Chapter 3: Archaic

[Andy 60]

As Aston left the sim room, he noticed Nima in the control room, presumably watching Szen's performance. She didn't look too impressed with Aston's joke, so he scurried off quickly to take a look around the base a bit more.

[Bad furday 57]

In the control room. Arlan leaned in and whispered something to Jya. Jya snickered and looked up at the screens.

The Death Star had launched its full compliment of 7,000 TIE fighters.

[Mara 29]

Kaden took off after Szen, passing over the top of the Star Destroyer. He was about to unquad his lasers to strafe her shields again when Artie screamed. This time, Kaden looked down at the sensor board.

So that's why the destroyer's gunners seem drunk. They don't need good aim...

He got on his thrusters and slowed down a few meters from the other X-wing and made a snap decision.

"Artie, open up another comm channel to Szen. Change of plans."

Artie warbled a bit and then made the connection. Kaden clicked the channel open.

"Szen, new course of action. I hope you're not too damaged because it seems we have some work to do."

[Ayingel 24]

"I'm fine." Szen blinked as she saw the TIEs. "Not sure how long that's going to last though." She switched to quad fire and braced for what was inevitably coming next.

The droid on her X-Wing tootled something about the shields.

"Keep them where there at. I don't want any surprises..."

[Chickenman 9]

Aeric caught up with his executive officer.

"Fill me in, Nat."

[Princess 35]

Nima shook her head. She guessed that Aston was behind this and she smiled briefly, at least this wasn't the world's most boring sim run ever to watch anymore. She wondered if Kaden was really going to take on a Death Star with only himself and Szen. She looked over to Jya and Arlan. "10 creds says that Kaden decides to play the hero and gets himself and Szen spaced."

[Mara 29]

Kaden took a deep breath, his mind spinning. "All right... That SD doesn't seem very accurate, so we're gonna pull an Endor.

Stay near the hull and let the eyeballs come to us. If we're lucky, there'll be some friendly fire."

Artie let out an electronic series of beeps, loosely translated as "What the kriff do you think you're doing??"

Kaden ignored his droid and moved his X-wing farther down the hull of the destroyed to keep ample room between himself and Szen.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

"If I were a gambler, I'd take that bet," Atuarre chuckled as she entered the room. Her mind was still on Layla and how once again she hadn't been there for her wingmate. Except this time it wasn't a simulation.

[Rogue 4]

Nat wasn't sure what exactly the Commander wanted him to know, so he told him what he knew. "Lieutenant Beskar already called Officer Nasrin's family to inform them of the kidnapping. I sent him off to find appropriate disguises for the squadron. As for myself, I just caught up with the chief mechanic from Altagak. According to him we only have four X-wings intact from our squadron, and although you say Admiral Besav authorized our mission, nobody seems inclined to want to give us any new X-wings, and the old one's I've been offered I personally wouldn't want Captain Slade to fly in."

[Princess 35]

"But you don't want to bet against a sure thing, huh girlie?" Nima turned to look at Atuarre. "How are you holding up?"

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

"As well as can be expected. I hope your time off was more productive than mine, even if it was cut short." She sighed. "I hope we get going soon. The longer we wait, the more difficult this is going to be."

[Princess 35]

Nima sat next to Atuarre. "It was short. I'd just ran into my mother while I was on Ryloth. After I'd run into Lt Riamor. You wanna talk about embarrassing? My mother meeting my XO and asking him what his intentions were towards me. That's embarrassing."

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

Atuarre grinned. "Good intentions, I hope. My mother keeps trying to force me into politics, so we've barely spoken in years."

[Princess 35]

"What's that grin for? And I'm sorry that you haven't spoken to your mother." Nima closed her eyes. "There were too many years that I couldn't talk to my mother and I missed her so much."

[Chickenman 9]

Aeric shrugged. "To be honest, I probably wouldn't want to use X-Wings anyway. Corellia's not exactly teeming with them. If we want to blend in we should find something a bit more low profile." He grinned, an idea already forming. "Did Tak mention what kind of disguises he was planning on finding for us?"

[Rogue 4]

"I agree. Xwings are not the best idea in any Imperial system, but I was trying to see what we had at our disposal." Nat's lekku curled thoughtfully. "We could join the Lieutenant and see what he has planned."

[Chickenman 9]

"Let's." He extended his arm as though about to escort Nat.

[Rogue 4]

Nat gave him a quizical look. He swore humans could be crazy sometimes. Between him and Takeshi today he was baffled. Reluctantly he made a call to find out where the other Lieutennant was. They walked down to meet him, Nat taking Aeric's arm at no time during this brief walk.

[Vergere 1]

Brier and Zak, still in their typical Corellian clothing, most of which has seen much use during smuggling runs, decided to head down to one of the more seedy cantinas, Brier hoping to escape some of the more boring hubub of being legal. She grinned as she looked around her, smiling the smile of a predator as she entered the dark area.

She glanced at her husband. "You read me so well."

Zak kissed her cheek and led her to a table in the back. "Yes, well, part of my charm I guess." He lifts up a pair of drinks as a serving droid walks by and hands one to Brier as they go and sit down.

She shook her head. "No getting me into trouble."

He looked a bit too innocent. "Sweetheart, you don't need me for that. You find trouble just fine, all on your own." He smiled and took a sip of his drink as she laughed.

[Drake 53]

Tak navigated his way through the twisting halls of the Wardrobe level until finally arriving at the sewing room. He stepped through the sliding double doors into a large room filled with row-upon-row of sewing machine droids. All of the machines were busy making, repairing and altering various articles of clothing.

He turned and stepped over to one of the machines, near him, to get a closer look. The droid arms picked up a uniform shirt with a rip along the seam and a pair of holes in the armpits. After scanning the garment, another pair of arms, these equipped with sewing attachments, set to work repairing the damage. In seconds, the droid was finished and the uniform looked almost like new. An instant later, the shirt was gone down a return chute and a new garment was being inspected.

Takeshi had seen this process many times before but he still marveled at the speed and precision the machines possessed. A thought suddenly occured to him that the Revenants would need those very same attributes on the coming mission.

Tak heard the footsteps approach from behind him several seconds before the person spoke. He already had a good idea of who it was.

"Excuse me, sir," came the female voice. "You're not authorized to be back here."

He smiled and turned around to face the woman, saying, "You know that's never stopped me before, Drana."

The slender, green-skinned Nautolan woman standing before him burst into a huge smile. "Tak!" She rushed over and gave him a hug.

[Chickenman 9]

Aeric grinned slightly at Nat's obvious confusion. To be fair, Aeric confused himself. Now Aeric frowned slightly. He was probably confusing the entire squadron. Calm and laidback, joking even, one moment, and then the depressed shell of a human being the next. He'd have to work on that. See if Nima couldn't prescribe him something. She probably couldn't. Could medics make prescriptions.

And so Aeric's mind wandered until he spotted the Mandalorian-armored Takeshi Beskar.

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

"Can't say I really miss my mother. She's an overbearing old shrew." Her expression softened. "Though, I am glad you share a closeness with your mother. As for the grin, well, I'm sure Lieutenant Riamor is very handsome by Twi'lek standards. He seems kind enough, even if he is a bit stiff."

[Princess 35]

"He's a different person when he's away from Starfighter Command. He's more relaxed, not hiding behind that stiff facade he puts out." Nima stared off into space as she remembered him rubbing her back while she cried and then lending her his coat so that she didn't have to face her squadron dressed in so little. Of course, she half suspected that was to spare him some embarrassment from showing up with her dressed so skimpily too.

[Pandora 77]

Tyrena

Deign sat at his desk, a holo of the Diktat spoke to him.

"I take it, Argos, that you have captured your traitor?"

"Yes, your excellency, I have. And I've already begun personally interrogating her," Deign answered sharply. Why did the Moff always insist on calling him so late at night? Not that he was sleeping anyway but he'd only just returned from Layla's cell.

The Diktat's expression was cold and calculating. Other than this, no emotion was evident. Typical. "And? I take it you've yet to extract anything of value to the Empire?"

"This particular interrogation requires... caution and precision. And patience." Deign winced inwardly. That one won't go over well.

The Diktat's expression flashed to anger for just a nanosecond. "The Empire is in need of information and Archaic is in need of my favor. I don't need to remind you what the consequences will be if you disappoint me again. Think of your family, Deign. Think of how I could hurt them. I am giving you twenty-four hours to extract something of value and report it to me. Personally. In twenty-four hours and one second from now, if I don't have information--good information, Argos--I'll take matters into my own hands. Which includes the termination of your... term... as Archaic Leader. Have I made myself clear?"

Deign swallowed hard. He wasn't sure if it was fear or rage that sent him trembling, but either way he forced his body to limit the shaking to his hnds only, which were hidden under his desk. "Abundantly clear, your excellency."

The Diktat cut the communication and Deign let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and, elnows on his desk, rested his face in his hands as he considered his options. His first concern was his family. They were, afterall, the reason he got involved with Archaic. His parents had worked too hard for too long with too little reward, and Archaic had presented the quick cash his family needed to get back on their feet after his father had been injured. He didn't need to wonder what the Diktat meant when he said he could hurt them. It had already been made apparent to Deign that his father would be executed and his mother and siblings would be sent to work on some distant and cruel planet in the harshest environs the Diktat could arrange until they too were disposed of when they became too old or injured to wok sufficiently.

The thought of his mother cowering from some cruel foreman burnt his eyes. One tear fell from his left eye before he gathered his wits and forced the visions away. Time to consider Layla's interrogation.

Cale's report will surely be usefull. And there's no need to wait until it is in the Diktat's hands before he held it over Layla's head. Sena or the New Republic, that would be her choice. Deign hoped that in doing this he'd get both. Years ago, when he'd ony just gotten involved with Archaic, his goal had not been Imperial indoctrination, it was merely to create a comfortable life for his family... and a wife if one would have him. When he thought back far enough, to the happy times with Layla when they were courting, the man in the mirror now was not who envisioned himself to turn out to be. What he didn't realize in his quest for success was how thoroughly the Empire would permeate his existence.

How many days had he spent sequestered in his quarters after he'd issued the kill order on Layla? And how many of those days had he refused food and drink, weeping like a widower? He'd told himself lies, that Layla had been against him the whole time, that she'd turned his sister from him, turned the pain to anger just to get by. Of course he'd never admit this to anyone, especially Layla. What good would that do? Better to let her go on hating him in case... in case he got too near to his deadline to reason with her.

Deign considered all this as he readied for bed. He knew he should get to work right away while Layla was still groggy, but she was a fighter, much more accustomed to sleep deprivation than he was. Even if that weren't the case, he was in no emotional state for a grueling interrogation at this point. He'd feel better in the morning, he told himself as he stripped down to shorts and his undershirt and laid down heavily between the sheets. "Alright, punk up, Argos. You've got a job to do. It's just business as usual." Thoughts, worries, memories assaulted him in a flurry of visions. Deign pulled the covers over his head in the hopes of stopping the barrage.

It didn't.

Edited June 23, 2008 by Pandora

[Winters 0]

Cale Sano sat up after putting his head down for a minute. The the gods I'm finished. He thought. It was morning now and his report was finished... FINISHED! He looked around at several empty caf cups and data chips that were scattered around his desk and the floor. After a minute of sobering reality of how long he was up, he stood up, then became dizzy with the sudden movement. He took a shower, hoping that it would wake him up. After changing, he look at what he had to do, then realized that he had to meet with a client using a meeting room in one of the main buildings. He made sure he had everything, feeling his pockets, picked up the data chip that held his report.

****

After a few minutes, he made it to the meeting room that was being used, waited a minute to make sure that he was presentable and away, got into his actor's mask, then walked it. Inside was Talon Karrde, a somewhat short man and a woman not much shorter with long dark hair. Karrde turned around and stood up to greet him. "Mr. Sano!" Karrde said happly, walking with an open hand. "Sorry, but the meeting is over."

"Well, pity." Cale said, shaking his hand.

"Don't worry, you wouldn't have found out anything." Karrde happily added.

"Are you sure?" Cale asked.

"Yes, but let's move on. I have a present for you." At that moment, the two people spoke to Karrde for a moment then left. Cale looked at the two as they left. "You couldn't pay me enough to give you who that is, not to mention that it would look bad for them that they get their intel from me." Karrde walked to the desk he sat at to retrieve a package, and handed it to Cale.

"Chocolates?" He asked.

"Yes, chocolates, but they have something inside you'll really love. Really hard to come across to get that info, I even had to ask a few clients for that, luckly one pulled through, but, I think you're worth it; but it helps that my client overpays me." Karrde chuckles. He then collected his stuff from the desk than walked over toward the door. "No payment needed for it, it's on the house, espically for the circumstances..." They shook hands and Karrde walked away. Cale walked toward the door and walked as close to it as possible, then fished into the package of chocolate. His warm fingers pressed against the chocolate then it felt a cold metalic item, pulled it out, and saw a datachip.

"There are few things in the world more important than information." He put it into a shirt pocket, away from everything else, and walked to the office of Deign Argos.

****

Cale Sano walked to the office of Cale Sano.

"I'm here to speak to Mr. Argos." He said to the assistant.

"I'll tell him that you are here." And she walked away. Cale looked around, holding the package of chocolates, and sat down.

He opened the package of chocolates and ate one. "I honestly wish that life was like a box of chocoates, all sweet and such..."