Ord Mantell: New Intelligence

[adestinyforeseen]

"A longstanding member of the Galactic Republic, Ord Mantell is a world of deep seas, tall mountains and lush islands. Traders and merchants from across the galaxy ply their wares in Mantellian ports, along with black marketeers and other underworld forces. In recent years, Ord Mantell has become embroiled in civil war, as anti-government separatists encourage Mantellian independence in the face of a brutally corrupt government with ties to organized crime. The Republic is responding with military force, and the fighting has resulted in high numbers of civilian casualties. Shuttle traffic is currently directed to the island of Avilatan."
―In-game Codex

Comments

[adestinyforeseen]

"General, we arrived at Ord Mantell."

The lounge room at the rear of the ship was impressive: dominated by the large main holoterminal, furnished with couches, chairs and recliners, it seemed almost wasteful, but it was indeed fitting for a ship intended to perform diplomatic missions, allowing for a large gathering of people to hold meetings.

"Perfect timing; I've just finished coordinating things with my men on the ground there." The General sounded at least mildly relieved, but still tense at the dangerous situation they all found themselves in. "An SIS Agent followed the enemy transmissions to a specific location planetside, he'll give you the full details."

"I'm ready to go, General" the Jedi nodded in assent.

T7 = oiled + charged + ready for action!

"Your T7 unit can interface with Darth Angral's hyperspace data transceiver and download his communications logs" the Mon Calamari indicated the nearby astromech. "Take a shuttle to the surface and meet Agent Ottau at the coordinates I'm sending you. Good hunting. Var Suthra out."

"I've visited my share of seedy spaceports, but this one's the seediest." Kira Carsen smirked after the connection was broken. "Just as well I'm staying behind: I'll make sure nobody steals our landing thrusters."

Idilan shook his head at his padawan's words. "Check out the spaceport while we're gone: if this place is as bad as you say, Darth Angral may have a presence here."

"Wouldn't surprise me. I'll poke around and see what's what, it beats playing dejarik against myself while you have all the fun down there."

[adestinyforeseen]

Ord Mantell was not what most would call a beautiful world: it could be said to have a certain rugged charm, and the view from above was impressive. While lava and ash were destructive, they also made for some of the most fertile soils in the galaxy. Plants sprung up from the mineral-rich soil soon after an eruption, restoring the area to its lush green beauty, and in the more stable areas settlers had established farms with amazing production rates.

Until War came.

"Agent Ottau, Republic SIS; welcome to Ord Mantell." Var Suthra's contact was a strongly-built human male, but otherwise unremarkable: a very good thing for a secret agent. "Hope you enjoy war zones, Master Jedi, this planet's full of them."

"I've read news about the Separatists and rumors of Imperial support to them" Idilan gave the man a nod, looking out from their vantage spot near the walls of Fort Garnik. "What is the situation here?"

"We had traces and clues of Imperial involvement indeed, Master Jedi; I sent a probe droid to investigate, and before it was destroyed it confirmed there is a hidden listening outpost in one of the small islands not far to the south."

"Any idea what kind of resistance I'll find?"

"They can't be very many, and any high-energy sources would be detected, but they are skilled: my probe was disintegrated as soon as it was detected. Make sure that doesn't happen to you."

"Disintegration isn't on my to do list." Idilan almost grinned at that, but kept his composure.

"When you find the hyperspace data transceiver, plug in your T7 unit and download everything you can from its logs. With any luck, we'll learn what Darth Angral's been up to. Be seeing you."

[adestinyforeseen]

"Name: Marcovic. Rank: Lieutenant. That's all you're getting from me, Jedi scum." Idilan was not a Shadow, but there was something to be said for decisive action and quick reflexes. "You may as well kill me now. You'll never hold me prisoner."

"It might surprise you, Lieutenant, but I was not planning on either; of course, the Republic Army might have other plans."

Hyperspace data transceiver = operational / / T7 = scanning transmission logs

"Hey, what's that droid doing?" the Lieutenant bristled. "Get away from there!"

T7 = found Planet Prison designs references + Tarnis communications to Darth Angral // T7 = located design files code-named 'Desolator' // Darth Angral = creating world-killer weapon using Republic technology

"You won't live long enough to tell anyone!" the Imperial ducked and rolled away, coming up while already drawing a heavy blaster...

[adestinyforeseen]

Name: Marcovic + Rank: Lieutenant = non-functional

"He's going to live" Idilan nodded. "But he might need some time in a Kolto tank. Help me disarm and lock up anyone else still alive, Ottau can take care of them later."

Jedi = harsh + fair // Desolator files = downloaded // Jedi +T7 = return to ship // General Var Suthra = needs report

[adestinyforeseen]

Many things could happen in urgent missions against powerful foes.

"So your Master was here all along. Well-played, Padawan."

One of the more aggravating ones was to find a few of your enemies in the airlock, holding your padawan hostage.

"Your lies convinced even Darth Angral."

The sith was... as much a sith as expected, dressed in black robes, displaying the ashen skin and reddish eyes of someone consumed by the Dark Side. And escorted by a few lesser cronies.

"Put down that lightsaber and step away from my Padawan."

"Spare me your pathetic demands" the Sith hissed with all the expected arrogance. "I hold the power here, not you. Imperial Intelligence noticed this girl wandering the station and alerted my master. Unfortunately, we were led to believe you weren't here."

"Told them you were on Corellia" Kira grinned. "Suckers."

"No matter, we have you now. Surrender, unless you want your Padawan to die."

"He's lying, he can't kill me. Angral ordered him to take me to Dromund Kaas" the young woman smirked, then turned somber. "Don't worry about me, just get rid of Lord Pompous here."

"I'll never understand what drives you Jedi to throw away your lives" the Sith looked between Idilan and Kira. "You risk certain death over misguided sense of duty?"

"I'm not surprised that a Sith can't understand loyalty" Idilan's posture was relaxed as he drew his lightsaber; behind Kira and the Sith, the presumed apprentices were pacing restlessly, over-eager to fight. Beside himself, he had T7, and he could tell Kira, despite the heavy cuffs, would not be helpless. "Usually I'd offer to let you go if you surrendered now, but I can tell it would be a waste of words."

"My, aren't you the interesting one? Pity you have to die" the Sith was making the decision to fight too easy, clinging to his imagined superiority by way of that mocking tone. "When I present Darth Angral with your head, he'll be most appreciative."

[adestinyforeseen]

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I've never been happier to see anyone my whole life" Kira rubbed her wrists, looking around at the dead Sith and apprentices; once again, Idilan had shown his unmatched skill as a duelist, and coupled with the savage, reckless lack-of-combat-style of the enemy, the fight was over quickly.

"It was the least I could do" the Knight nodded, placing a quick holocall to have the proper authorities informed of the Imperial presence.

"I promise this won't happen again" Kira added ruefully, once Idilan was done. "Getting rescued is bad for my self-confidence. But, hey, I overheard Angral and some Imperial admiral talking about going somewhere to refit a battle cruiser. Sounded like they have some new weapon."

T7 = scanned Tarnis + Angral's design schematics // Desolator world-killer weapon = attaches to battle cruiser.

"Huh, Desolator? I have a bad feeling about that, we should warn the general about this right away."

Idilan agreed, but lingered a moment to pick up the Sith's lightsaber before heading into the ship; it would join Tarnis' on a case in his cabin.

[adestinyforeseen]

T7 = transmitting files now

"Tarnis was combining all your weapons projects to create something code-named 'Desolator', General. We believe Angral's arming his battle cruiser with it."

"Then it's no coincidence I've lost contact with Agent Galen" Var Suthra sounded concerned. "The enemy is raiding our weapon research facilities to build that device; whatever they plan to do, it can't be anything but disastrous."

"What about Master Orgus and Kiwiiks? Have they checked in?"

"They went on comm-silence after leaving Coruscant, but are due to check in soon. We can't let Darth Angral complete this Desolator weapon, whatever it is: I need your help stopping him. Securing Nar Shaddaa is vital, but there's another target just as important on Taris. "

That made Kira pipe up. "You have another super-weapon on Taris you didn't tell us about?"

"I'd rather not say more until you're there."

And that made Idilan frown "What else are you hiding, General?"

"I'm not the one doing the hiding; you'll understand later" the Mon Calamari was being evasive, which made it clear the understanding would not make the Jedi happy. "Too many security breaches here, I won't risk the enemy finding out more about this. When you reach Taris or Nar Shaddaa, contact me. And good luck."