Difference between revisions of "3899/Rebel Solidarity"

Latest revision as of 02:28, 25 March 2016

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Welcome to Mos Eisley. This is one of the biggest spaceports on the desert planet of Tatooine, and nominally its planetary capital city. Sun, sand, podracing, and soaring temperatures are the order of the day here.

Although this planet is considered Imperial territory, enforcement here is loose at best. The Hutt Cartel is where the real power is, here, and so it's like a frontier town of the Wild West in other worlds -- most of the time anything goes. Credits are what buys justice in this sector of the galaxy, and there are few with more credits than the Hutt Cartel.

Fortunately, that makes it an easy place to blend into.

Although her complexion is pale and the binary desert suns vehemently do not agree with her, Juno had agreed to meet in this backwater sand trap for the express purpose of secrecy. One can expect a certain amount of privacy here as long as one doesn't attract too much attention, or if one knows the right people.

For her meeting place, Juno has selected a cantina popular among podracing fans, where all the races are broadcast. It's out of season for the major races, but there are a number of lesser circuits running at any given time, though they lack the pomp and circumstance or the numbers of the Boonta Eve Classic. It's still something to bet on, heckle, and watch, though; a way to pass the time while waiting for her guest.

The fugitive pilot can be found in the shadiest corner of the sandstone building, practically wilting from the intense heat. Even spring is an unkind season on this world. She has a glass of something with ice in it in front of her, a datapad clutched close at hand, and a list of what must be betting tickets for the race currently running, and for the moment, her eyes are glued to the screen.

Sitting in front of her, very clearly and in extremely easy reach, is one of her two blasters; an implicit sign to anybody who might disturb her. She's not afraid to use it.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
What a coincidence. Binary desert suns do NOT agree with Kyra either. She keeps herself thoroughly covered because of her sensitiive, extremely pale skin, her hoodie drawn low to protect her face from the unforgiving rays. The hoodie she's chosen isn't her usual distinctive moogle one either but a plane brown one that could easily be mistaken for a cloak from afar. Amongst those of Mos Eisley, she doesn't really stand out all that much which is exactly what she wanted. Tonight was not a night to attract attention.

    The blonde will eventually find the white mage moseying up to her in an inconspicuous manner. Of course, Kyra herself seems only moderately interested in the podracing. Sure, it looks cool, but ever since she learned that the sport is extremely biased against humans, her enthusiasm had waned. She'll stick to motorcycles, thanks!

    When she arrives, Juno will see that Kyra's already procured herself some kind of iced drink. It may or may not have alcohol in it. It's hard to tell and it doesn't look like she's drank any of it recently. "Cheers!" she greets Juno, raising her glass to the pilot before sliding into the seat across from her. Only a very brief glance is given the blasters. Their presence and thus message is clear. It's also not a message meant for /her/.

    "Sooooo..." Kyra begins, "We had a nice success last night and I think we'll need YOUR help."

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
The pilot makes a grab for her icy drink, taking a swig before setting it down. Her eyes are torn between the video screen and the door, watching everybody who comes in. Today she's wearing her usual 'rebel' clothing, but she's also wearing a ragged brown travelling cloak, hooded, which is entirely too oil-stained, beat-up, and faded to be mistaken for Jedi attire -- it's just something to keep the sun off her. Her gloves have also been stowed at her belt, and her hands are wrapped in linen, perhaps to help mitigate the absurd heat.

Well, it's absurd to her, anyway.

Kyra's approach might have been inconspicuous, but she's coming to visit Miss Paranoid, who saw her the instant she came through the cantina's front door. Juno flashes a grin from the depths of her tattered hood, raising her drink with a clattering of ice cubes. "I was starting to wonder if you just left me to the desert."

Fortunately for Kyra, the message of those blasters is meant for pretty much everybody /but/ her. There is a very short list of people whom Juno Eclipse trusts implicitly, and Kyra has proven herself near the top of that list.

"Sorry I wasn't there, by the way. I was having a bit of electrical trouble on the ship, and the last thing I needed was to have the cloaking systems fail in the middle of a mission." Juno quirks a brow, eyeing Kyra with obvious curiosity. "That would've been unpleasant. Anyway, what have you got that needs my help? Did you find a ship or something...?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
Kyra takes a sip from her drink as she sits, listening to Juno's greeting. Once seated, she pulls her hood down, slightly less concerned about the people here seeing her appearance. She felt far enough removed from the major players of this galaxy to walk around openly-even though Vader had been quite unfriendly to her and her friends that one time. Vader had been very quiet lately and likely occupied with other things besides harassing a bunch of schoolkids.

    "Next time we'll need your help. We'll need an air-based support due to what we pulled the last time. It's just easier anyway and I know you're good at it."

    Kyra seems to wiggle with excitement. "We got something. Information. Hard drives. You're good with getting into systems so I bet you can get into those. I'm not much of a hacker myself, you know, I just kind of use computers, I can't really break 'em so good. But I'll show you them...somewhere else, not here. Somewhere more secure, you know?"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
The drink in front of Juno seems to be harmless. It doesn't smell like alcohol, and in fact seems to carry a slightly sweet scent to it. Maybe it's some kind of refresher made from desert flower or fruit native to Tatooine or imported from elsewhere. Whatever it is, it's probably cheaper than water in this place. Then again, just about anything is probably cheaper than water in this place.

Leaning an elbow on the table, Juno regards her friend from beneath her hood, frowning in the shadows of the ragged, travel-worn cloth. "Air support? Get me a starfighter, and then we can make a deal. I'm afraid the Rogue Shadow was never meant for direct combat, unless you wanted me slicing into enemy mainframes."

"Every one of the Rogue Shadow's systems are designed either to run or to hide, but not to fight. Put me in a TIE, and maybe I can do some damage for you." She grins, a little sourly. "I've flown over a hundred combat missions in those tin cans, and completed those missions, too. Most pilots are lucky to survive fifty."

Here come the details, though, and those are infinitely more interesting to the pilot. She's good at sifting through computer systems, particularly systems that do not belong to her, and she's more than willing to help Kyra deal with the Murasame Zaibatsu's economical tyranny.

You managed to get away with data? Excellent. Depending on the architecture of the system, I may be able to help you. It's going to hinge on whether they're built and organised like Imperial systems or not. If they are... then we're talking, and I can definitely do something for you. If not... well, we'll see." She rubs her hands together, ignoring the rasp of linen bandaging. "We'll rendezvous somewhere else for that, definitely."

"I almost want to know how you got hold of those, and at the same time, I almost don't want to know." Juno grins. "I'm all in, I suppose; even if I weren't labelled a rebel in your operation, I'm already an Imperial fugitive, so I may as well help a friend out." The good cheer fades. "Obviously you believe in this enough to risk your own livelihood, so it's the least I can do."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Yeah, air support. That...will take some doing, yeah. Problem with using our regular ships is that they can be recognized really easily. Like it would be nice to use the Rafflesia but then my cover would be blown right away. Ideally we'd want some kind of disposable starfighter since they're going to try anything in their power to track us after an encounter. But that might be asking for a bit much...they're spaceships, you can't just go out and buy one from the used spaceship dealer when you feel like it..."

    She trails off, "...uh. Right? That's not actually a thing here is it?"

    She shakes the thought away, back to the subject of the data, "I think Ixion is the OS. I'm not sure what that would be similar to on your world. I'm wary about hiring someone on my world to do it since I can't exactly trust people that might offer help." A sly smile spreads across her face as she kicks back in the chair, "Oh, getting it? Yeah, that's a complicated story. Maybe I'll say the details one day. Out of earshot of other people." Kyra winks.

    The smile fades. "...yeah, yeah I do. I mean....this is more than just personal, more than just because I don't like Souji. That company is bad news. That company having such control over the economy is bad news. It's a big deal to me and my world, even if it isn't to the rest of the multiverse, and I want to do something about that. I think a lot of my friends to but they won't go to the lengths I would because they'd have more face to lose. I'm already disowned and a heretic so even if I do get exposed, I don't have all that much more rep to ruin. So. I'm in a good position for this! And I'm going to see it through to the end!"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"They're too obvious," Juno agrees, drumming her fingers on the table's smooth surface. She eyes her drink, considering the problem. None of the other ships have a cloaking device like the Rogue Shadow. They have no means to hide. "Yeah. I can understand that. It'd be like trying to take the Rogue Shadow anywhere, and expecting no one to recognise it." She shrugs. "You'd know that ship anywhere if you saw it. That asymmetrical profile, the TIE-style forward cockpit section..."

She grins when Kyra looks a little more dubious about used spaceship dealers. "Something for transportation, maybe, but you'd probably have better luck looking in Malastare, in a more crowded place like Port Pixelito. Starfighters are a little harder to come by, owing to the military technology in them, especially Imperial designs... but I know there are certain models used pretty commonly by the rebel elements. You might see about getting hold of something like that. It might even obfuscate who's behind the controls, a little bit... worth looking into, anyway," she adds, thoughtfully.

"Ixion?" Going by Juno's slightly blank look, it's not a system she recognises, before shrugging. There's no helping it, then, and the best solution is probably to dive in feet-first. "Can't say I've heard of it. I guess I'll just have to have a look inside and see what I can see. Hopefully I'll be able to salvage something useful."

"I know," she points out, "and that's why I say it's something you believe in. It's more than a personal agenda. You know what the consequences are if you were unmasked, or any of us. Yet you still believe in doing this. It's like..." Juno gestures, somewhat nebulously. Her fingers are trembling slightly, but whether from the gravity of the situation or from tiredness, it's hard to say. "It's really not that much different from my leaving the Empire... but more importantly, it's more like my decision to fight back. It's not for me that I do it, even though I could have plenty of reason to. You know?"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Hmmmm." Kyra makes a thoughtful noise, "Starfighters less so, since I know some people I can hire to bring that kind of support. Getaway vehicles, on the other hand...especially if they're of rebel make. Given one certain infiltration I think they might be expecting rebels to be at fault for the attacks anyway. I'll give you more details about that one a little later too." Another smirk, another sip of the drink.

    She's not surprised that Ixion isn't recognized, "It's a Galiandan operating system. I don't really know about the OSes here to make a good comparison, unfortunately." Kyra looks apologetic over that. "I say give it a try anyway. An operating system is just computer logic, right? So you should be able to figure out things eventually. I can at least help you with some commands but I'm not much of a hacker."

    After a moment, she leans forward and takes Juno's hands in hers, looking her in the eyes, "/Thank you/. I know exactly. And..and I'm glad now there's at least one other person that'll believe me when I say this isn't just for personal reasons. And....and thank you for standing with me despite those personal reasons." She squeezes Juno's trembling hands for a moment before letting go.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Juno tilts her head a little to one side, enough so that she can watch Kyra without revealing much of face. Despite its colour, the hood is too ratty to be mistaken for anything a self-respecting Jedi Knight would wear; it looks more like it's belonged to a careless mechanic than anything else. Exactly the sort of impression she might want to encourage.

She folds her arms over her the tabletop and considers the problem. "So, you want something fast. I suppose I can offer up the Rogue Shadow for that. It's risky, but I can always keep the cloaking system engaged. Better yet, you're going to need a pilot skilled enough to fly under fire if you've got anybody after you." Juno allows herself a slight smirk. "Like me."

"If it helps any, names don't matter much. I tend to slip around operating systems, in some cases. It's how I used to hijack security cameras to advise Galen on his missions." She flashes a faint grin. "One of my favourite tricks. It's useful for spying, too. Unless it's something completely bizarre and somehow bound to your world, I shouldn't have much trouble getting /some/thing out of it."

The pilot only manages a smile, just a little sad, when her hands are taken. "Don't mention it. Nobody should have to go through a crisis like that alone, you know...?" Juno squeezes back, before the white mage lets go. "I'm here to help, and even if I have to be careful how I go about that, it doesn't change that I'm ready and willing to do just that -- to help."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"It is risky. But it's also a very good ship and you're good at flying it. I..." she looks thoughtful, "...I'd prefer it if it wasn't taken out /every/ mission because of the risk. I worry that if we rely on it too much, it'll get discovered and tracked faster...and we /definitely/ can't have that. I know the Zaibatsu would turn you over to Vader in a heartbeat." A pause, "Wait...you can hijack security cameras? That would be so helpful! Super helpful to our next mission at least, wherever we choose to hit. Those ships are loaded with security cameras. Same with Zaibatsu facilities."

    She waves a hand, "The only real difference is my tech runs on magic particles. As long as I'm around to power the things, you shouldn't have any problem at all. It's just a different power source."

    Her cocky grin softens in the face of Juno's kind words and offers of help. "Thank you. I need your help. This can't be done alone and my usual school friends won't...or can't...help this cause. But I understand the need to be careful. Please be careful. I would feel terrible if you were caught or exposed during this."

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
"It used to be better." Juno's half-smile seems a little chagrined. "When I had access to Imperial parts and protocols, it was a lot more efficient. I wouldn't say that anything is in bad shape, exactly, but it's not running at a hundred percent... but it does what I need it to do, and that's enough for now."

She tilts her head again, reaching up and rubbing at her jaw thoughtfully. "No, that's smart. You don't play your ace card in every game." The exact word she uses is actually something different, and it probably has something to do with that awful, awful game that Revan taught her. She's quietly resolved that the galaxy would be a much better place without Pazaak.

"Yeah. I know they would, too," she adds, more quietly. "It's one of the reasons I'm thinking about withdrawing from the Flotilla. As long as Murasame has representation, I can't trust that they won't use Flotilla contacts or means to puruse me for their own reasons. Maybe it's a bit paranoid of me, but..." Juno grins, a little wanly. "It's not really paranoia if there really is someone out to get you. And if it weren't Murasame, it'd be the Empire."

Her good cheer fades. "I'm happy to cooperate with Ground Zero, though. Don't think I'm withdrawing from that, either." Reaching out, she pats Kyra's hand; the gesture is both kindly, and also direct. "Don't worry about me. If anything happens to me, I'll be going into it with my eyes open. I know what's at stake, here; I knew that when I signed up." With a last pat, Juno withdraws her hand. "If you think the Rogue Shadow can help you, just tell me what your missions are, and I can decide whether I think it's too much of a risk or not. I know this ship's capabilities like the back of my own hand."