Fwurg

[Mercury]

Preparations had taken many weeks, but the operatives of the Union had finally formulated a plan for vengeance on the Mandalorians. The current Mandalor provided a unifying force for the Mandalorian factions, so change was in order. A new, weaker leader would not be able to keep them together, quickly reducing the Mandalorians back to infighting.

Of course, the current Mandalor was well protected, not to mention the leader of one of the most powerful Mandalorian factions. Moreover, the fact that there were lightsaber wielding folk there to support him was a complication. The leaders of the Intelligence Services however were certain they would be able to resolve these issues and make the mission a success.

A call went out to the Jedi Order for Jedi willing to undertake efforts to make these missions happen. No doubt some covertness as well as social skills and the ability to think on your feet would be required, but any person willing to face the challenge could contribute. With the call made, the command centre lay silent, officers and planners alike waiting for the Jedi to arrive.

((OOC: This is the start of the Regime Change storyline. This mission is intended for any number of Jedi who wish to join (regardless of level), and it is also possible to join as a special forces operative (but not a Jedi), should you so choose. I do limit this to one character per player only for reasons of my sanity. Please list your character name, force level (if applicable), the key abilities of your character (as in generically what are they good at, not what specific skills or force powers they have) and your posting frequency. Please be conservative if you are in doubt, so as not to unduly hold up the others.))

[Shebi Ajava]

The first to arrive in the command centre Shebi Ajava greeted the officers with a simple nod. As this was only to discuss strategy she felt it necessary that the Jedi presented a somewhat uniform apperance. So she wore her brown Jedi robes, incidentally hiding her iron belt and lightsabers from view and therefore appearing unarmed.

((OOC: Shebi Ajava; Force Level 9; Covert and Social Infiltration, Military Command, Operations in non-urban environments; twice per week.

Also, we already had Jedi Mission to retire Mand'alor? where a lot of people already pre-registered along with the information you want.))

[T'Sal]

((OOC: Like Brend said. Do we need to apply again?))

[Mercury]

((OOC: You dont need to reapply, but I want the information here for my convenience (Copy paste is fine), and also please introduce your character.))

[Ariana Danacia]

Shortly after Shebi Ajava arrived the door opened again. Ariana Danacia walked in the door. She waited for a second and than said: "Ariana Danacia reporting for duty." After which she took place next to Shebi Ajava.

For a keen eye both her lightsabers were visible on her belt. Ariana waited for the briefing to start.

((OOC: Ariana Danacia; Force level: 7; Roles: Slicer / Engineer / Medic / Fighter; twice per week.))

[Fecta Trigiel]

The third one to enter was Trigiel. He was in his durasteel nakedness as almost always. "Greetings."

((OOC: Only a Jedi or special guys :(, but now we are missing such a nice opportunity to work together with our PC special troops :'(.

Padawan Fecta Trigiel: Force level 7; Roles: Pilot, engineer, fighter, badass; Posting with my current activity: once per week.))))

[T'Sal]

T'sal enters the room in her new Jedi Knight robes. She bows and greets everybody.

"Good day to you all."

((OOC: Have made a little update, so
Jedi Knight T'sal Force level 8; role's: scientist, translator, engineer/stealth/slicer))

[Darones Rei]

Darones entered the conference room, wearing a set of his casual clothing for a change. He didn't look a Jedi at all, more like the youngster he in fact still is, despite his capabilities.

"Hello all, master, officers" Darones greeted the other Jedi, his teacher Shebi Ajava, and the officers all ready there.

((OOC: Padawan Darones Rei: Force level 6; Roles: Pilot, infiltator, engineer; Posting with my current activity: once per week.))

[Mercury]

((OOC: There will be opportunities to use special forces later on, but for now I am sticking to Jedi.))

"Welcome all!" The officer who spoke was an older human (or near human anyway) man with greying hair wearing a navy uniform. Ajava would know he was an admiral. "The objective of this mission is simple, but its execution is far from that.

In order to facilitate a regime change, we need to accomplish three objectives: first, we need to weaken the position of the current Mandalor. Second, we need to strengthen the position of his rivals. Third, we need to make sure that no single Mandalorian clan becomes so big that they will take over and put us in the same position we were in earlier.

The Mandalorians are their own worst enemy - by putting them on the level with one another, they will stop being a threat to the Union."

He looked over the group.

"To accomplish our first objective, we are sending in Jedi to tackle the Mandalorian challenge. You will undertake missions to sabotage and subvert the efforts of the Mandalor and his key figures. The goal is to make the other Mandalorian factions believe that their leaders are weak, not to outright destroy them.

Ajava Shebi ((OOC: sic)), Ariana Danacia, you two will travel to Ziost. Intelligence tells us the lightsaber wielding warriors who support the Mandalor have a base there. Your job will be to sneak into their base and sabotage whatever they are doing in such a way that it looks bad for those not present on site. We want to force their leader to come out of the shadows and reveal himself. If you need to, feel free to take out some of their number, but do not engage their leaders and do not reveal your presence. Again, we want them to look incompetent so make it showy."

Fecta Trigiel ((OOC: sic)), Tuh Sal ((OOC: sic)), Darones Rei, you three will travel to Xrim-459, a gas cloud in Sector 4 -6. The Xrim'Adate, a nomadic people native to the region, are in open rebellion against their Mandalorian overlords. You will assist them in their conflict and give them some showy successes. Do not engage in any open warfare - if the Mandalorians send in their full armada, they would wipe them out - but be sure to give them victory. We need the Mandalorians to seem as if they are not in control of the situation.

In both these missions appearance is key. Do not make it seem as if the Union is behind this, lest it might unite the Mandalorian Clans against us once more.

Any questions?"

[Ariana Danacia]

"We will require a stealthy ship and probably some explosives with a remote detonator. Nothing tells you that you screwed up as much as seeing your base crumble due to some 'accident'. Otherwise we could also use the explosives to create a diversion if we need to get out.

I think we will have to see what they are doing at the base before we can really decide how to stop it."

[Shebi Ajava]

"Admiral, does our intelligence contain anything on the number and types of vessels that enter and leave the base?", Ajava had little hope of getting any further useful information, but asking didn't hurt.

"And secondly, do we now of any other saber-wielding groups that this Mandalor might come into conflict with?"

[Fecta Trigiel]

"Sir, what intel do we have on the nomads on Xrim-459? What kind of vehicles do they use and what are the Mandalorians using? Have we any idea of numbers? And who will be our contact person?

Making it flashy should not be difficult. If we can show them that a droid and two children can beat Mandalorians, everybody can."

((OOC: What do you mean with sic?))

[Darones Rei]

Darones gave Trigiel a quirky look in response to his earlier statement before asking his question.

"Do we have any intelligence on exactly what it is that the Xrim'Adate want? Rebelling is one thing, but actually achieving once goal might prove too steep a challenge. If they however do have some tangible ideas on what they want, we might be able to secure it for them, further strengthening the threat they pose to the Mandalor and others."

[T'Sal]

T'sal also looks to Trigiel after his statement.

" I agree with Darones, we need to know more. As the Xrim'Adate are nomadic is will be hard to get close to them, so we can influence them. We need information about their customs and culture, so we have good coverstory."

[Mercury]

((OOC: I've had some delays OOC, I will post on this again Thursday))

[Mercury]

"Ajava Shebi, the base does not receive a lot of visitors, one or two ships a day that come and go. I suggest using stealth, rather than subversion to get in. With so few ships, they are unlikely to believe you are a scheduled arrival, unless you can acquire some sort of credentials. I cannot help you there though."

The admiral explained, continuing on with her other question. "Just how many light-saber wielding groups do you think there are? We don't know of any, regardless."

He turned to Trigiel.

"The Nomads fly anything with a hyperdrive, even if its a kitchen sink. I doubt anything would stand out amongst them, even if it was glowing purple." he explained "There's a lot of them, nobody is entirely sure how many, but hundreds of millions of individuals in total. Though obviously not all of them fighters."

"Your contact will be their head of state. They are expecting a Jedi delegation, so it should all work out. As to their objectives... You will have to ask them yourselves.

Your scientist raises a good point." The admiral referred to T'sal's point regarding difficulty getting close. "That's why I'm sending a protocol droid with you who can advise you on their customs. From there you should be able to figure it all out."

He looked around

"Any other questions? No? Good! Then off you go!"

((OOC: SIC means that the admiral is using names incorrectly, but I am aware of this fact and it is an IC mistake by the character, not an OOC mistake by me as storyteller.

If you have any final questions, now is the time to ask, otherwise gather up equipment and move out!))

[Shebi Ajava]

"Very well then. Stealth it'll be."

Ajava went back to the Jedi Temple to look up any information they had on Ziost. If the planet's environment requires special equipment to survive, she makes sure to get that from quartermaster Nishra. She also make sure to talk to quartermaster Nishra about getting a ship previously used by mercenaries or bounty hunters, at least something small, fast and without any Union colours.

She also sent a quick message to Ariana: "Ariana, let's discuss our options on the flight to Ziost. If you are proficient with a silent ranged weapon, place take one with you."

((OOC: Equipment:

• Her lightsabers, Talavāra and Katāra
• Her composite recurve bow, with 35 durasteel-tipped arrows
• A wireless communicator headset, worn
• A99 Aquata Breather

))

[Darones Rei]

"I have no further questions Master," Darones replied, "I guess we'll sort things out amongst ourselves." And with that he was ready to leave and prepare for the assignment.


"T'Sal, Trigiel, we can't full well bring some fighters and heavy ships with us. But we might be able to give them some success through the use of specific Union technology or by making certain improvements to theirs. In order to do so, we would need a ship that can handle a fight or two, a large stack of supplies and other equipment, and perhaps some technology one is willing to spare.

I could reach out the Sundarian Government and see if they might be willing to offer some high-end sensor arrays, it might give the rebellion an extra edge. What do you think?"

[Ariana Danacia]

Ariana responded to Shebi Ajava using her communicator. "No problem, we still have a long flight ahead of us. I will meet you in the hangar bay in two hours."

Ariana walked to quartermaster Nishra to get her equipment. "I know that we normally don't get any explosives but these are special circumstances and we will be in a hostile environment infiltrating a military base. I would like to bring 4 small blocks of explosives with remote detonators. Since our mission is to leave a mess behind we will need them to achieve our goal or we might need them to cover our escape."

((OOC: Equipment for Ariana:

• Dagger blade and regular blade lightsabers with short handles
• Communication pad (A very advanced touchscreen computer device for communication and interfacing with larger systems)
• Aerodynamic Backpack (containing First Aid Kit, Engineers Kit and the communication pad), worn
• A wireless communicator headset, worn
• Three sets of 5 lightweight throwing knives
• Aquata breather
• 4 bricks of explosives with remote detonators.

))

[Fecta Trigiel]

"One last question, will we stay in the gas cloud or fly around in the sector?

Darones Rei, I think providing them specific technologies might be a bit tricky as it can lead the Mandalorians back to the Union, but I like your thinking. I am thinking of using rather mundane weapons, and use their own equipment and ships for the victories. I can fly every kitchen sink with a hyperdrive, but lets figure the details out on site.

If you can get some good scanners that would be nice. Nothing too fancy, but some decent equipment which would do the job and is untraceable. I will ask Quartermaster Nishra for a fitting ship for this job."

After his last question was answered by admiral, Trigiel left to ask quartermaster Nishra for a ship. "Quatermaster Nishra, Darones Rei, T'Sal and I are having a mission to Mandalorian space in order to help the nomads in Xrim-459 to gain some victories. We need a ship capable of some battles, but which does not stand out as military or advanced and which is not obviously from the Union. For example, I believe a freighter with an attached laser gun is probably more suiting than a fighter.

After that Trigiel also went out to make himself familiar with the gas cloud Xrim-459 and made sure his body was up to speed to withstand the environment.

((OOC:

• Build in
  
  • sensitive optics (infra red, ultra violet, night sight zoom function)
    
  • Hidden water proof arm pockets for lightsabers
    
  • comm link (So no direct speech is needed)
    
  • Hidden water proof compartments at the side of both upper legs, big enough for a small blaster each.
• Carrying
  
  • Two tonfa handled lightsabers (in arm pockets)
    
  • A small blaster (in right hidden leg compartment)
    
  • A grappling hook 40 ft/ 14 m (as seen in episode 1, during the battle of Naboo) (Left leg compartment)
    
  • E-11 sniper rifle

))

[T'Sal]

"The Union has captured Madalorian ships so I do not think it will be too hard finding something flyable.

I agreed with Trigiel that we should not use any Union technology. I think it is better to improve their existing equipment and with my technological background I might be able to come up with something new. We need to able to blend in so some disguise outfits could be useful."

T'sal waited for the answer of the admiral and then left to get her stuff.
T'sal takes an old datapad and downloads all the information about Xrim-459 and the nomads on it as well as all information about the Mandalorians and their technology. She makes sure here datapad is secured. She packs her stuff and from her retrieving Mandalorian mission with her and also gets a Mandalorian outfit.

"Quarthermaster Nishra, is it be possible to that I can have some Mandalorian technological equipment, not necessary in working order, so I can study their designs and working. I think that a good scanning array on board so we can detected vessels in the gas cloud could be useful."

((OOC: * Worn Jedi Knight cloak
* Headset communicator
* Green short blade lightsaber

Shoulderbag:
* Secured old datapad with Xrim-459, nomads, Mandalorian (tech) information, translation matrix and slicing tools
* Historical and normal engineering kit
* Money (local en galactic)
* Blaster
* Flashlight and (corner) mirror

On ship
*Extra disguise outfit:
* Engineering cloths, blouses/jeans/warm quilted leather coat and headscarf, loose fitting with a lot of (secret) pockets.
* Durasteel shortsword (hidden on thight)
* In coat pocket small utilities like pencil/markers, tissues, etc.
* Mandalorian (nomadic) clothing
* Mandalorian tech equipment (aka scrap metal to play with)))

[Mercury]

Ariana and Ajava

"Sure, we can get you some explosives then. Long as it is for a good cause. You seem less likely to overuse them than that mudry anyway. These detonators can be set to be either timed or remote and you can set and reset the timer remotely or detonate them in sequence with a delay if you wish. The menu should be self-explanatory." Quarter Master Nishra got Ariana what she needed.

The quartermaster also got them an old mercenary ship with a brand new engine that kept the light vessel quite fast. It had no Union markings or transponder, but it did have a twin-linked laser cannon that could be controlled from a raised area at the top. One pilot and one gunner required, it'd stand up against fighters, but not against capital ships of course.

And with that, they were off to Zoist.

((OOC: For my sanity, now that the combined part is over, this story continues here. Upon completion we will return to this thread.))

Darones, Trigiel and T'sal

"How about a repaired Mandalorian tank-carrier. It was destroyed in the war, but we managed to fix it to flyable condition. The Mandalorians would know immidiately it was not one of theirs since it has no proper transponder code, but it would not stand out amongst a people known for flying repaired ships and for being in conflict with the Mandalorians. It used to ferry walkers and vehicles back and forth into battle so it has extensive armour and weapons for a ship of its size. It might be a bit big for the three of you, but you can probably find a use for the empty cargo bay." the quartermaster told Trigiel and T'sal. "It also has a good sensor array."

The ship was indeed big - for a 3 man ship anyway - but the actual crew compartments were cozy, most of the space being the big bay in which the vehicles were usually loaded. It had two twin linked lased cannons, one on each side, controlled by individual gunners and a rocket launcher which could be controlled from the cockpit. Most interestingly, the cargo bay could hold up to two fighters.

((OOC: For my sanity, now that the combined part is over, this story continues here. Upon completion we will return to this thread.))