"We need to make sure that we're specifically mentioning him as someone who can IDENTIFY Juragga, not as someone who's worked with him.  Anything we can do to keep the stormtroopers from getting too quick with their trigger fingers is good."

He shrugged slightly.  "And I wouldn't say that we're specifically looking for Juragga...just that we--that is, the ISB--have received intel that there may be Rebel saboteurs trying to infiltrate this project...and we have reason to believe Juragga may be one of them.  We need to interrogate all the Wookiees to find out if any of them have had connections to Juragga in the past."  He gave a curt nod, and added, "The trick is to present a clear threat, while not giving them anything in the way of verifiable details that could refute our story.  If we tell them we believe Juragga's behind the plan, and it may be some of his team assigned to carry it out, they have no way of knowing when any of that team may have arrived...if we say it's Juragga, and the last shipment of Wookiees arrived before Kourene's rescue...well, we all know how talented he is, but even Juragga can't be in two places at the same time.  The less specific we are, the more suspicious of anyone not Imperial they become, because that means that literally anyone here could potentially be part of his team."

Haarmon was getting excited. He liked it when the plan started to coagulate into some actual Things to Do. He was a kinetic creature, at heart, and he loved a good list.

"I would just like to point out that Rags could totally be in two places at once if he wanted to."

Snicker.

"So, are we still thinking I head down to the docks to secure transport? You know much I love bluffing my way past Impies, but I think Shard is the one to sell this particular sack of bantha poodoo."

Rhijans nodded...she obviously didn't enjoy it, but Shard had a successful track record of playing the authoritarian bureaucrat and intimidating Imperial minions.

"Actually, if we play our cards carefully, we don't need to secure transport.  They'll give us one.  We need to demolish the shuttle...spectacularly.  And it's got to happen after Shard sells our story.  It becomes evidence that the saboteurs we're looking for are here...and trying to make sure we don't leave with whatever we find."  Inside the helmet, he gave a thin-lipped grimace as he added, "And it also leaves them with less material to examine if they ever realize who we really are.  We were already planning on acquiring a different ship to leave...so there's no good reason not to use that one as our first distraction."

Shard considers this for a long moment.  Rhijans and Haarmon make many good points to slot into the plan.  There's just one with which she disagrees.  "I'm a little thin on the idea of blowing up our shuttle," she muses.  "It's a little too much - any rebel saboteurs would also know we have a surfeit of ships around to commandeer, and the Imperials could work that out.  And it feels just little too...convenient for our ship to explode and create drama, if you get my meaning.  If everyone is dead-set on it, sure; my opinion on this isn't solid.  I'm just figuring if it comes down to them examining our ship, they're already plenty suspicious and we're in trouble.  Won't matter what they find at that point."

A slow nod follows.  "Going to need you for backup, Haarmon."  A sour frown appears and disappears on her lips. "If there's any technical stuff, or just completely baffling stuff you want to throw out; I can't run this alone, as we've seen." The bitter expression fades slightly as possibilities go through her head.  'Of course there could be Rebel saboteurs here," Shard mutters, eyes half-closing.  "It's why they have security, we're telling them something they already know.  It shouldn't surprise them, and we would know that as well.  But we know specifics.  Details.  Which saboteurs..."

Her eyes snap open.  "Got it.  All right, so Juragga...THIS Juragga...is here to find the Star Destroyer Destroyer in the middle of a bunch of other Wookies, and also talk to them if need be - Imperials would believe that, those idiots can't see past the idea that 'all Wookies look alike."  She makes a disgusted sound; it's complete speciesism, of course.  "Haarmon, tech-aide.  Rhijans, bodyguard/security/weapons stormtrooperr.  Lund, pilot and further security.  Hedine...any thoughts?  Assistant to Haarmon?"

Karra raises her hand again, nervously.  "Why not just have Lund take the shuttle into orbit?  He can wait there with the other ships we saw on the way in, and if something happens and we still need the shuttle, or we need him to pilot something else then he can come down again."

"Besides, if you want to make something look like sabotage, wouldn't it be better to blow up something that didn't just arrive today?  To me it would make more sense if saboteurs carried out a plan that they had been working on for weeks.  Trash something impressive, not just a tiny shuttle."

Rhijans gave a minute shrug.  "I wasn't intending that the shuttle be blown up right away.  Rather, sometime after we'd started questioning Wookiees...so it looked like Rebel agents on the station realized we were close and were taking steps to prevent us from getting away with whoever we found.  Our cover story plants the seed of paranoia...sacrificing the shuttle feeds it.  But there's no shortage of other targets."  It was a level, analytical explanation, neither arguing for the option nor rejecting the alternative, merely making sure that the plan was clearly understood for its potential before being accepted or rejected.

And his idea did rely heavily on whoever was in command buying into the idea that there was a Rebel infiltration, and being paranoid about that infiltration creating havoc with his project (and, thus, his personnel file).  While Rhijans considered that a likely scenario, it was by no means guaranteed.

There is a brief discussion.  The general idea for the plan looks like following what Shard suggests, with the confirmation of Hedine as a second tech - that is her speciality after all.  If she gets caught acting like a tech, then she has more than enough expertise to fake a cover story.

And talking of Hedine... she glances up from the monitor, a concerned look on her face...

"Did anybody order a delivery of 'troopers?  We have a group of them standing just outside the door."

Rhijans shook his head.  "Do they look ready to come in shooting?  If not, it may just be a regular patrol.  Or someone may have noticed activity on a terminal that was supposed to be unmanned.  Unless they look ready for a fight, just act like you belong here.  This may be the point at which the ISB ID comes out."  Unless it was certain that their cover was blown, they had everything to lose and nothing to gain by treating the troopers as anything other than routine and expected.

The display monitor does, indeed, show a half dozen stormtroopers standing  right outside the door.  Oddly, none of them are looking at the door.  Their attention seems directed, instead, at something off to the left.  They do look to be ready to fight though - weapons held at the ready and the troopers appear to be carefully scanning the area in the direction they are looking...

Shard leans over to look at the monitor.  "That's somewhat worrisome, though it might be something we can use to our advantage.  Clearly we aren't the problem - or if we are, they aren't looking specifically for this exact group." Her lips tighten.  "We could walk out that door right now and...see about taking control of both the situation and the troopers, both.  It might help our cover."

Haarmon's eyes snap up to Shard's and his face is pretty scared. "Sweet void above and below, Shard. We've run some stuff plays, but I don't know if I have it in me to do that. But I'll back whatever you think is best."

The stormtroopers seem fixated on something.  One of them, his orange pauldron marking  him as a squad leader, seems distracted for a moment.  Then he starts to move towards whatever is going on, at a fast walk, and the rest follow him...

Rhijans commented, drily, "You know, it could very well be that there is, in fact, some Rebel agent aboard, either to sabotage something or to steal information.  Besides us, I mean..."  If he was bothered by Shard's suggestion that they take charge of the situation, it wasn't heard at all in his voice...especially not as he continued.

"At some point, we're going to have to step out and call attention to ourselves.  A large part of the plan revolves around tricking them into helping us get what we need, and we can't very well manage that if they never see or hear anything from us.  I suppose the current time is as good as any...if we appear to be tracking whatever target they're chasing, it will certainly lend some legitimacy to our story."

With a final glance around the room, Shard gives a slow nod.  It's good to hear agreement from Rhijans - he's the first to step up and point out flaws, not at all a bad habit.  "All right, then.  Popping up with a bunch of local stormtroopers to vouch for us might be just what we need." She puts one hand on Haarmon's shoulder.  "No worse than walking in and realizing we have to pretend I'm Ghea Nimadda, right?  And we've pulled that off."  Sort of. "We've got this.  You've got this."

Her lips thin; even moreso than before, the older woman can push herself into the proper mold for an ISB agent.  Recent decisions have removed the puffiness from around her eyes, sharpened the eyes themselves; she'll never be the young woman she left behind, but Shard is slowly becoming the older woman she should have been.  "Places, everyone?" Adjusting her uniform, she checks the location of her weapons before moving to the door. "Unless there's a final objection...let's step out there and see what has caught their interest."

The blast door opens, and the air is filled with the shrill shrieking of alarms, and something that smells like... smoke...

All eyes turn in the direction that the troopers went, and then past them, and upwards, to where the upper portion of a ruined tower is burning.

A repulsorlift emergency vehicle hurtles past, heading towards the fire.

There is a dull boom, and a second, more distant building seems to split in two, and burst into flame...

Shard winces at the sight.  "Yeah...good thing we didn't try to hide through this." It wouldn't have made any sense for an ISB officer on the search for a rebel saboteur to not stick their noses into this situation. "Looks like we're jumping in feet first," she grates between her teeth.  "Shall we head in that direction?  Or does someone have an on-the-spot better idea?"

The Imperials will be looking for saboteurs, now.  The choices are either try to stay ahead of the search...or become part of it, themselves.

"Pretty sure they're not going to be looking for someone in uniform, coming from behind them," Rhijans commented, hefting his blaster so it appeared as though he was responding to the alarm, as well.

"Best get moving, one way or the other.  Standing here in the middle of all this will DEFINITELY attract attention."

"WAAAAAAAAAAArgh," Juragga agreed.

Karra Hedine stops moving for a moment, while others decide what to do.  Then, without being told, she starts towards the nearest fire.  She is notably shaking, with a look of abject terror on her face, and she is muttering under her breath, "Void!  Void!  Void!"

The reason for her concern becomes apparent a moment later, as she says, "What if Najdo is in one of those buildings?"

Rhijans took a moment to grab her and spin her to face the emotionless exterior of his helmet.  "If he is, we'll find out.  If he isn't, and you don't pull yourself together, you're gonna blow this whole operation, because there is no reason anyone working for ISB would be concerned about someone being caught in a fire unless it was a target they were hunting down.  Get a grip before you blow our cover."  He pushed her back towards Shard...the woman was better at calming down overwrought emotional cases than he was, he was certain...his own experience with emotions was tightly controlled...there had only been one time in his life that his emotions had gotten the better of him, and that was the event that had started him on his current path.  But with so little experience dealing with extreme emotions, he had little in the way of tactics for managing them besides cold reality...and that, he had noticed, usually didn't help others very much, despite how effective he found it.

Catching Rhijans look - more implied by the helmet movement than anything else - Shard gives Juragga a nod and moves to stand beside the pair.  The bounty-hunter has already hit the tech with a hard dose of the truth; now it's time for something a touch softer.  "Karra - it's a big base.  He's probably not in those buildings, and if he is, it doesn't mean he's dead.  And we will find him."  She leans in close, her tone quiet and calm, even reassuring.  "You keep that in your head to guide you.  And along with it, remember what Rhijans said, because we sure as void can't find your brother if we give ourselves away."

Gripping the woman's arm, she gives a quick, light tug of reassurance.  "Stick close to Juragga."  If she looks nervous, maybe people will blame proximity to an eight-foot tall killing machine.  "And trust in us; we've done this before."

Not this, exactly...but close enough.

"Now let's move," she shoots out to everyone.  "We need to get there, and take control of the narrative."

Haarmon turned his datapad one way, then the other. Eventually he paused with it held at a sort of diagonal. He edged over to Karra and turned to face her, holding out the datapad.

"Lookit. Here's us. Here's that building there," he points to the burning one, and then the square on the map on the datapad. "Best I can tell, Najdo is....." he traces a line with his finger, "Here. So he's safe. Well, you know not safe-safe. But... you know what I mean. He's not in the building that's burning."

He nodded at her and then hupped off to follow Shard.

"Thank you." Karra says to Haarmon, her face flooding with relief.  "I'll try to keep it together."  Nonetheless, she moves closer to Juragga.

The group moves away, heading towards the fire.  As they get closer they see numerous emergency vehicles, all of which are the standard grey of Imperial military vehicles, but with high visibility markings.  The crews are wearing hazardous environment suits, but are probably military too.

There are plenty of stormtroopers about, mostly working crowd control, and a number of people in Naval uniforms, who appear to be taking charge of the situation...

Haarmon provides some solid relief for Karra - better that than platitudes - and the group moves forward, into the danger zone.  Shard keeps her eyes open, on the hunt for a higher-level officer...and another ISB agent.  Best case scenario, they cooperate...but worst case is that someone from the department has the best odds of spotting a fake.

Seeking out one of the officers - preferably one standing there looking command-y while the others yell at troops - she paces in that direction.  "Commander!" the older woman shouts, approaching the officer.  She'll probably get the rank wrong, but unless it's an admiral, she's likely given them a promotion and they will hardly be offended. "What happened here?"

Rhijans began moving around the area, looking as though he was searching for something/someone specific, stepping into action as Shard made her initial contact with the officer she'd selected.  He'd be busy for a few moments, as least, but when he returned, his actions would have laid the groundwork for either presenting their cover or reinforcing it, depending on whether or not Shard got to it before he came back.

It also, incidentally, gave him a quick once over of the troops in the area...not just the stormtroopers, but any other personnel...just in case there was something noteworthy...