Chapter 2: Forges of Ithyari

[Mara 29]

Kaden nodded then added, "We can ask the serving droid to split it to two plates, I'm sure."

[Drake 53]

After playing a few games to pass the time, Tak and Layla left the lounge room area and made their way deeper into the heart of the Planetary House.

The pair passed several corridors and turbolifts that were closed to public access. They had labels such as Ambassador Suites, Emergency Services Command, and Departmental Research Labs. The lift they were looking for was labelled Industrial Military Control. Tak and Layla passed by it without a second glance.

Takeshi took out a datapad and looked at the screen while they walked. The screen showed a simplistic-looking map that appeared to be something a tourist would carry. In truth, the pad was linked via narrow-beam, scrambled comm signals to identical datapads carried by the other team pairs scattered around the Planetary House.

Double-tapping on the map where the turbolift's approximate location was, Tak marked the entrance to the Industrial Military Control and denoted it in red as the priority target. He hit another key, sending the information to the rest of the squadron.

Pocketing the datapad, Tak turned to Layla and smiled, saying, "I think we've seen all we can down here, dear. We should go back up to the main hall."

[Ayingel 24]

Szen smiled with a girlish excitement. They ordered the cake, and it didn't take long after it arrived to be gone again. Szen jokingly pat her stomach. "I'm definitely full." They laughed a little and paid for the food. Looking at a little glass cabinet with larger cakes, she found one that looked a lot like the one they had just eaten. "Think we should bring some back for everyone else?"

[Mara 29]

"It might be a little conspicuous if we showed up with cake. Maybe we can later when we leave home again." Taking one last glance at the display case, Szen and Kaden went out into the street again, ambling slowly towards the Planetary House, looking all the worlds like a playful pair of siblings out enjoying the day together.

Partway down the street, both of them heard their datapads beep and looked intently at them, making it look like they were having fun sending messages to each other even though they were feet apart and actually receiving target information. Putting them away, Kaden and Szen headed more directly towards their destination, although still walking casually.

Edited October 17, 2007 by Mara

[Rogue 4]

"Of course, sweetie." Layla returned the smile gladly. They'd found the target area. "The main hall it is."

When they walked out to the main hall, all eyes seemed to be turned to the latest winner at the slots. "Hey, isn't that---" She asked low enough that nobody else could hear but him. "This is bad."

[Drake 53]

"Yes, it is," Tak said, following her gaze towards the casino. At the edge of his peripheral vision, he spotted Jaim making his way through the crowds and out the door. He was already on his way to aquire the squadron a speeder.

Tak also saw Captain Tunon and Aston, walking back the way he and Layla had just come from. Aston was studying his datapad map, no doubt leading the way to the target. Aeric glanced over at the casino and shook his head upon seeing Jya as the centre of attention.

"We need to do something."

[Rogue 4]

"Yeah, but what do we do?" Layla's gaze didn't leave the situation with Jya and Arlan. "They're obviously going to run a check on them if we don't do anything, but if we do something we'll attract attention to ourselves as well."

---

That's bad, Nat thought to himself as he walked through the main room of the Planetary House, Nima at his heels. He was rumpled, with grease on his arms and the smell of starship coolant on him. Nima had said to look like a down on your luck spacer, and he'd done everything he could to get that across.

[Ender 8]

Jaim easily moved through the crowds of people, eyes peeled for a suitable target. There were far too many people on the streets to make a clean getaway possible, so Jaim entered a private garage about a klick away from the squadron's rendezvous point. Jaim quickly found a suitable candidate, a simple grey speeder with enough room for the squadron's purposes.

Jaim smiled as he hotwired the speeder's igniton. Stupid Imps didn't even set their security. Amateurs.

After making quick work of the ignition, Jaim hopped in and sped out of the garage to the rendezvous point.

[Mara 29]

Upon reaching the Planetary House, Kaden tried to get more into his brotherly "Skree" persona with his "sister" Kilee," so he turned to her, "I guess this is the next stop on our tour, Sis." They headed into the main lobby, staring up and around at all the beautiful architecture, all the while keeping an eye out for the other Revenants. Kaden spied a few, but didn't think it was time for them to make their move, so he continued to pretend to be a tourist. Which wasn't hard because instead of being confused about what the mission was exactly about, he was confused as a tourist might be.

[Rogue 4]

"Wait," Layla told him, holding onto his arm. "I have an idea, and I appologize in advance. Here, come with me."

They needed to get security off of Arlan and Jya, and at the same time away from where the rest of the team needed to go. Walking at a leisurely pace, Layla took him on a course that would lead him to the center of the room, as they Lieutenant Riamor, and Nima Secura, the latter of which was a skimpily dressed Twi'lek woman.

All of a sudden Layla reeled on Tak, jaw set and eyes angry. Her hand came up open-palmed, slapping him straight across the face. "You stupid, half-witted nerfherder! I can't believe the nerve you have!" At his confused expression she added. "Don't you think I didn't see you checking that Twi'lek tramp out, Krugar!"

[Ayingel 24]

Upon hearing Layla, Szen's attention flew from the building to the commotion Layla and the Lieutenant were making. What could possibly be the problem with those two? She looked at the other Revenants and saw the looks on their faces too, as well as the looks on all the rest of the innocent bystanders.

Edited October 18, 2007 by Ayingel

[Princess 35]

Nima rubbed up against Nat, "Are you going to let them talk about me that way? I'm no common dancer."

[Mara 29]

Kaden gently grabbed Szen's arm. "Let's go this way, Sis..." He lead her down one of the hallways away from the commotion, hoping that he could eventually find the right area to be in. One that wasn't crawling with people so they could look at their directions. "Maybe we'll find some more cool things to look at. Maybe look in on a senate meeting."

More quietly he added, "Might want to start jamming signals or something... See if you can get more Imperials to the casino with the fight away from the rest of us..."

As they turned around a corner, he spoke in his normal voice. "I wonder if there's something over here..."

Edited October 18, 2007 by Mara

[Drake 53]

Tak tried not to grin but he quickly picked up on Layla's plan and put on a look of confusion and mock innocence.

"What the frak are you talking about, you crazy, laserbrained, Gungan space wench!? You know I prefer those blue-skinned Twi'lek ladies over the purple ones!"

[Rogue 4]

"Did you just call me a...?!" Layla shook an angry finger at him, inches from his face. "How dare you!"

Nat felt Nima rub against him, and had to resist the urge to blush as bright as a Zeltron. Instead he focussed his gaze on Tak, making himself appear offended. "Are you saying my dancer isn't good enough for you? She's top of the line, wonderful bargain."

Layla really had to resist the urge to grin as she slapped him again, harder. "I knew it! My sister told me you were cheating with that two-timing tatooed glit-biter! And to think I actually believed you!"

[Drake 53]

Tak shifted his gaze to Nat and Nima and considered how much he might later regret what he was about to say. "Was I talking to you? Stay out of this, Blueberry. Go peddle your spice-whore somewhere else."

He caught a glimpse of Nima's widened eyes and the slight flush of Nat's cheeks before spinning back to Layla. "Your sister!? I wouldn't trust that lying Huttslime as far as I could throw her! And I couldn't even pick that bantha up!"

[Rogue 4]

"My sister?! What about your father! All that fat slob does is sit around and watch game shows on the 'net! I bet he hasn't even had the strength to scratch his own ass in years!" Layla and Tak's voices were steadily getting louder, their manerisms getting more and more hostile as they argued, right up in eachother's faces. Seeing how startled the other patrons were growing, security began to head towards the two. "Are you trying to tell me that you didn't sleep with that scheming wormie you two-timing manslut son of a Gammorean!"

Edited October 18, 2007 by Rogue

[Drake 53]

"Hey!" Tak roared. "Who're you callin' two-timing, you conniving little trollop!? I see the way you keep looking at that dirtbag ex of yours whenever he stops by asking for money. I bet you're sleeping with him, aren't you!? You traitorous piece of worm-ridden filth!"

[Rogue 4]

Nat and Nima made their way through the crowd where Aeric and Aston were. "Let's get in there before their little charade stops being funny."

"I'm a--I'm a traitorous piece of worm-ridden flith?!" Layla demanded, inwardly laughing and outwardly fuming. "You know what I wasn't---but maybe I should start! He was better than you'll ever be! And if anybody's got worms here, honey, I'm looking at him."

[Mara 29]

After going down a few more hallways, they were finally alone. Kaden stopped walking, figuring it was safe for them to decide what to do next. He didn't know what exactly kind of information they were looking for nor how to retrieve it; there was only a marked location on his datapad. They were still a couple hallways over from the 'lift that was marked.

He turned to Szen. "So what now?"

[Ayingel 24]

"Well, I'm trying to get ahold of Aston, to see if he can't do some of that signal jamming from where he is, but I don't know if I'm getting the message through to him." Szen continued typing something in. "I don't think he knows who 'Dad' is..." Looking up after she sent the message, Szen examined their surroundings. "Though, I think this is where we need to be." Taking out some makeup, she looked for a security camera. Pretending to put some on, she looked for an area it wouldn't see and marked it. "Now we know where we'll need to wait again if we're early. Lets walk around a little bit again to blend in and wait for everyone else."

[Mara 29]

Kaden nodded, understanding, before turning back to his Skree persona. "Of course, Sis. I'm sure there are things we haven't explored yet.." He and Szen turned another corner down another hallway.

[Andy 60]

Aston edged his way towards a door in one of the side rooms, while everyone was distracted. Aeric had watched someone enter the passcode to open the door, and Aston entered this code to unlock it. Glancing around quickly, so check nobody was paying attention, he slipped in and jammed the lock from the other side so the others could open it to get through.

He took a moment to take in the new area. A fairly standard back-room, this section was a clean hallway with various offices and other corridors leading off it. It was sparsely furnished, so did not offer much in the way of cover if they were spotted, but thankfully the doors were all clearly labelled so all he'd need to do is find the correct computer terminal. As Aeric came through the security door, Aston gestured towards a door and went through it, hoping to find a terminal.

[Drake 53]

I grow tired of this boring bit of mission. Moving along... *hyjacks characters*

In the fading light of dusk, Atuarre attempted to remain as stealthy as she could while creeping into a position at which to cover the Revenant's escape after their mission was complete. She was naturally taller than most humans and, even while hunched over and concealed by a large cloak, it was difficult to hide her true nature. It also didn't help that she had her sniper rifle strapped to her back.

Atuarre tried to stick to the shadowy alleys and sidestreets as much as possible but the streets around the Planetary House were well lit and she received a few curious looks before slipping back into the darkness.

Finally, after narrowly avoiding a patrol of Stormtroopers and climbing up a storm drain, she was atop a flat-roofed building adorned with an assortment of environmental equipment used to regulate the internal building temperature. The equipment would provide Atuarre sufficient cover from onlookers in adjacent buildings while still providing her with a clear sniper's view of the exit to the Planetary House.

After setting up her rifle, Atuarre hunkered down and waited for some action.

***

Aeric glanced back down the hallway he and Aston had just passed through. His hand rested on the spot on his jacket where the concealed blaster was hidden beneath. The lift they needed to get to would most likely be either passcode protected, watched carefully by security cameras or both. He had faith in the young slicer but if Aston somehow wasn't able to work a miracle to get them up that lift, they may have to resort in a trip to the armoury.

"Over here," said Aeric. "There's something in here."

The pair stopped in the entrance to an open and empty room. A row of computer terminals lined tucked against one wall. Aeric followed Aston into the room. The slicer chose a terminal that was out of sight from people walking by the door and began to set up his tools.

Aston cracked his knuckles, causing Aeric to glance back towards the door. "I don't think I can get into the military files from this terminal since we're still in a semi-public access network," Aston said as his fingers danced across the keyboard, "But I can definately get us up the turbolift to where we need to be."

"Or them." Aeric was pointing at one of the small screens Aston had sliced into. It was a view from one of the cameras in an adjacent hallway. It showed Kaden and Szen walking down the corridor en route to the turbolift leading up to the Industrial Military Control.

Aston nodded his head. "Yeah. One of them was sending me messages about jamming signals. Probably the Imperial comm frequencies. Let's see..." He went back to work, slicing his way into the computer network.

***

At one moment, Jya was the center of attention for the entire casino. Now it seemed as though all attention had shifted to a pair of heated voices in the main hall. The Gotal parlour manager, nearby casino patrons, and several security guards were all focusing on the arguing couple outside.

Not wasting any time, she turned to Arlan, who was busy scooping credit chips into his pack. "No time for that now. We have to get out of here while everyone is distracted. Come on." She downed the rest of her Blended Ewok then took Arlan by the hand and led the way past the preoccupied crowd.

At the shouting match going on in the hall, Arlan asked, "Is that...?"

"Yes," Jya said. "It's Kruger Jast and Imana Proul." She looked back at him and winked.

At first, Arlan looked confused at the false names for Takeshi and Layla but then changed his expression to one of sudden understanding. "Ooh. Thought so!"

Once they were away from the commotion, the pair slowed down, walking normally through the casino and out into the corridor beyond.

Arlan pulled out the datapad showing the map and location of their target. "We'll need to take a left down this hallway coming up."

"We're not going there," said Jya. She stopped and faced Arlan. "We should find where they keep all of their toys in case Kruger and Imana run into trouble." When Arlan raised an eyebrow, she stepped closer to him and patted the concealed hold-out blaser she had given him earlier. He nodded in understanding then grinned as she patted his other blaster.

***

Jaw still tingling from the double slaps he received as part of their charade, Tak could only help but laugh inwardly at the situation he and Layla had stirred up. Looking at her, she was fuming. It was a stark contrast to the cheerful Zeltron he knew and loved. However, Tak still caught a glimpse of humour in her eyes. It was hard to cover that, especially from him. He was sure she could see the same in him, through his mask of false rage.

Understanding the way of arguments, Tak began to slip into insults that didn't make much sense. "Oh, go lick a Hutt, you cheap, gutter trash, hauler skank! You're a kriffing, no-good rodder, just like your witch of a mother!"

[Rogue 4]

"Chaos take me!" Layla exclaimed in exasperation as securiy started making it's way through the crowd to them. "Listen you chuff-sucking flarg, you're sorry cargo hold better be lucky you got so much as a connect-disconnect with me let alone a relationship! So you can go crink yourself! I don't need someone who's obviously chewing the luna weed!"

Edited October 21, 2007 by Rogue