Wild Space, Early 21 BBY
Abyss Watchers Spy Vessel, Unknown Location
"The Republic needs men and women like you to join the Grand Army and fight for the freedom of-"
"Would you turn that shit off? I hate listening to propaganda."
On board a small vessel in the middle of an empty region in Wild Space, two men were sitting at a console listening to the various transmissions being broadcasted throughout the area. While there were certainly important things to learn about, the majority of the time it was meaningless propaganda broadcasts or local chatter that amounted to nothing. And it was why these two men were bored to hell.
"Turn it off yourself, you lazy asshole."
With a groan of annoyance, the first man reached over to a switch.
"Though the Separatist threat may seem great-"
And with a flick the ship went silent again.
"Fucking dammit, can you believe the bullshit they've been saying? 'We've totally got this guys, we're not losing at all.'"
"Well that's why it's propaganda dumbass, lying to you is part of their job!"
"Hah. At least our bosses were nice enough to tell me 'hey, you're going to be spending a lot of time in the ass end of nowhere with some other assholes you may or may not like' when I signed on."
"Yeah, I hear-"
Suddenly the second man saw an unusual signal on his screen. "Wait, what the..."
"What is it?" his companion asked as he crossed over to look at the screen. "Huh...is that message on a Sep military frequency?"
"Yeah, but it's encoded with one of the ciphers that got decrypted a while ago. Weird..."
The two of them went to work, quickly running the checks needed to observe the message.
"Okay, should be coming up...now!" the first man triumphantly declared as he finished. And with the push of a button the holoprojector at the center of the room lit up with images of Asajj Ventress and Sev'rance Tann.
"You are aware of how dangerous a target Kamino is, I hope," said Ventress.
"Of course, but with this momentum we have a chance of eliminating the primary production center of the clone army," replied Tann. As the message continued, the men's faces were grim.
"This is big, isn't it?" the first man muttered in awe as his companion looked contemplative.
"...Yeah, but its...too big," he seemed to think out loud. "Why the hell would they use such an old cipher for a message like this...?"
"Maybe they wanted this to get out as part of some strategy?" the first man suggested.
"A ballsy idea if that's the case," the second man concluded. "Anyway, prep the transmission package at top priority."
"Got it," the first responded as he moved back to his seat and began preparing the transmission. As time passed, the second kept scanning the local frequencies and didn't find anything until...
"...Hey, come look at this," he said to his coworker, who again crossed over and looked at the readings. "Am I seeing this right? It doesn't look like any frequency I've seen before."
"Well, might as well take a look at it then," the first man muttered and downloaded the transmission...
Only to find that it was heavily encrypted with a cipher neither of them had ever seen.
"I dunno what this is, but it sure does look important," the second man said. "We're sending this one to the boss too."
Oracle, Meeting Room
"This is clearly a part of a greater strategy," said Thrawn, who was in the room with the freshly-recruited Grievous having observed the message about the upcoming attack on Kamino. "No commander would be foolish enough to let important intelligence such as this slip by so easily."
"Yes...it is prime bait placed in front of the Republic for them to chase after as they run into a trap," Grievous commented. "But they have little other choice otherwise since Kamino is so important to their war effort."
"Indeed. Though I am curious about that other transmission..." Thrawn commented.
"I am surprised Lady Ciaran wished to handle the task of deciphering that message herself, I would have expected her to have a subordinate such as Gulan deal with it himself," Grievous commented with some curiosity.
"I am sure you understand that in situations such as this, it can be beneficial to personally involve yourself in this matter," Thrawn noted. "Now then, what are you planning, Sev'rance...?"
Oracle, Ciaran's Office
While the running joke among the Abyss Watchers' upper echelons was that Ciaran tended to push her work onto other people so that she could spend more time annoying people like Padme and Obi-Wan, the fact of the matter was that she still was willing to do significant amounts of work if she deemed the matter to be important enough. While normally one encrypted transmission wouldn't qualify for this, her instincts were telling her that it was important somehow...and they usually tended to be right given her Force sensitivity. It was why she had spent the past hours since she received the message trying to decipher it with the aid of Gulan. Progress had been slow, but the two of them were close to making a breakthrough.
"Boss, what do you actually expect to find here anyway?" Gulan asked. He had been around Ciaran long enough to trust her "hunches" but was still willing to question her at times if only to provide a contrary opinion.
"...I don't know," an intense Ciaran muttered as she stared at the screen, typing furiously. "But this has to be important, why else would it be encrypted this heavily?"
"Well, maybe it's a transmission from some nobleman who wants to keep an affair quiet-"
A "beep" of confirmation came from the computer at Ciaran's desk indicating a successful decryption.
"Well, why don't we find out, then?" said Ciaran as she pushed the "play message" button and holograms of Count Dooku and Tann appeared on a nearby terminal.
"Huh. I was right about the nobleman part at least," Gulan muttered to himself.
"Sev'rance, the time has come to dispose of Ventress. I trust she will not leave the planet alive," said Dooku.
The room went cold as Gulan and Ciaran intensely focused on the message.
"Of course my lord. It will be done."
"Your loyalty is admirable Sev'rance." And with those words the brief message ended.
"Holy shit..." Gulan muttered.
"Get everyone together for an emergency meeting. Now," Ciaran commanded.
Oracle, Meeting Room
"Is this for real!?" Silas asked, shocked after seeing the message.
"We have no reason to believe otherwise given how difficult the message was to decode," Ciaran responded.
The room had now filled up with the rest of the Abyss Watchers' military and intel leadership; Ciaran herself, the Silencer, Silas, Thrawn, and Grievous were all standing around the table having seen the revealing transmission.
"And there's more happening now," Gulan said as he entered the room. "The Republic found the message about the Kamino invasion."
"Were there reports from them?" Thrawn asked.
"Not just that," Gulan responded, then looked at Ciaran. "There's been some emergency transmissions coming out of Coruscant, boss. Those Jedi hanging around here are being reassigned right now. I'm sure you can guess where."
The room went silent again as the weight of the message's contents and the upcoming battle pressed down on everyone present...save for Grievous who snorted in disgust. "Hmph. It sickens me to see that the Separatist leaders are so willing to sacrifice their own generals over internal struggles that they are willing to jeopardize their chances at victory."
"Yeah, well that's the Sith for you, pal," Silas dryly commented. "They don't really teach those guys common sense."
"I must admit I have to agree with Grievous," Thrawn noted. "This level of uncertainty created by such an action in an operation of this scale not only greatly decreases the chance of victory but also could potentially create strife within the army itself. Even if most of the soldiers are droids, their commanders and leaders are made of flesh and blood, and would no doubt view this...poorly."
The conversation continued among the group for a bit until Silas looked over at a curiously silent Ciaran, who he could tell was deep in thought. "Ciara? You want to chime in on this?"
She didn't react for a moment, then looked up and authoritatively stated: "We're going to extract Ventress from Kamino."
The room went dead silent at her declaration for a few tense moments.
"...You...you can't be serious boss," Gulan said, shock clearly visible on his face. "You're telling me that you plan on going into an active warzone, recovering a Sith Assassin who probably wants to kill you, and get out all while staying undetected by the Republic and the Separatists!?"
"Yes. She's one of the only leads we have, you know that," Ciaran stated resolutely. "We have a chance to turn a high-level enemy asset over to our side and gain crucial intel about the Sith conspiracy. Whatever risks are involved, this is worth it."
"Ciara, listen to yourself! You're talking about going into the biggest battle of the entire war," Silas pleaded, fear evident in his voice. "It can't be-"
"She is right."
Silas whirled on Thrawn, fury evident on his features. "Listen here you-"
Thrawn was nonplussed and simply held up a hand, and while Silas bit back the rest of his comment he still glared daggers at the Chiss. "Forgive my interruption but she does raise a valid point. From what I have heard she was able to infiltrate Kamino once before such as it is, and while the circumstances have dramatically changed her idea is still a viable and rewarding option."
"Hiding at a time such as this when a prize this valuable is within reach would be foolish," agreed Grievous, who also received a glare from Silas. Unlike Thrawn however, Grievous looked at Silas directly in the eyes and responded to him directly. "Your desire to protect Lady Ciaran is certainly understandable, but now is a time for action, not hiding away."
Silas would not be beaten back, and snapped back with "But we've got nothing there! No agents, no contacts, nothing!"
"Actually," Thrawn commented again as everyone looked at him, "I believe we do have a potentially relevant contact..."
Slave I, En Route to Kamino
The Slave I was rocketing through hyperspace on the path to Kamino as its pilot, Jango Fett, pondered the sudden turn of events. Out of nowhere, the Republic had suddenly offered him a massive amount of money to return to Kamino and help them defend the planet if need be, as well as provide new genetic material "just in case." The only catch was that he basically had to be at Kamino almost immediately.
While his past contract with the Death Watch wasn't entirely finished by his standards, he had been able to negotiate an early completion of the contract with a slightly reduced payment. His employer had determined that while he had not fully eliminated the targets he had done enough damage to earn the majority of the payment, allowing him to leave Mandalore in time. Though he did have just enough time left over on his trip for one other stop to pick up a passenger who had specifically requested a ride to Kamino with him, the stubborn bastard...
At any rate, the Slave I exited hyperspace over a system Jango had not bothered to remember the name of as he began to prepare for the next jump when the command console lit up with an 'incoming transmission' signal. Curious, Jango activated the comms and simply said, "If this is about a contract, I'm not available at the moment."
"Would you at least have time to speak with an old friend?" came a familiar voice over the comms as the image of Thrawn came up on the holoprojector. Jango looked at the image with curiosity as he cooly responded with, "I'd at least like to know why, Thrawn."
"Of course. I regret that I could not speak with you again at a more favorable time, but I require a favor from you."
Jango frowned. "That depends. What kind of 'favor' are you asking for?"
"It is only relevant if you are headed to Kamino."
Jango swore under his breath, then responded with, "And how would you know if I was?"
"Your hesitation was all the evidence I required, Master Fett." Jango grimaced as Thrawn continued unabated. "My associates and I are looking for those willing to aid us with an operation on Kamino. Your help would be-"
"Would you mind telling me who the chakaar you're talking to is, Jango?" came a gruff voice as Fett's passenger came into the cockpit. Jango shook his head briefly before gesturing to the holoprojection and explaining, "I was talking to Thrawn, Skirata. The blue one I told you about?"
"I do take umbrage to being referred to as-"
"Stow it, besom," was all Kal Skirata said to Thrawn, who for his part seemed earnestly confused for a moment as Kal turned to Jango. "Though I think I do remember now, actually. The one who helped you wipe out those fake Mandos? While I do appreciate what you have done for the Mandalorians," Kal said as he whirled back on the console, "I'd like to know what someone like you wants on Kamino."
"I can certainly understand that, Master Skirata, though I myself am interested as to why an enlisted officer such as yourself is traveling with a bounty hunter such as Fett. Surely-"
"Don't change the subject," Skirata growled out. "What. Do. You. Want?"
"...While I cannot reveal the fine details, there is an asset that on Kamino that my associates wish to recover. It will involve considerable risk, which is why we would appreciate having contacts with more...familiarity with the area."
"And you expect me to trust a chakaar like you!? For all I know, your 'asset' could be Jango's genetic code or Kaminoan secrets that you could use against my boys."
Oracle, Communications Room
Ah. So that was it then, Thrawn mused. Evidently Skirata was going to Kamino to help support the defense, and the odds were that he was with Jango so that he could get there in a shorter period of time than official transportation could. He may not even have official orders to go there, for all Thrawn knew.
Still, looking at the bio that he had quickly skimmed over and from what he had heard from Skirata in their conversation, his 'opponent' was definitely a confrontational, hard-headed soldier who would not back down easily. And that was extremely problematic as he had ended up taking control of the negotiations between himself and Jango. But he did have a weakness-the clones themselves. Again, from what Thrawn had heard just now and briefly read about Skirata, the Mandalorian viewed himself as a protector of sorts for the clones within the Grand Army.
And though Skirata didn't know it yet the Abyss Watchers had considerable leverage with the knowledge of the inhibitor chips. As far as Thrawn was aware, no one else but the Kaminoans themselves were fully aware of them and their capabilities so Skirata would likely not be happy to hear about them...though naturally bringing them up with Fett ran the risk of an information leak. That being said, Ciaran did say that he had full authority to negotiate on behalf of the Abyss Watchers and he could certainly pay Jango off. But would it be worth it?
[] Tell Skirata about the chips and use that as leverage to convince him and Jango to assist you.
-[] Ensure Jango stays quiet by saying the Abyss Watchers will owe him favors to be collected at any time.
-[] Ensure Jango stays quiet by paying him off with a one-time payment. (Costs 100)
-[] Ensure Jango stays quiet by paying him off over time. (Costs 25 per turn over 4 turns)
[] Find some other way to persuade Skirata to assist you...or at least let you talk to Jango yourself again.
-[] Write-in
[] Abandon negotiations for now, Skirata's interference is too much of a disruptive factor.
AN: Why yes, I am insane. Yes, I am merging one of the biggest and most climactic battles in the Clone Wars with one of the most important events in the Sith Conspiracy. Why? Because Ciaran, and because I can, and mainly because there will be soooo many explosions...
Anyway, tried out a different tone for the very beginning as a bit of an experiment. I figured it'd be a neat way to start things off on the lowest deck possible.
And as for Kal Skirata...well. Let's just say that you do not want to fuck with a Mandalorian when his boys are in danger. And given his personality he's really not going to back down at this point unless you give him a damned good reason...
Also holy shit close to 3k words this is the most I've ever written for anything ever at once
