Tipoca City, Kamino
Ciaran nodded to herself then turned to Gulan. "Get the information on the Silencer only, we won't have time for the rest." The Bothan nodded and went to work as Ciaran turned to Ventress, who had been leaning against a wall and warily eyeing everyone else. "Now then my dear, I will require your help if you want to convince the others you have died."
Ventress rolled her eyes. "How magnanimous of you to ask. What exactly will I have to do?"
Ciaran smiled. "We will be hijacking a trident ship that you will be 'escaping' on before it is tragically destroyed during its escape. But I'll leave the best part for later; I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise~"
As the Nightsister brought a hand to her face, Sev and Scorch looked on with confusion.
"Sev, am I crazy or is our VIP flirting with the Sith assassin?" Scorch asked him over their private comms.
"Do you really want an answer to that?" the sniper replied.
The snarky commando was silent for a moment. "This is definitely the weirdest mission I have ever been on," he muttered.
"Confirmed," said Fixer flatly, followed by a "Roger that" from Boss.
For his part Ordo turned to Thrawn and asked, "Is this normal?"
"I admit that I am a newer associate of hers but from what I understand the answer is yes," the Chiss replied.
While the group was bantering among themselves, Gulan (with the very close supervision of Fixer) was searching through the files on the server. "Let's see...date...donor...and here we-huh."
Fixer leaned over the Bothan. "What?"
Gulan quickly transferred the files to a device he had on hand, then disconnected from the server. "Nothing too important. Let's get going before someone shows up."
--------
Finding a trident ship was easy as Scorch had (repeatedly) pointed out. The catch was finding one that was relatively empty and inactive. Fortunately, Kal was able to listen in on Separatist communications and pinpoint a droid that was disgorging the last of its droid units before pulling out. As the group piled up to cover to prepare for the attack, Thrawn came in over the line.
"Now, we will need a plan-"
"No, we do not," Ventress coldly replied before igniting her lightsabers and rushing out towards the enemy. Before anyone could properly react the Nightsister had begun to carve through the droid ranks, slicing them apart as she screamed in rage.
"I think she's got issues!" Scorch yelled as everyone began to provide covering fire even as it became clear that Ventress really did not need the help. Within a few moments the area fell silent again as Ventress finished her rampage, turned off her lightsabers, and leaned back against the wall.
"...Right then. Gulan, if you would?"
The Bothan moved into the ship, and everyone waited tensely before he came out holding a lit-up comm unit. "All done Boss." He gingerly handed the comm device to Ventress, who ripped it out of his hand before focusing her glare on Ciaran. "What is this?"
Ciaran smiled again. "Call it...a mutually beneficial arrangement," she said as she began to explain her plan to Ventress...
-------
Sev'rance was not in a good mood; not only had she lost contact with the team sent to finish off Ventress, her feed to the Kaminoan servers had been shut down preventing her from getting more valuable data from the planet. To make matters worse, Republic reinforcements were beginning to pour in from various outer systems; apparently they had been able to anticipate her plan and had called them in as soon as she had 'retreated.' The battle had already been a close fight since the clones had time to set up defenses; now with help incoming it was looking more and more like it would result in a defeat.
As such, she was preparing a stealth ship to exit the planet and was preparing to issue a general retreat order when she received a signal on her comm unit. "Report."
"Your assassins are dead." Ventress' voice came over the line, a mocking tone present despite the static in the transmission.
Sev'rance scowled in fury, then quietly began running a trace on the transmission. "While your survival is...unanticipated...I assure you that you will die on this planet."
Ventress cruel laughter came over the line in response. "Believe that if you wish, perhaps it will make your failure less painful." The mockery was clear in her voice as Sev'rance's trace completed and displayed a trident ship moving away from the battle. She quickly ordered another pair of trident ships to intercept her as she kept the line open.
"Your arrogance will be your undoing," the Chiss replied.
"You should look in a mirror Tann."
The ships closed in on the escaping vessel.
"Know this; whether it takes me weeks, months, years...I will return. And when I do..."
The pursuit vessels locked onto the escaping ship.
"You will know the depths of my fury."
Sev'rance smirked as the ships opened fire. "Perhaps in another life, Ventress." And with that, the escaping trident ship was blown apart and the line went dead.
-------
Ventress handed the now dead comm unit to Ciaran, trying not to smirk. "I will not lie to you...that was very satisfying."
Ciaran smirked as she switched the comm unit over to the frequency Silas was on. "Package secured. We're ready to go."
"I'll be damned," Silas' voice quietly came over the line.
"Did you doubt me?"
"Uh, no of course not Ciara. Anyway, ship's ready to go whenever you get here."
-------
As the group entered the hangar that the Scimitar was in and prepared to leave, Ventress looked at the ship with curiosity evident on her face. "Where did you get that ship?"
Ciaran laughed as she continued walking forward. "Trade secret, my dear. Perhaps I'll tell you when we have less company around."
Suddenly Ventress froze in place. Ciaran noticed it through her Force vision then frowned before smoothly turning around to face the Nightsister. "Is something the matter?"
Ventress glared at Ciaran as the rest of the group began to take notice of the sudden shift in atmosphere. "...Is this how it is?" Ventress growled out. "Am I going to be your slave!?" she yelled, drawing and igniting her lightsabers as everyone else drew their weapons...except for Ciaran.
The Miraluka was nonplussed at the sudden show of aggression. "Ventress. Let me make something clear. What I want from you is information about the rest of the Sith. Aside from that..." Ciaran shrugged. "Once I have that information you are free to do as you please." Ventress didn't seem to react, continuing to remain in a fighting stance as Ciaran sighed. "I suppose I should clarify; should you wish you will be given a vessel and a significant amount of credits to do with as you wish, and if you want I would also ensure that you are still reported as dead." Ventress didn't react, though Ciaran was fairly certain that she was starting to exit her fighting stance. "However, I will point out that you would certainly be a welcomed associate of my organization. You would be given generous payment and benefits-again to do with as you wish-and of course..."
Ciaran smiled.
"We could certainly find the time to help you get your revenge. Should you so desire."
The Nightsister had shifted into a more relaxed posture, though her lightsabers were still drawn.
"One flight, and answers to a few questions. That's all I ask."
The sound of the hangar was silent barring the hum of Ventress' lightsabers. Moment after moment of tension passed before Ventress switched off her lightsabers and stormed past Ciaran, boarding the Scimitar without a word.
"This is going to be an unpleasant flight, isn't it?" Gulan muttered.
As Ciaran's team boarded the Scimitar, Kal entered the hangar. The commandos nodded respectfully in his direction as Ordo quickly moved to flank him as the Mandalorian moved closer to Ciaran. "So. You did your job."
Ciaran nodded. "As did your men."
Kal nodded in return, then intensely focused on Ciaran. "Remember that the second you learn more about the chips-"
"You will be the first to know," Ciaran cut him off. Kal opened his mouth to say more before the hangar door opened again and Jango Fett entered the room. He looked at Ciaran, who in turn faced him with an unreadable expression on her face before the bounty hunter continued to walk towards Slave I. The Miraluka turned back towards Kal, but the man simply shook his head and began to walk away, Ordo and Delta Squad following him.
And with that Ciaran boarded the Scimitar, the ship roaring to life and flying out of the hangar. Before anyone could notice the unusual vessel it faded from sight, as though it was never there to begin with.
AN: Well that was fun. I uh, don't think we'll have anything like this for a long while, but it was a joy to write this arc.
Expect a formal denouement sometime soon-ish. (Yes, I will tell you about the Silencer's data there, don't worry.)
