Arcas frowned. He didn't expect the security to be this stringent. He was becoming more and more certain that the prison was some sort of front. On the other hand, he was a bit proud that he was chosen to guard such a place of great importance, but on the other, it was still a very poor front full of incompetence.

Regarding this situation, Arcas was quite certain that he was talking to a communications officer or some other fairly junior officer who is merely relaying orders. Well, two can play at that game. And Arcas had no reason not to go all in.

"My guest would like to inform you that he will only communicate his identity on a discrete channel, directly to a commanding officer. So I must ask for your operating number and clearance level."

After clicking the microphone off again, Arcas turned towards the people gathered in the cockpit. After scanning through the collection of aliens and one human with a very specific accent, he said "I need someone who would make for a good ISB agent on the comm."

Devon nodded quickly and activated his comm.
"Four, get up here now - we're gonna need you."
When the Zeltron arrived, Devon indicated Lin and Arcas with a jerk of his head.
"They'll explain.  Hope you're on form right now, this needs to be convincin'."


If only that destroyer wasnt RIGHT in our path...
"Everyone else - we're gonna need a back up plan in-case we cant talk our way outta this.  Ideas, now."

For his own part, Devon started running numbers through the nav-computer.  If they were forced to simply run, then it wouldn't really matter which direction they went in - they wer'nt trying to jump to anywhere in particular, the key was going to be jumping OUT of this system as fast as possible...
He began comparing the positions of their shuttle, the two destroyers, the edge of the planets mass-shadow... added in how fast the Destroyers could reposition, their TIE complements... trying to find a route that took the shuttle to safety as quickly as possible.

Heigren looked between the Imperial and the Pantoran with equal interest.  Seeing the latter was madly doing something on her computer he looked to Arcas instead.

"What do you need me to do?"

"We need to purchase time for your slicer to get our late Major's clearance codes.", Arcas explained briefly.

"So listen close: You are an Imperial Security Bureau agent, sent here to do something extremely classified which involves the prisoners on the planet. Now you have acquired valuable information which you are discreetly transferring to another location. Because of the sensitive nature of your work, you do not want to leave any trails.

Now some officer on some door guard Star Destroyer is making things difficult and interrupting your additional interrogation on this shuttle. If anyone shoots you down, your organisation will make sure they will disappear into Kessel, never to be seen again. So when they want to talk to you, allude to your important operation, threaten them with an ISB investigation. And once we have them, give them the Major's codes. I'll provide you with any names or facts you might need. Questions? If not, then good luck."

Arcas hoped that the ruse was bold enough to work. If the facility had no reason to suspect foul play, surely no-one would think anyone was mad enough to try anything like this... Then again, it was a prison. A prison full of malnourished people on their last bit of energy, but a prison nonetheless.

"Fair enough.  So do I have a name or rank in the ISB or do you want me to keep that all super secret?"

Arcas thought about the question for a second.

"If you want to use the traitor's name, do that. Anything you don't know is classified."

Mika had been monitoring the situation from engineering, it didn't look good.  The engines one the shuttle weren't going to outrun the Imperial fighters and the shields weren't going to stand up to the fighters blasters, much less the Star Destroyers.

The bluff was the best chance...  or at least a bluff.  Audio might screw things, so she keyes in a quick message to Devon.  "I can try to rig the engines, reactor leak or implosion or something, not sure how it might help.  Let me know."

Sending that off, she starts looking at the engine schematics again, looking for inspiration.

Heigren's eyes darted quickly to Devon and Kyvarr at Arcas's casual discussion of 'traitors'.  This wasn't the time for that chat.  His mind whirred.

"So I'm an ISB agent but I'm not giving any form of tangible proof I am one?  Your plan is to use the Major's code but not have the Major speak to them?  Any ideas how I pull that off?  Is there some Imperial procedure where you'd talk to one person but give a whole different set of codes?"

His tone was thoughtful as if he was speaking to himself as much as Arcas as he considered the angles.  The Zeltron had pulled off some cons in his time, but this would be the king of all hustles unless Arcas hadn't let him in on something he'd missed.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:52, Tue 03 Oct 2017.

Arcas snorted, giving a slight, grim grin.

"Of course there is no such procedure, that would be incredibly insecure. But this is not about procedure; This is about fear, ego and authority. If they believe that following procedure will get them into trouble, they will start shifting the blame to someone else. In this instance, it would be the Major. So if intimidating them fails, just say that you are using the Major's authority and he takes full responsibility."

The ex-officer turned towards the console, looking at the light that would indicate an incoming signal.

"That is the price of Internal Affairs", he said to no-one in particular.

Heigren sighs and bends over the mike as Arcas activates it.

His voice immediately takes on an air of authority and arrogance.  "And I can tell you now, if I've been bothered for some triviality Lieutenant.  Do you hae him up?  Fine.  Now can you tell me why I've been pulled from important business to chat to some nobody comm trooper whose next assignment will be scrubbing an acid vat while it's full if he doesn't stop wasting my time?"


Bluff: 35

The comm was silent for a few moments before a clearly nervous reply answered.  "Uh yes sir.  Sorry sir.  It's just your shuttle crew have yet to submit valid codes for an unauthorised shuttle transfer.  If you could transmit your clearance that would be sufficient.  We. . .uh, have no record of an ISB presence on that station."

"Of course you have no record!"  Heigren exclaimed.  "Do you think we advertise our comings and goings?  No.  Why I wouldn't have found the level of incompetence I had with an announced visit.  I will be dealing with this when I return.  Unbelievable what you let people get away with here.  Now the incompetents can't even file a flight plan."

He turns away from the shuttle comm and shouts backwards so his voice comes over the comm but it's clear he's yelling at the bridge crew.  "Comms, get that damn incompetent Stennings on the comm and get him to clear this damn flight.  I'm gonna have him cleaning septic tanks with his tongue for this.  Lets high value prisoners rot in a prison for nobodies without interrogation and now this.  When Lord Vader hears of this the Major will be lucky if he only has to deal with me."

Heigren walks out the cockpit door still yelling and slamming the door.  Once he'd gone a few steps he quietly slipped back in.  He winked at Arcas and gestured to the comm, gesturing that Arcas should take over talking.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:56, Thu 05 Oct 2017.

A satisfied smile on his lips, Arcas leaned to the comms. "We are acquiring the clearance from Major Stennings, hold on".

Then he clicked the mic off again. "Well done. If we can just get the codes quickly enough, I believe we can slip away while they are sorting out their response. Well done", Arcas repeated, then glancing at the blue slicer working on the encryption.

"If that dont go for this, we're gonna need to get outta here pretty fast."  Devon muttered.

Making sure he didnt talk when Arcas was transmitting to the Star Destroyer, Devon started sending orders out via his Talon commlink.
"Ten - this shuttle has tough shields... but if that Destroyer starts shootin' we're gonna need all the shields we can get.  Dont take engines or hyperdrive offline - we still gotta be able to run away... an' not life support either, the bacta cylinders, remember?"

Devon paused for a moment, lips moving silently as he planned.
"Five - you're in charge of  gunnery, Two an' Six will help out - switch to whatever turrets best at the time... Arcas, you'll be on gunnery as well if we have to.  No-one shoots till we are certain we need to, OK?

Golden-Eye... you'll be doin' Ops if this turns into a fight, you know what to do?

Nine, report to the bridge, please."

Devon turned and looked directly at Arcas, Lin and Heigren.
"Do what you can to avoid turnin' this into a fight, guys." he said, earnestly.
"We're on course an' have our jump plotted already - all you gotta do is buy time."

Devon glanced over his should as Zyra entered the bridge.
"Ten, you wanna act as commander if this turns into a shootin' match?  keep us all coordinated."

OOC:  Yes, I stole Hans line, it was too perfect not to :) 

"Ummm, right."  The comm operator stammered, obviously still shaken from his conversation with ISB Agent Heigren.   He paused then seemed to recompose himself.

"Sensors show you two minutes from the Vendetta.  You have ninety seconds to submit your code or you will be required to land on board and your commander and supply his code manually."

Lin gave Heigren a grin as he passed her. It was her way telling him, she had liked the performance. "Im almost there", she said. "Just keep on flying normally and I'll have you the codes soon." She sounded more or less certain about that statement, her fingers still dancing across the keyboard. "And yes, I know. But this won't come to a shooting match, not unless you tip them off somehow."

Lin seemed to be enjoying herself. She was free from enprisonment, surrounded by people who generally seemed to know what they were doing and she was doing what she knew best, slicing in to Imperial codes. What else could a girl ask of life in space? Well, perhaps a long shower.

Mika rolls her eyes at Devon's instructions.  Keep the shields, the engines, the hyperdrive, life support, and apparently the gins based on the orders to Arcus.  Of course, she'd consider this whole mess a failure if Mark dies.  And now the offer to take over as commander...  But the best she could tell, about the only places Devon was leaving out is comms and sensors.  That would give a bit of extra kick, but not much.

"I'll take it if you want me to, but we'll need some one to take over engineering for the duration."

Zyra smiled as she commed Mika.  "He was talking to me Ten.  I think he's forgotten my number!  He IS getting old after all.  You stay where you are."

She took a chair on the bridge.  "I'll do what I can to help.  I'm a bit rusty though."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:03, Mon 09 Oct 2017.

The subjectivity of the passage of time flowed at various speeds for those within the cockpit.  For some, the time seeme to drag interminably, an eternity passing as the Star Destroyer came inevitably closer.  For Lin, it seemed to pass in a nanosecond.  Still absorbed in the task of cracking an Imperial code cylinder on the fly without the proper tools was taking up all her faculties.

Ninety seconds came and went.  The slicer didn't notice.  But with typical Imperial precision the comm came to life once more.

"Gamma Shuttle G654873.  Your time is up.  I require supply clearance authorisation and code immediately."

Dohr had double and then triple checked everything in the Med Bay and decided that there was nothing there he needed to do right now. The first Lin, Doctor Lin-Wan had everything under control, so the Kel Dorian made his way to the Bridge instead. He stood at the entrance for a little while to get a grasp of what was going on, but even after a minute or so he still wasn’t sure he got it all. To remove distractions, the Doc hadn't been listening on the Talon channel for the few minutes they'd been airborne. He now wished he had.

Apparently the Imps were giving them a hard time for not providing the needed codes and Heigren had picked up a role of an imperial spy or something. Several people were talking at the same time. Some where checking the displays and hitting some buttons and switches. Lin was concentrating completely on hacking the codes. Arcas was making funny faces and hand signs at Heigren. Devon had a familiar frown on his face saying the Talons were in a tight spot once again, but all was not lost yet.

Dohr made sure the Zeltron didn’t have a line open before he headed over to Devon. ”Seven, I am available too. I can assist with any computer systems or man a turret or wherever you need me. There is nothing more I can do for One at the moment.” Granted, the Doc had served in the Dorinian army not the navy, but he had experience and skill in using heavy weaponry. A blaster cannon wasn’t that much different from its laser-version  big brother, now was it?

Arcas had spent the time thinking, index fingers pressed against each other, eyes on the arrowhead shape in the distance. If the slicer did not complete her task in time, at least they bought one major boon: The Vendetta would want to tractor them in instead of destroying them outright. Right now, it would make all the difference.

"Do you have any high-yield explosives?" Arcas addressed the man in charge, moments before the timer was up. "I have a couple of plans if this code gambit fails, if you are interested."

After the ultimatum by the Star Destroyer, Arcas exhaled. "Engineering, I need some comm interference", he said, preparing to answer the comm.

"You'll get the bloody codes soon", a sharp retort came from the direction of the Operations console. It was all Lin said, her fingers working faster than before. Of course, it was not a matter of whether she was able to break the codes, it was more so, when she was able to do it. She knew, she was close to getting through the decryption, which was a huge feat with this little time, when normally one would have spent at least hours on such a thing. Doing it on the fly and without a specialized set of computers and programs, she was doing a remarkable job at it.

"I've got a few kilos of detonite, some breaching chargers and various detonators in storage."  Kyvarr offered from tactical.  Why do you want them?"

"Yeah, I'm wonderin' that myself." said Devon quietly.  He made a conscious to not reach for his blaster - remembering what Fiarr had said: if their escape went wrong, Arcas knew he was dead, one way or the other.  But Dyre's betrayal had left the shipjacker a little more paranoid...

Besides, by Devons count there was at least two other people in the room who would happily shoot Arcas before he could, if it came to that.

Arcas gave engineering a few seconds to add interference to his comm message. Whether or not he got any, he answered the Imperials: "This is Gamma Shuttle G654873. Transmitting Sigma-3 clearance and authorisation code now", he said, sending out only the clearance authorisation. If they ask for the code, Arcas' last chance is blaming a transfer failure and buying a few more seconds.

Then he turned towards the others. "The turbolasers are going to be the least of our problems. The Vendetta will very likely move to intercept us and tractor us into the hangar if they do not fall for our ruse. If they get a tractor lock, it will be nigh-impossible to break free."

"But there might be a way out. If they use the same tractor beam station that they use to dock TIE fighters, the emitter is very close to the hangar. So if we can generate a large enough blast to knock the emitter out, we might be able to fly under the effective targeting range of Vendetta's other weaponry. And if we head towards the aft, the engine wash can confuse their sensors for a couple of seconds, hopefully enough to execute the jump to lightspeed", he explained, turning towards the man in charge, "So if you are planning on fighting, that is my suggestion for a battle plan. Unless you have an ace up your sleeve."

While he kept his cool, Arcas was very aware that the plan was a very long shot. But their options were limited. Star Destroyers, after all, had their fearsome reputation for a reason; They were very good at what they do. So against a Star Destroyer, unless you had another one, the long shots were the only shots.