Runabout

[Bretak]

The Aranar had picked up the distress call, and followed it to the source. A light freighter was marooned between stars, a standard distress beacon beaming it's coordinates into space.

It looked like easy pickings, and as Bretak scanned the drifting ship it appeared to have suffered a catastrophic electrical failure. Even life support had failed, so whatever crew it had once had were likely dead.

The Interceptor-class frigate maneuvered around, carefully docking with the dead freighter, and Bretak ordered a boarding party to see if there was any cargo worth taking on board. He remained on the bridge, keeping tabs on their progress.

The armored Mando'ade forced the hatch, waiting a few minutes as the Aranar filled the freighter with air, before carefully entering and exploring the ship.

[Nelaa Kyris]

It had been several hours since Nelaa had shut the power down on the light freighter that she was piloting and activated the distress beacon. To pass the time, she thought back on the events that had lead her to this moment. The catalyst for this entire ordeal was the attack on the Ord Trasi shipyards. In the beginning, Nelaa suspected that it was a covert hit done by the Alliance to give the Empire a black eye. The more she dug into it however, the more she was led her in a slightly different direction.

The fact that the attack was carried out by Mandalorians was the most intriguing part. While the Mandalorians held a respectable amount of space, they survived basically by not being worth killing. Stomping into the Empire's backyard (no matter how remote) and taking a piss wasn't something they would do without great benefit to offset the huge risks. The ships that were stolen from Ord Trasi would not offset that risk. She then looked at the Alliance angle. It would have been right up their alley, but a full company of Mandalorians? Mandalorians were popular mercenaries, but they normally operated solo. Nelaa could count on one hand the number of Mandalorian mercenary companies she knew of, and the number she'd only heard rumors about on the other. The biggest issue with hiring a whole company of Mandalorians is that they're not subtle. Eventually someone would be able to follow their trail back to the person or people who hired them.

One by one, Nelaa went through every group she could think of and struck them off the list for similar reasons. The biggest possibility this left was that she was hunting a renegade group of Mandalorians. Not unheard of, especially when a new Mandalore takes control, but those are normally hunted down and exterminated, or reabsorbed after hurt feelings healed. This didn't feel like that at all.

With that logical framework, finding them became a matter of sifting through data. They had stolen, not destroyed, ships, so they were looking to grow and expand. This turned her attention to areas where ships had been blipping off the map never to be heard from again. This narrowed it down some, but still left a huge amount of data to sort through. Then she started working from the other direction, searching through reports for any times that a boarding party was mentioned. Eventually she stumbled over a small snippet of a distress call that hinted at the boarding party wearing helmets that could match the Mandalorian style.

That specific area was the one she was floating through now. Oxygen was low enough now that each breath was getting heavier so she went ahead and strapped a rebreather on. Soon after, she was greeted with a light show just outside her window.

The frigate that found her wasn't a large one, but it still dwarfed the tiny little freighter that she was hanging out on. The suit she was wearing would mask her heat signature, so a heat scan wouldn't show any life forms on board. Over her suit she was wearing a loose fitting pair of pants and a t-shirt, with a coat on over it, hiding her arms. Her red hair was pulled back into a bun on the back of her head. As soon as the frigate refilled the ship with air she took off the rebreather and set it in the co pilot's chair. She glanced back at a datapad that she had propped up on the control that was showing feeds from small cameras she'd placed around the ship. She witnessed five people dressed in Mandalorian armor making their way onto the ship. These are my guys, she thought to herself. Guess I'll have to be social.

She reached over and switched the ships reactor on and waited to see what sort of response that would earn her.

[Bretak]

"The reactor on the freighter is powering up!" called one of the vod manning the sensors station.

Bretak frowned. "There's someone on -"

"There is someone on board!" came the call over the comms, Aang's name lighting up on the readout by the captain's seat. He was leading the boarding party. "This is not a disabled ship, Bretak."

"Bring them to me," he ordered.


***

Aang, his helmet bearing a wide blue stripe along the crown, made it into the cockpit first. A human female was sitting there, just waiting. Waiting for them?

Cautious, he held up a gauntleted fist, stopping the others from entering. "Spread out," he said subvocally to their helmets. "I want this ship scanned for traps."

Out loud he said, "You will come with me. Your ship is forfeit but you will be unharmed if you do not resist."

Aang kept his blaster rifle pointed in her direction, scanning the cockpit for anything out of the ordinary for a freighter of this size.

[Nelaa Kyris]

"You can stow the rifle big boy, I'm not looking to misbehave."

She stood up and straightened her jacket.

"In fact, I would like to speak with the man in charge."

[Bretak]

Aang did not stow the rifle, but did let the point drop a bit.

"I am in charge here," he said. "Why do you pretend your ship is disabled and then expect to get what you want from us?"

He stepped toward her, holding his blaster rifle with his dominant hand while reaching for her arm with the other. "Come with me."

[Nelaa Kyris]

It was obvious that he wasn't going to play nice. Time to make a first impression, she thought to herself.

"Just remember that I asked nicely..."

As his hand was about to reach her, her own hand shot out to grab it, lurching him toward her while pulling herself behind him with the same motion. As his leg came forward to brace himself, her foot found the back of his knee, forcing it to the floor. He tried to swing the rifle around but only succeeding in having in yanked from his hands. He now found himself on the floor on one knee with his own rifle aiming at the back of his helmet. She knew things were about to start happening quickly.

"Your first man through the door will die. I may even get the others before help arrives. Tell them to stand down and we can try this again."

[Bretak]

He was on the ground with his own blaster rifle pointed at his head before he quite knew what was happening. Aang fumed, but put out the call over the comm.

"Vod, stand down. Do not come to the cockpit."

His HUD told him exactly where the others were throughout the ship, Tiktik was closest to the cockpit and she was already moving up the corridor toward them. If he didn't get his brains painted over the bulkheads he was never going to live this down.

"What do you want to meet our leader for?" Aang asked. "To set a trap like this, leaving yourself as bait and taking me hostage - you are either very confident or very stupid."

Everything he said was going out over the comm, and he saw Tiktik's icon on his HUD stop moving, still a relatively safe distance as she presumably listened to the conversation.

[Nelaa Kyris]

“Hmm, the jury is still out on that. As far as your leader goes, he’s left a mess in my backyard and I’m a nice enough neighbor to talk things out before they escalate.”

She wagered that she’d shown the Mandalorian enough stick. It was time to start showing a little carrot.

“I’m unfamiliar with your culture, so you’ll have to excuse me...”

She gave his helmet a light tap with the barrel of the rifle.

”Will it bring you dishonor to remove that?”

[Bretak]

Aang bristled, hesitating to buy time and also trying to decide what to do.

"It will not dishonor me," he said at last, reaching up slowly to remove it. Underneath the helmet his black hair was smushed to the side, his skin bronzed from a lifetime in the sun of the Wilds of Onderon.

Aang did not close his brown eyes, his body tense as he waited for any kind of opening to present itself.

[Nelaa Kyris]

Nelaa began to circle around the Mandalorian as he took his helmet off. She made sure to keep herself out of reach, lest she make the same mistake he made with her. Her path brought her back around to the pilot's seat where she sat down, laying the rifle across her lap. She was close enough to tempt the Mandalorian into rushing her, but just far enough away that it probably would end with a hole through his head. She didn't plan it this way, that just happened to be where he was in relation to the chair.

"Okay. I'm going to ask you a few questions. The truth would be most productive for both of us, but failing that I would prefer silence over lies. Understand?"

The Mandalorian nodded grudgingly. She cracked a thin smile.

"What is you name?"

"...Aang."

He seemed to be telling the truth, and he didn't give any indication that he was making subvocal commands. He was ready for the real test.

"Aang, I was always taught that negotiations at gunpoint aren't negotiations at all. If I set this rifle aside, can we speak with some civility?"

[Bretak]

Aang narrowed his eyes, but nodded again.

"What do you wish to speak about?"

In the corridor beyond, Tiktik began to creep closer as the other three Mando'ade staggered themselves in the main hub of the freighter, waiting to see what was going to happen.

[Nelaa Kyris]

This was the test of everything now. If she removed this rifle from the equation and Aang decided to attack then there would be no peaceful discussion. Her best case scenario at that point would be to subdue the five Mandalorians and hold them as hostage. The worst case was obviously death, and just short of that was being captured. Being shackled up and frogmarched in to see their leader wouldn't put her in a very good position for possible negotiations.

"I want your word, Aang. On your honor, if I put this weapon down, we will negotiate and I won't have to worry about an attack from you, or that shadow I see moving around in the corridor. Do I have your word?"

[Bretak]

Aang frowned and lifted his hand from his position on his knees, a staying motion to keep Tiktik from trying anything.

"The Mando'ade have great honor," he said quietly, his eyes burning into hers. "I give you my word: if you put the rifle down we will not attack you."

As he said it the tension did not leave his body - until she began to set aside the rifle. Aang settled back on his heels in an almost relaxed crouch, studying this strange woman who was so intent on an audience with their leader.

[Nelaa Kyris]

She set the rifle on the floor then slid it a few feet away. It was close enough that Aang MIGHT be able to get to it before Nelaa, or he might not. She hoped they wouldn't have to find out.

"Now, as I mentioned before, your people made a mess in my backyard, even took a few things that don't belong to you. This..." she waved a hand around, gesturing at the ship around them "...was a necessity. None of you thought to leave a business card where I could reach you."

She took a seat back in the pilot's chair.

"I would like to speak with your leader to see about making things right, but I will not be taken in as a prisoner. Are you a person who can make this meeting happen, or am I not speaking high enough on the food chain?"

[Bretak]

He took in the form of her as she spoke. The woman didn't look like much, but she'd certainly had extensive training and was versed in combat. Or at least in disarming an opponent caught unaware. It would not happen again.

"We can be reached, if you know who you are looking for." Aang tilted his head a little to the side. She had not known who she was looking for, not exactly. "Mand'alor sees who they wish to. But I can bring you to Mand'alor's second and let him decide."

Aang rested his forearms on his knees, looking perfectly relaxed except for the intensity of his dark eyes.

[Nelaa Kyris]

She arched an eyebrow. His words were direct, but left out certain details.

"And I won't be subdued for this meeting in any way?"

[Bretak]

Aang raised his own eyebrow to match hers.

"Unless you wish to be."

He slowly stood up, watching her reactions carefully. "I have given my word. Do not dishonor yourself by doubting it."

[Nelaa Kyris]

"I have given my word. Do not dishonor yourself by doubting it."

There was menace in that last statement. Intentional or not, Aang just made it clear that he would not be bound by honor if she wasn't. Nelaa was the type of person who didn't let concepts such as honor stand in the way of progress, but she recognized that it was in her best interest to keep up appearances for Aang's sake.

"I will follow you then." She saw him glance toward his rifle. She took a symbolic step away from it. "It's yours, I won't try to stop you now."

[Bretak]

He kept his eyes on her as he put his helmet back on, and reached for the rifle. The HUD in the helmet reconnected and blinked to life, showing Aang that Tiktik was retreating back down the passage.

”What is your name and allegiance?”

Aang tapped his helmet, as if the question had come through his comm as he walked down the corridor. Turning to face her in the main hub, he gestured toward the hatch where Tiktik was standing, her chestplate marked with large scratch marks from a boma that had gotten a little too close in the Wilds. She had colored her armor with a thick red vertical stripe, but left the grooves unpainted, highlighting them and her brush with death.

[Nelaa Kyris]

She kept a mental note of Aang's positioning as she stepped by him into the hatch. Though she was confident that honor would keep him in check, she was about to lay a huge card on the table that may change every dynamic of the encounter. The smaller Mandalorian in the corridor was an unknown variable as well. She immediately noticed the Mandalorian's posture and proportioning. I believe this is a woman, she thought to herself. She glanced back to Aang.

"Nelaa Kyris, Imperial Intelligence."

She was thankful for the loose clothing she wore that hid the fact that every muscle in her body was tensed and ready to spring into action.