The perpetually blank face of Commander Kererra appeared suddenly upon a recently activated datapad sitting patiently on a nearby console. It chirped in anticipation of usage, it's content slowly turning into accelerated ambition. Nearly four crewman motioned in the equipment's direction, but one of their guests waved them off. He stood from his chair on the bridge, rising with a sigh. The woman that accompanied him had already reached the modified communication device and was waiting for his presence to answer it's call.

Ensign Baddle caught a look of annoyance from the one with the Army callsign 'Jakireth', his thoughts racing:
I had to go into covert transportation... Dad told me over and over...pick something more...official...

"Good to see you again, Lance Corporal." The Commander noted from behind the plasma screen.

"And to you, sir." Jakireth stated, forcing a smile, "You have anything for us? It's been a week..."

Kererra did his best to keep from laughing; a stir in composure was the result on the datapad.

"I apologize Garrick, but I'm sure you and Sergeant Evani have kept busy. Especially on a Naval ship... Perhaps you can start your own version of circle time with the ship's crew?"

Evani straightened up at this, retorting about as nicely as possible, given the situation:

"Humor...and even more important when of the dry type..." She smiled, "Doesn't seem to remedy the scenario, sir."

They had been stuck on a vessel employed through division relations for over eight days. It hadn't seemed that bad...at least for the first few hours. After that, the experience of floating about on an extremely fast hyper-space freighter lost the value of excitement. They also had little time to make contact with their target if this assignment was to succeed, and they couldn't make the needed preparations without word from support on Tadath.

As a result, the pair were in the least bit amused by the current conversation.

"It's apparent that it doesn't..." The Commander grumbled, "But, I do have backing from the boys upstairs to send you in." He paused, holding up a hand and fumbling with a device not shown in their square of vision. Soon thereafter, his image was shown across the entire bridge of the Navy ship Solitude.

Grinning with the satisfaction of knowing he had enlarged and magnified an inter-stellar conference, Kererra cleared his throat and pointed at the properly labeled man on the deck.

"Captain," He nodded, "We have authorization. Proceed to deliver our overly patient pair to their destination." His last comment was laced with a good amount of sarcasm.

"Of course, Commander." The ship's Captain acknowledged, walking quickly over to the crewman currently at the engine controls.

Jakireth turned about, trying to provide himself with enough time to pack his belongings. They weren't allowed to carry much, but he could at least make sure his firearms were concealed in the off-planet check.

"And Garrick..." He said, rolling his eyes as the LCPL simply turned his head to the side in reply, "You two were picked for a reason, and your skills are noted. However...these people do it a lot better than we can."

Evani came up to his side, laughing as she predicted her friend's thoughts.

"The hell they do..." He yelled over his shoulder, never one to disappoint.

*    *    *    *    *

"There she is..." Ensign Baddle said to himself, his face a testament to his love for the stars. When he was little, his mother would take him out to look at the night's sky... and he knew from that first experience what he would do with his life. His gaze was currently set on a mysterious planet; one that earned a sly reputation.

He had taken up an assignment on the Solitude because it provided an amazing chance to constantly see new phenomenon. Solar flares, particle explosions...he loved it all. The business the ship was in...that was a different story. They were constantly involved in black operations because of the structure and speed of the ship, and nearly always received their orders from high-level division command.

"Gerry," He said into his ComLink, "Notify the Sergeant and Lance Corporal we have achieved orbit around Bothawui."

*    *    *    *    *

Jakireth had no sooner shown his personal handgun to the launch chief in the hangar then he ended up on the ground with his hands over his head.

"The word was 'loaded', you simpleton." He spat, pointing to the fourteen inch indent now visible on the wall. It was a damned good thing it was on the lowest setting. With his luck, he was surprised the chief hadn't blasted a hole through the shield controls and they involuntarily began leaking oxygen.

"Problem?" Evani asked, appearing from the back of the shuttle and peaking from behind a partition.

He snickered, standing up and straightening the cloak he was wearing. It was surprisingly clean, despite the fall...and several attempts from the Sergeant to spill juice on it the night before.

"Nah..." He replied, "Tool man just has some patchwork to do." He switched his gaze to the now blushing mechanic, "They don't teach you guys weapons handling?"

"Of course. We get the basic runaround, but we don't necessarily have to pass the markmanship test." The man said, twitching slightly.

Jakireth became a bit worried at this, motioning for his weapon as a result. Once it was reholstered, he grabbed at his duffel bag and walked up the rear ramp.

"Good luck with that," He said to the chief, once again raising his pointer finger to the wall as the hatch closed.


The interior of the forward cabin and connecting control section were actually quite nice, leading the pair to believe it was fairly new. Jakireth had trouble finding a name for the area the pilot sat, although common knowledge told him 'cockpit'. However, it seemed large for the words definition, and extremely small for a command bridge. Whatever it was called, he took a seat near the seemingly friendly figure who would lead them to the final part of their mission.

"Ever fly something like this?" The pilot asked, turning around to see the faces of his two passengers, then returning to his original position.

Jakireth nodded, "Four years, atmospheric flights. Two of those were even official." He laughed, "I branched into a little drop work like this, but not often."

"And you, miss?"

The Sergeant almost exploded with laughter, doing her best to try and calm herself down.

"My talents don't necessarily lie within any vehicle..."

"My apologies, then," Their host stated, "I'd love to give you a lesson, but my orders are to get you to the planet in one piece."

*    *    *    *    *

The Bothan homeworld was covered in super-structures; buildings flying high into the clouds. Hundreds walked the streets, everyone weary of what someone else was doing. If anything was to be obvious, it was that this area lacked trust. Of course, the birthplace of espionage (as Jakireth called it) wouldn't be one to retain such a trait. Any business that needed to avoid the regular prying eye wasn't to be kept in the open. However, the people here were certainly cordial. Perhaps it was common practice to smile to a face while plotting something behind their back?

"Avoid seeming as if you're clearly an off-worlder...yet try to shed yourself of a persona that seems like you're doing so." Jakireth said softly, whispering into his comrade's ear as they boarded a railed transportation unit. "If there's anything we don't need, its attention."

She nodded, "I don't need to feel special in an unfamiliar environment, stop worrying."

Districts sped by, leaving the pair to constantly adapt their eyes to the blurry changes. Night was falling, and it seemed the entire universe erupted with light. The cabin of the tram was momentarily plunged into darkness, and forced many of it's aging occupants to move restlessly. As the illumination panels clicked on, they regained their unreadable expressions.

"Oh," Evani said suddenly, "I have the information for our accomodations."

"Alright..." Jakireth added, "But we're staying something nice, right? I always gotta be put up in style."

"You?" She asked, "Those beds better be made with the highest thread count."

*    *    *    *    *

The Hotel Escalon stood several hundreds stories high, housing many thousand visitors to Bothawui. The establishment included a multitude of bars and restaurants, and also played host to swimming and sports facilities. If Jakireth and Evani weren't on a severely important assignment...they might actually have enjoyed it.

"If you'll grab your things, I'll show you to your appropriate rooms." A staff member said in a polite tone.

"We'd appreciate that..." Jakireth mumbled with thanks.


 
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The"Stallion"Horsie
Iron Horse Squad
Army of the Vast Empire
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TRP/LCPL Jakireth/1SQD/1PLT/1CMP/1RGT/1BAT/Tadath/VEA[LoR]
Rep/Reporter Jakireth/NewsRep: 2/News Division/VET/VE