[b]Kwenn System, Nova Retreat.[/b] Neia Kahleesi was now fully realizing what it meant to be in control of a small business empire, she looked at the reports of incomes and wages for the various facilities she had, but right now she was looking sadly at a report about her public transport surfaces on the moon. Apparently a little girl had fallen on the tracks, she had survived but needed extensive surgeries to ever walk again. She of course paid the hospital bills required to do so and asked for engineers to review the safety measures and rules for the public transport network to prevent such tragedies of happening again. "I feel like a bureaucrat now." She muttered to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose with a soft sigh. She looked up as the door to her office opened and in came Jantor. "Is there a problem? Please tell me there is a problem I need a excuse to get away from these reports monthly production schedules and whatever these financial entries are called." The Kel Dor let out a chuckle, "No can do Neia, my apologies, just came to report that the Defiler is due to arrive tomorrow." She frowned and then remembered. "Ah, thank you. I will be glad when that container with its volatile contents is out of my hands. Is the vault still secure?" Jantor nodded and she let out a sigh of relief. "Keep your security measures in place please, I won't be able to rest easy until we hand what we have to the Defiler. Then things can get back to normal." Jantor snorts, "As if things were ever normal to begin with." Chuckling he walked out, leaving Neia to the nightmares of administration. --- [b]Elsewhere on the Nova Retreat...[/b] _________________________________ At several points of entrance to the station for the public, mostly these were used by visitors coming for either the casinos, the cantina or its repair facilities, but now a undisclosed number of groups infiltrated the station for their own nefarious purposes. They had been send here by their employer who had gone to great lengths to recover data from his destroyed security droids but had managed to obtain enough images of one Neia Kahleesi and find out about her whereabouts. Now they were here and they had come with a specific task, but first they had to go through security and all were tense for a moment but relaxed as they were allowed through, the concealed weaponry and tools of their trade were not discovered. They noticed a quite visible presence of security however, the groups had made contact with each other in the casino floor and now a plan of approach had been made. Some of the groups moved to exits that would lead them deeper inside the station but waited since security was present. But that is what one of the other groups was for. They moved to some of the casino tables and started playing and then suddenly one slammed his fist down on the card table and pointed accusingly at the dealer. "This game is rigged! A bunch of cheating sleemos work this casino I want my credits back!" At that points the others of his group at the same table also began with accusations in the hopes of creating enough of a diversion and chaos for the other groups to get to work. At first it seemed to work, they group acting the angry gamblers who believed they were cheated drew all eyes on them and Neia's security at the casino was moving towards the table to see what the commotion was all about since other people were also starting to interfere. The exits the other infiltrator groups were heading to were being vacated by security. Seeing their opportunity they started heading for the exits, eager to get deeper inside the station, but then the great advantage, stealth, was spoiled by a Twi'lek courtesan who had been moving away but suddenly turned around and saw a group of people trying to head into a section that was off-limits to visitors and called out to them. The reaction of the group detected was fast however, one of them suddenly pulling otu a holdout blaster from the folds of his clothes and snapped off a shot at the courtesan before she even realized what was going on. But she somehow was able to bring up her energy shield to deflect the blast just in time and shout out a alarm that there was trouble. Neia looked in alarm down through the ceiling of her office overlooking the casino floor, something was going on and she was just about to ask a report when a voice came through over the com, Jantor's, "Neia! I have a Courtesan reporting a person or group with concealed weaponry, I'm putting the station on alert." Before she could reply the alarm was heard and a pre-recorded message started playing, informing all guests to remain calm and for their own safety sit or lie down on the ground while station security would apprehend any troublemakers running amok on the station. The courtesan, and any others of the security facing any of the hostile intruders would attempt to neutralize them with weapons on stun or melee combat. Station security was alerted but the infiltrators were still acting faster, though with not as much success, security was already gathered some at the casinofloor area were some had started a disturbance and as they drew weapons, Neia's forces did not hesitate and gunned 4 of the 5 individuals down on the casino floor. The fifth letting out a curse and reaching for a backpack. The courtesan received assistance from other security forces and in the shootout that followed all five infiltrators were gunned down, as it happens by that same courtesan who casually looked at the approaching reinforcements with a look that said 'what took you so long?' Security also spotted two other suspicious groups and more weapons fire was exchanged one group of Zabrak soldiers were pinned down, blastershots delivering glancing blows to their armour as the infiltrators made sure that they kept their heads down. Two of them firing while three others made to move to the exit to try and salvage something of this sudden turn of events. The last group was forced to stay down but as they were not able to move they also did not allow security forces to get any closer either. For supposedly elite trained commando forces these infiltrators were just bumbling about, the sole remaining infiltrator in the middle of the casino floor, took out a device from his backpack. "Now nobody move, or I will detonate thi-" He began but security decided to not give him a chance to continue speaking or detonate anything as he was hit by twelve stun blasts and sagged to the ground. The other group of infiltrators did not far much better, the ones trying to provide cover fire suddenly realized their ammo packs had not been replaced and were now dry, without them providing cover fire, they and the three trying to slip away were gunned down without mercy. That left only one group and they were still exchanging fire with local security forces. At that point, Jantor had arrived on the scene, as well as reinforcements from other points, including the Twi'lek courtesan who had been quite effective earlier. Seeing they were pinned with a curse one of the infiltrators started rummaging in his own backpack. This whole mission had gone completely fubar and now there was only one option left as he drew out the demolition charge and started priming it. Jantor looked over the scene, saw that most of it was well in hand and hurried to the last scene were fighting was reported, deciding to take command of the security personal to take down the last of the enemy who had invaded the station. The infiltrator who was trying to prime a explosive was shot, knocked out cold, the others managed to take down some of the Zabraks that were shooting at them and kill seven. One looked and saw what their team leader had been trying to do and turned to the others. "Mission has gone bust, do as much damage as you can." And reached for the explosives. Jantor saw what was happening and frowned. "Time to end this, take them out, quickly, blasters and stun grenades if you have them!" He shouted. They were flushed out of cover when grenades were thrown and without much trouble gunned by Neia's people. And with that, save for the whimpering and shouts of what was going on from the innocent bystanders the situation seemed contained, for the moment. "I want a full sweep of the station, everyone check in, search these intruders, I want all their personal affects removed and made sure that nothing poses a threat to the station. As for the intruders, have them bound and prepared for transfer to the surface." There were no detention blocks on the Nova Retreat, perhaps that had to change. But there were some on the surface outpost at least. A moment later Neia approached Jantor looking at the scorch marks of blaster fire and the bodies being dragged away. "What has happened?" She asked, looking towards Jantor. The Kel Dor frowned and turned to her. "I have no idea, but I suggest all visitors are to be send away, for their own safety. And that we stay on alert for the time being, at least until we have a chance to question these intruders." "Agreed." She said, nodding. "Get to the bottom of this Jantor. "Oh I will." He said, "I promise." With a salute to Neia he followed after the people who were carrying the prisoners on stretchers to the hangars to be taken to the surface. Thirty minutes later Jantor was on the surface with his prisoners who had awakened and initial questioning had begun. But the prisoners proved to be most stubborn and were not interested in saying anything. They wouldn't talk it seems, that was unfortunate but Jantor was determined, he questioned them at length, he wanted to know who they were, who send them and what they were send to do at the Nova Retreat. It took another thirty minutes and one of the infiltrators surprisingly broke under the strain and told Jantor everything, he and the others were send by a black market dealer named Hanris Vaas. Their objectives had been to infiltrate the space station and create chaos, keeping the security on the station and around it off-guard and centered on a threat on the station, so that when the strike cruisers arrived the defenses in the system were not where they were supposed to so they could strike fast and hard. Reluctantly he also parted with the knowledge that the cruisers were to arrive in about a hour. Jantor wasted no time heading to a communications terminal to make contact with Neia and informed her of everything. "I think that black market dealer you stole from want his property back. And apparently we have a little less than a hour before his ships arrive." She took it all in, "What do you suggest?" Jantor snorted, "Launch all squadrons, gunships, everything we got. Have all ships get into a protective formation around our installations and inform the republic forces that are to secure the shipyard that we might have hostiles arriving and are requesting their assistance." "It will be done, I let Kiyla and Deliah know and have them ready their ships and get the patrols in." She finished her call with Jantor and did instruct her captains to prepare for a imminent attack while also ordering all squadrons to be launched. She then took a deep breath and contacted the republic forces near her shipyard. "Commander Shayne, I am sorry to disturb you, but as you may have already heard or informed by some of my people, we had some commandos try and sneak aboard my station with some very high-grade explosives. Now we have learned that a fleet might arrive to attack my station and assets as well, I would humbly ask your assistance in this matter." Commander Shayne appeared thoughtful for a moment, "Yes I heard, I also heard your people took care of them quite thoroughly. But if you require Republic assistance then my ships will be ready to assist, though I must say my chief concern are the ships being constructed in your shipyard." "I understand commander, I actually hope that when these hostiles arrive and see a small fleet is waiting for them ready and prepared for battle they will back off. Or at least I hope they will." Tee commander considers this for a moment. "Perhaps, but we shall see. Things hardly go the way one things or hopes it will go." With that she once again assured Neia that her ships would assist her and that she would get combat ready, this would already be good enough as a combat drill exercise for her people. With a advance warning of what was to come Neia and her people prepared of what was to come, fighter squadrons were launched and her patrol and capital ships were ready for battle. The hour passed and sensors detected three contacts at the edge of the system, heading directly towards the Nova Retreat. As tiem passed the sensor readings became more clear and the three vessels appeared to be three Munificent-class star frigates were fast approaching but it seemed as their sensors detected the activity of Neia's vessels facing them and a lot of squadrons launched and ready, not to mention a small force of Republic vessels they stopped just beyond the edge of optimum firing range. And then they... just sat there. Neia blinked as she got the report, she was in a conference call with her captains and commanders. "So they are just sitting there?" Kiyla chuckled and nodded. "I think they are scared shitless, they probably expected to find us all scattered and not ready for them like we are. What do you want us to do?" She thought for a moment and then made a decision. "Contact them, tell them that Neia Kahleesi, wishes to speak to Hanris Vaas or whoever his representative is on those ships." With that said she took a deep breath and waited. A few moments passed after the message was send and then the hail was accepted and Neia came face to face with a holographic image of a human male in his fifties who looked very unhappy. "You stole from me, I want it back, now. Or I will take it by force." Neia blinked and then frowned, "Do we know which ship he is broadcasting from?" She received a nod. "Good." She looked at Hanris Vaas and spoke, but not to him. "Kiyla, open fire with your ion cannon at one of his escorts. The big ion cannon." The Twi'lek captain grinned and nodded. "Sure thing boss, boys. Fire the big gun! Remember to aim first ya dolts!" Within moment the ship-based planetary ion cannon fired, it was not a true hit but it glanced one of the escorting Munificents and power fluctuations and outright power loss were quickly being reported all over the vessel. Hanris Vaas cursed and turned to Neia, "E chu ta! You are a filthy Emwhulb! I will have your hide for this!" Neia took a deep breath and stood as tall as she could, staring the black market dealer down. "No you will not. This is what you are going to do, you are going to turn around and leave, go and find a hole to crawl under because you will not have to worry a thing about me. You will have to worry about the Syndicate since your protection is gone. Get out and you might survive, stay and you will die. You have seen one of my big guns, my ships are ready, my squadrons are launched, your commandos failed to destroy anything on my station and the Republic will even protect me. So tell me, do you really want to lose your life over this?" Hanris growled and he looked quite enraged but let out a tired sigh. "Fine, you win, you Nautolan bitch. I will not forget this... I know where you life... and I know what you hide." With that ominous message he cut the link and a few moments later, once power was restored to the Munificent that had been barely hit by the planetary ion cannon, the three cruisers turned around and headed back to the hyperspace lane they had arrived from to jump away. Neia let out the breath she was holding and shuddered, "Well... that could have both gone better... or worse. Kiyla, Deliah, send my thanks to Commander Shayne and inform her the situation has been handled and that I thank her for her support." She then turned to Jantor. "As for our guests on the moon... they can have enough credits to get a transport out of the system, we will keep their other belongings but otherwise they are free to go." "Not sure I agree with that, they wanted to blow up the station, with people on it, they even killed some of our people." Jantor replied slowly. Neia bit her lip, sighing. She was glad the two jedi were not in this call, Mirelle and Gaarwarr were elsewhere, protecting crucial airlocks against potential boarders. She turned to Jantor, "Understood... execute them, for murder and attempted murder of countless individuals." Jantor just nodded slowly and closed the link. She looked at the others still on the call, some looked shocked but Kiyla, Kalira and Maia looked like they agreed and nodded. "Resume patrols, all squadrons can dock again. We will welcome visitors as well, assuming the cleaning crews are done with the damages done to the casino floor. Oh and once you are all off duty... drinks are on me." This was welcomed with a small cheer and one by one the holograms of her command crew vanished. Her twin sister Maia was last to go. "You did good sis, it was a hard decision to make but it had to be done." And with that her image flickered and died too, leaving Neia with her own thoughts, her own demons. --- [b]The next day...[/b] _________________________________ She took a sip from her drink and sighed, stretching her arms while turning to look at some of her circle, at the far end Gaarwarr and Mirelle were seated talking to each other. Both of them had voiced their disagreement with how Neia had handled the prisoners and were taking a distance to her. Jantor however said to give them time, they would see the wisdom in the decision. She shrugged to herself and finished downing her drink. "Another please." She signed to the Zeltron bartender. "Heyyy!" Chuckling and laughing Maaike, Deliah and Maia approached her. "Why the sour face?" He sister asked. She shrugged, "Just thinking, this... 'acquisition' might be more problematic than I thought, if Hanris Vaas decides to try again and get it back... well I don't know what'll happen." Deliah grinned, "Not to worry boss, patrols are still in place, squadrons are out there, Jantor and Kalira have stepped up security around the station, nothing to worry about." Neia smiled softly, "Perhaps, still I would prefer to rest my mind at ease when that defiler has finally arrived to take it off me." Two drinks later she was about to call it a day when someone came running towards her, groaning for a moment she took a deep breath and took the effort to smile. "Yes, what is the problem?" This time. She added in her thoughts. The station officer handed her a communicator, frowning she put it on and activated it at once Jantor's voice came over. "What have I told you about wearing your communicator at all times?" She groaned. "That it was non-negotiable... I just wanted to relax for a little Jantor, what's going on." "There's a man wanting to see you, according to the security team who came across him, between the common visitor areas and the private areas, he says he is here to deliver Tyber's regards in person to you. Apparently when asked to remove his helmet he threatened the security team that they would only be able to try that once and he would be out of here." She had sobered up a little hearing this, "I see, escort him to my office and let him in, I'll be right there... get some coffee to my office too." She hurriedly said and started fast-walking to her offices. The sight that greeted neia when she arrived at her office was likely much as she expected. The red armoured man was flanked by two of the courtesan security and looking decidedly out of place. He was apparently unarmed and had been since he had first approached the station security though he carried something of a menacing aura that likely had alot to do with the armour he wore. She looked at the figure and then walked past him to her desk and grabbed the steaming cup of coffee and took a sip, wincing at the scalding hotness but it helped clear her head more. She turned back to the figure and crossed her arms, sitting on her desk. "I am Neia, Neia Kahleesi... how is Tyber doing? Still suffering from that cold?" "I'm afraid I do not know of young Tyber's condition, Kahleesi. However, Tyber sends his regards." He was silent for a moment before looking from side to side at the two twi'leks. "If we might speak in private?" She eyed the visitor for a moment and nodded, "You can go, thank you, report back to Jantor or squad commander." With a nod both courtesans left and she stood up and sat down on her chair, gesturing to the fre one on the other side of the desk. "Can I offer you refreshments...? Or do you, as you stated to my security team, prefer to keep your helmet on?" The man waved away the offer of a seat, preferring to stand instead. He then took a small electronic transmitter from under the gauntlet on his left arm and pressed one of only two buttons on the device. The camera's in the room were immediately flooded with static and the door locked, the control systems for both randomly changing as they were scrambled by the transmitter. "I suggest you advise your security, who are no doubt panicking right now that you are perfectly safe and that this is simply a privacy measure." He then said calmly as he began removing his helmet. The face revealed was that of a human in their mid forties though he wore his age well and his eyes above all were sharp and clear, indicating age had robbed the man of little so far. She blinked and frowned, getting flashbacks to Mr Aurek's visit to her station and quickly activated her communicator. "Jantor, this is Neia, apparently my cameras have a problem, but I assure you I am completely safe, my visitor however shares traits with a republic friend of ours." She heard a grunt from the other side of the line and then Jantor spoke to her. "I see, understood." "They are assured for the moment, now then. Let's talk business?" "Business indeed," The defiler said, his voice surprisingly strong and clear even without the helmets modulator. "You have the information secure still? I heard talk of an ... incident before my arrival." "The vault with the information was never breached and the incident you refer to was handled without any significant trouble or loss of materiel on my end. Hanris Vaas, the black market dealer, apparently wanted his property back but my security managed to get on the case when they made a mistake or two that pointed them out as threats. Then later when he arrived himself with three vessels he found my small fleet ready and waiting. He backed off after a warning shot." She couldn't help but smile a little. "You did not pursue the dealer?" The Defiler asked with a raised eyebrow? She nodded, "I did not. Mainly because I feared the loss of material and people under my command, he came with 3 munificent cruisers. Second I feared he might not wanted to be taken alive or die otherwise in a battle that might have followed if I pursued, and then this material, would be worthless for the most part. I believed, if he was blackmailing Syndicate people, that the Syndicate would like him to be alive to now control him since his edge is gone." "I imagine without his 'edge' as you put it, Vaas will soon find himself the target of many in the Syndicate, perhaps I will pay him a visit myself. after i take the information to Antone." The defiler said almost absently. The 'absentness did not last long however as he then refocused his attention on Neia. "What did you have in mind as payment?" She blinked and frowned. "What did I have in mind? Well credits are always welcome, I have some big plans as it happens and they need funding, or are you allowed to give me a alternative?" "I have a certain level of discretion available to me." He replied. She blinked and pondered for a moment. "Well, as I said, I have big plans, I wish to build a large shipyard in this system since there is not one present already, my current small shipyard is already earning me profits. It is a costly affair but if you could, somehow, assist me in convincing the companies that I would need to contract to build me one to give me a discount, I would be happy with that. The base cost is I believe is 8 million, but I was already considering having a extra slipyard to be build at the same time and such, so any discount would be helpful really." "The Consortium has rackets with a few construction companies, it is possible some pressure or incentive could be applied. The quality or timely construction of the work could be effected by such methods of course." The Defiler replied after a few moments of silent thought. "A simple credit payment might see more benefits to you." She frowned in distaste upon hearing that and shook her head after a moment. "Yes, I think that might be best if I get credits instead. Well then, shall we head to the vault first so you can inspect the goods?" The defiler simple nodded before he replaced his helmet and took up the transmitter again, pressing the second button this time and deactivating the device. The camera's and door remain scrambled for a few brief moments more before their original control systems reasserted themselves. Jantor came on the comms at once. "Cameras are back, are you alright Neia?" She smiled at his concern and turned to one of the cameras giving it a nod. "I am fine. We are heading to the vault so my guest can look upon the... well merchandise we have gained." He confirmed and then the call was once again ended. "If you would follow me please?" She asked and left the office, seeing two concerned and wary faces of the courtesans stationed outside but she just nodded and told them it was fine. A few moments later she and her guest had arrived at the vault and asking for a moment of privacy unlocked it for him and retrieved the cargo canister, carrying it outside and placed it on the ground. "It's all in here." The defiler knelt down and took out a small hand held scanner which he proceeded to pass over the canister for several moments. the scanner started blinking green and chimed once. "Still unopened I see." he said before standing again. "Antone has had a chance to do some research into the kind of information likely to be contained within since you spoke with Fen, I am authorized to wire you two and three quarter million credits." he said addressing Neia directly. She nodded, "That will suffice, as well as my reputation in good standing with the Syndicate of course." She said, offering a smile. "You are in good standing with the Consortium, I cannot speak for the other major powers in the Syndicate." The Defiler replied tersely while he pulled a dataslate from his waist and authorized the credit transfer. "That in mind however, and considering your earlier request, I do have some information about a recent find in an asteroid field near the Sarka system. The field is rumoured to be rich in untapped minerals and some of the more outlandish tales tell of Nova rubies being found there as well. there is unfortunately a small pirate presence in the field that prevents most other from investigating the claims further. These pirates are not affiliated with the Syndicate." He said as he picked up the canister. "You need funds for your next venture, perhapse you might find what you need there. After all you chased off three munificents." "I see." She said, getting out a pad and noted that information down. "That could be useful, thanks." The pirates she would worry about later, the munificents she only chased off with a combination of bluffing and being prepared for them, but the defiler did not need to know that, assuming he already wasn't aware. "That concludes our business I guess, give my regards to Antone Zann, or to Urai Fenn I suppose depending on who you report to." "I shall pass it along, with the information here." He said being deliberately vague. "Perhaps we will meet again Kahleesi, though i would not count on it if I were you. Of course stranger things have happened." he added with a slight bow before he turned and started heading back to the docking bay his ship had landed in. She watched him go and spoke into her comm. "Our guest is leaving Jantor, he is free to go of course... if it hasn't already happened somehow, erase all information of his arrival and departure, there shall be no trace of him in any databank." With that she shook her head and smiles and let out a sigh of relief. "At least that cargo is gone... wonder what the next adventures brings... probably pirates from the sound of it..." --- [b]Summary:[/b] Dealt with the after-effects of Neia's theft of a black market dealer's warehouse Traded in the canister filled with blackmail information on Syndicate people for 275 SP and information about a potential rich asteroid field near the Sarka system but with a pirate presence.