small side room storing all manner of cleaning utensils as well as a large ventilator that blew air through the shafts. Ghost unscrewed the grid and carefully climbed into the room after assuring themselves that nobody was around, then passed the microphone beneath the door and peeked through the keyhole. A corridor with nobody in sight... very good. Unfortunately there was no electronic interface around, so the search had to go on.
This approach went on for a while, though the upmost level was almost void of personnel. The guard or guards at the entrance were the only people besides a janitor that Ghost ‘met’. The more important areas were further down. But finally Ghost found what they’d been searching: a maintenance room with network components for the electronic devices of the facility. With physical access to the interfaces even the decent security measures put in place by the ‘annoying individuals’ as the woman had described them - rebels or well-organized bandits, Ghost assumed - only slowed them before they got the required access. Floor plans and other relevant data were swiftly extracted and everything was put back in place, leaving just a tiny software behind: a backdoor in case that Ghost needed to access the network again during their hopefully brief stay. Staying asleep until needed, it would likely be hard enough to detect that nobody would notice it too early. And if someone DID detect it that early, they would have noticed Ghost’s intrusions at this point anyway.
With the floor plans zooming over the inside of their goggles finding the right way was a breeze. The right way towards the electric maintenance room with the fuse boxes. Of course, blowing these fuses would just have caused a blackout on this level, maybe on the one below, but that would not have helped much. Instead Ghost did the exact opposite: by rearranging a few cables and preventing the fuses from going out they created an electric overload over the course of a minute which eventually resulted in one of the main cables melting. Everything went dark after that, except for a few alarms running on emergency generators which blared through the corridors, and after a handful of seconds the emergency lights, a dim lighting which did little more than to prevent people from running into walls.
The entire facility would be without electricity until someone turned out the secondary emergency generators, and even those wouldn’t cover everything. Likely the ventilation systems and perhaps a few more lights to allow everyone to escape, but the security systems? Not those. Of course, it would just be a matter of time - of hours at best - before someone found the faulty cable and repaired it. Ghost needed to be done by then.
With the sniper rifle being too high-powered for indoors, they readied their crossbow, checked that a sleeper dart was loaded in, then turned their goggles to infra-red night-vision mode and snuck out through the door.
Ghost protocol was initiated.
"I refer to myself as that, yes", Ghost replied, ignoring the gender pronoun. Let her think that they were a man if that made her any more comfortable.
"Merveilleux. I vould need your services, monsieur, your unique... talents."
"I do not take direct offers. I only pursue open bounties." Ghost tried to walk around the woman but she moved to block his way.
"Please, hear me out first. I 'ave been vaiting for you for a vile now. It vill not take long, I promise."
"... you have five minutes, and not in here." No reason to stay in a location where other bounty hunters came and went every hour. If one of them caught wind of their speech they may decide to pursue Ghost and beat them to it. Or worse, snatch their proof of the deed to claim the credit. When the woman did not object Ghost walked back to where they had left the Speeder. While speaking with the woman, they pushed it to a close gas station to recharge its batteries.
"Zere are some... annoying individuals 'ere in ze Endless Dunes who are causing trouble. Zey are but a bothersome mouche in ze face of ze mighty aigle zat is ze Empire, of course, but lately zey 'ave been getting bolder. Zey captured two of our men on patrol, one of vich met an unfortunate end shortly after - ve found 'is body in ze sand recently. But ze other, ve 'ave reason to believe zat he is still alive. Ze problem is, he is 'eld prisoner."
"And you need me to break him out, or at least confirm that he is dead."
"Oui."
"If you work for the Empire, why don't you send Stormtroopers, or elite infiltration units?"
"Stormtroopers vuld be a very bad idea, monsieur!", the woman exclaimed. "Zey vuld see us coming and hold our man hostage, or escape through secret escape routes. As for infiltration units... vell, ve 'ave nobody zat we can really trust."
Ghost shook their head. "Miss, be honest. These two men were not just peacekeepers that were caught, which you could write off. I imagine that they are researchers or scientists with very important knowledge. Knowledge that you cannot risk to lose. An imperial infiltrator would draw the suspicion onto that particular individual should they be discovered, whereas someone without clear affiliation such as myself could be there to steal any document or free any prisoner."
"You are... correct", the woman admitted after a moment. "Ze truth remains 'owever, zat we need you to break in as stealthily as possible, and zere are few bounty hunters zat stand up to you in zat regard. In addition, your weapons of choice..."
"... would put the prisoner less at risk of dying to a stray bullet. I understand."
"Vell! Vuld you be interested in zis job?"
"A special job requires special payment, Miss. Not to mention, you have yet to provide me with any details on the location and whom you believe I would encounter."
"Ze payment is more zan adequate, monsieur, paid out in Imperial Credits." She named a number that was 'more than adequate' indeed. "Details I vuld prefer to divulge only if you are interested."
Ghost shrugged. "Okay. Tell me then."
"You are interested?"
"Yes."
"Vell! If you vuld let me upload..."
"No. I do not accept direct file transfer... please project the images and text using a holocron if you have one, otherwise I know a Café here in Carrefore that would..."
The woman interrupted him as she pulled out a small cube from her sleeve. "I 'ave one. But, you are too paranoid, monsieur Ghost, you know zat? Ze Empire is not your enemy."
Ghost simply shrugged. "Other bounty hunters aren't my enemies either and yet they wouldn't think twice about backstabbing me over a handful of credits. Don’t take it personal, Miss, but I prefer to be paranoid and stay alive. In my line of work it’s not as easy to do so.”
The woman shrugged as she projected various images and text documents onto a nearby housewall, using their bodies to cover it from passing civilians. Ghost’s sensors photographed the data as it scrolled through and compiled it into files. The whole process took only a few seconds. “Ze turn-in point vuld be ‘ere, in Carrefore”, she added as she packed the cube away again.
“Understood. When should I set out?”
“Immediately! Zis is of la plus haute priorité, monsieur! Every hour zat he is left ‘is capturers are more likely to get what zey need and dispose of ‘im. Ve cannot allow for zat to ‘appen!”
“In that case I’ll set out immediately. Should any additional info be required, please contact me in the next...” They ran a quick check of the map data. “... the next hour. After that I will initiate radio silence until I am finished.” They paid for the battery recharge with a few coins inserted into the station, then climbed onto the Speeder. “Ghost out.”
“Oui, I vill be sure to inform you. Goodbye, monsieur.”
Exactly an hour later, Ghost turned off the comms on their helmet. They had arrived at their destination a few minutes ago and taken the time to scout out the surprisingly unguarded entrance. This facility relied not on man- and firepower to defend itself, but on stealth, being built underground and with large rocky outcrops acting as a roof over the entrance, covered with sand to make them indistinguishable from the surrounding dunes unless someone came very close. In this sea of sand it was the figurative needle in a haystack, even if the Empire used planes, drones or satellites for aerial mapping.
The Speeder was covered by a blanket that, much like Ghost’s own suit, was colored like a dark brown rock, making it look like a boulder among dozens of others, just in case that someone had the idea of going for a breath of fresh air or took a look around the perimeter. In Ghost’s case, the dark brown would conceal them during their approach and later provide cover in the darkness. No doubt did the facility have guards and cameras... the first priority was to find maps and to discover where the man in question was being held. The second was to set up the field for a quiet approach, without raising suspicion that there was an intruder. In other words, a blackout. Ghost couldn’t afford to put too many guards to sleep or to shoot out the cameras as that would raise suspicion very quickly. At least on the way in.
After several minutes of verifying the entrance for guards through the scope of their rifle, Ghost rolled up, pretended to be a rock rolling down the slope towards the facility, and ended up slightly off to the right of it. Out of sight of the automatically turning camera... from there they timed their approach to sneak past it, and unscrewed the grid blocking the entrance to a small ventilation shaft. Waltzing in through the main entrance would be far too risky... but in a place like this, ventilation was sorely needed considering that the facility was underground and the shafts were the only way to get in fresh air. There probably were other shafts all around, concealed amidst the rocks and the sand, but the necessity made them large and spacious enough to fit through - barely.
And here came the time for another of Ghost’s little toys, developed for imperial security-guard droids, acquired on Coruscant’s black market and refitted to their purpose: sound amplifying microphones deployed on thin portable cords. As soon as Ghost came up to another grid above their head they slid the microphone between the bars, just enough to pick up that there was breathing coming from the room. There were two, maybe three or four people in there. And from the echo sounds it was a widely open room. Better not go out here.
The next attempt was luckier already: it turned out to be a small side room storing all manner of cleaning utensils as well as a large ventilator that blew air through the shafts. Ghost unscrewed the grid and carefully climbed into the room after assuring themselves that nobody was around, then passed the microphone beneath the door and peeked through the keyhole. A corridor with nobody in sight... very good. Unfortunately there was no electronic interface around, so the search had to go on.
This approach went on for a while, though the upmost level was almost void of personnel. The guard or guards at the entrance were the only people besides a janitor that Ghost ‘met’. The more important areas were further down. But finally Ghost found what they’d been searching: a maintenance room with network components for the electronic devices of the facility. With physical access to the interfaces even the decent security measures put in place by the ‘annoying individuals’ as the woman had described them - rebels or well-organized bandits, Ghost assumed - only slowed them before they got the required access. Floor plans and other relevant data were swiftly extracted and everything was put back in place, leaving just a tiny software behind: a backdoor in case that Ghost needed to access the network again during their hopefully brief stay. Staying asleep until needed, it would likely be hard enough to detect that nobody would notice it too early. And if someone DID detect it that early, they would have noticed Ghost’s intrusions at this point anyway.
With the floor plans zooming over the inside of their goggles finding the right way was a breeze. The right way towards the electric maintenance room with the fuse boxes. Of course, blowing these fuses would just have caused a blackout on this level, maybe on the one below, but that would not have helped much. Instead Ghost did the exact opposite: by rearranging a few cables and preventing the fuses from going out they created an electric overload over the course of a minute which eventually resulted in one of the main cables melting. Everything went dark after that, except for a few alarms running on emergency generators which blared through the corridors, and after a handful of seconds the emergency lights, a dim lighting which did little more than to prevent people from running into walls.
The entire facility would be without electricity until someone turned out the secondary emergency generators, and even those wouldn’t cover everything. Likely the ventilation systems and perhaps a few more lights to allow everyone to escape, but the security systems? Not those. Of course, it would just be a matter of time - of hours at best - before someone found the faulty cable and repaired it. Ghost needed to be done by then.
With the sniper rifle being too high-powered for indoors, they readied their crossbow, checked that a sleeper dart was loaded in, then turned their goggles to infra-red night-vision mode and snuck out through the door.
Ghost protocol was initiated.
Quote:Aigle = Eagle
La plus haute priorité = (of) the highest priority
Merveilleux = Wonderful
Monsieur = Sir/Mister
Mouche = Fly (the insect)
Oui = Yes
"(Note to self: insert quote & picture once I find stuff)"
Quote: