Power and Betrayal: Chapter 3

"Steal it?" Dianiss wasn't sure if he was joking.

"That's right." He certainly didn't look like he was joking. He had a confident smile, but not the kind that said Hey, I'm just messing around with you. Since he didn't have visible eyes--because of his implants--he was actually very difficult to read.

"Okaaaaaaaaay. You're going to need to elaborate." she finally said.

"Well, the Hutts have somehow acquired a Gree 'White Parallel' device, and naturally, decided to sell it. Of course, I got the same answer from the Chancellor's Office about buying it for the Republic--they didn't see the value. Because they delayed, it was purchased by some private buyer from the Empire. Now our only option is to take it from them."

"You do know that it's going to take more than just a couple of Jedi to pull off a move like THAT, . . . right?"

"Well, yes, but . . ." he said, hesitating. After looking around the room a bit, he finally seemed to come to a decision. "Remember when I said that I'm not much of a warrior?"

Dianiss nodded.

"That is the honest truth. But I'm not just a librarian, either. You see, the Jedi serve the Republic. And the Council of First Knowledge is tasked with collecting and preserving history and knowledge from all across the galaxy. So on occasion, we work directly with the SIS . . . covertly, of course . . . sharing wartime intelligence."

Dianiss stopped nodding and switched to raised eyebrows.

"...and a few of us have had some . . . training. Plus, in my case, these implants do quite a bit more than just allow me to see. I'm not actually an agent--I'm still a Jedi--but I'm probably the closest thing there is to a Jedi SIS agent."

Dianiss went from raised eyebrows straight to wide-eyed shock.

On board a nondescript cargo ship, the four-man team was not expecting any incoming communications until they arrived. So when the pilot announced an unscheduled transmission, it could only mean bad news. "The line is secure." he said to the team leader.

"Connect it." he replied.

The image displayed was the blurred image of a woman, with voice electronically altered.

"Retrieval team, this is Cipher Agent Saffire. Acknowledge."

"Saffire, this is Prowler. We read you."

"All right, little boys, you may have thought this was an easy pickup-and-courier mission, but you'd be wrong, because things have changed. We've just gotten a tip that the Jedi are interested in our little package, and if THEY bring it home instead of YOU, some very powerful people with angry dispositions--AND LIGHTSABERS--will be extremely cross with you."

Prowler let out a deep exhale of concern. "Understood, Mum, but . . . none of us are trained or equipped to deal with Jedi."

"That's where you're wrong. I'll be arriving on Nar Shaddaa personally just a few hours after you. You'll know me when I get there by the alias Victoria Dulfy. Prowler will remain in command, and I'll be on-site to monitor your progress and work this Jedi angle independently. You'll maintain comm silence with me, and if all goes well, you'll never see me--but I WILL intervene if things should get out of hand. In the mean time, I'm transferring some basic training materials on anti-Jedi methods and tactics. READ EVERY WORD OF EVERY PAGE. Saffire out."

As the holo-image faded out, Prowler turned to the rest of the team. "You heard her, boys. This is your lucky day! We're all going to get to meet a Jedi AND we've got Agent Saffire herself backing us up. So we've got prep-work to do...."

--

"Kinnan, YOU are one surprise after another." Dianiss finally said, when the shock wore off.

"Dianiss, I trust you can keep this a secret, and I mean from everyone."

"Ah . . . yes, . . . of course. So I guess you really DO have a plan."

"The White Parallel device is being stored in a bank that uses an Icovault, so there's no way of knowing which one to break into."

"Icovault?"

"It's a series of 20 identical vaults tied to a central system, with automated internal robotics that securely move the safety deposit boxes around from one vault to another at random. So if you're after a particular item, there's no way to know which vault it's in unless you can directly access the shuffler systems--which are inside the vaults and inaccessible if any vault is open. And if you're just going to guess, you only have a 5% chance of guessing correctly."

"Okay. So how DO we get it out?"

"We don't. The time when it's most vulnerable is when it's been collected by the buyers and being moved off-world. So we lay a trap for the Imperials, wait until they retrieve it the legitimate way, and then take it from them."

"So where do I fit in to this?"

"I'll need a partner for this op, one with two particular qualities that you possess. One: a Jedi who's very strong in the Force who can Mind-Trick the best of them--even soldiers and operatives."

"Okay. What's the second?"

"You have a non-Jedi alternate identity already established here on Nar Shaddaa, don't you?"

The shock that Dianiss felt before was nothing compared to what she felt now.

"How . . . how do you know about that?"

"Well, I have a confession to make. Since Taris, I've done some checking up on you. I found out through the SIS that the 'security work' you've done included working undercover on Nar Shaddaa, and that means you MUST have already established at least one alternate identity here. Assuming I'm right, that means that *I* don't have to create and backstop a false identity FOR you, because I don't have enough time to do that."

Dianiss just stared at him for a moment. VERY few people knew about the side work she did in assisting the Republic authorities in finding and apprehending certain criminal kingpins, and she made a point of keeping it that way . . . including from the Jedi Council, for whom her methods would require A LOT of explaining.

"Okay. Yes. On several occasions I have posed as a dancer in the clubs named 'Annie Lynn'. It was a way of getting close to some of the lower-tier criminals to collect information on their organizations . . . you know . . . get them relaxed, a little tipsy, get them bragging a little bit to try to impress me . . . all part of an act I was putting on to gather intelligence."

"Okay, I can work with that. I'll need you to become 'Annie Lynn' one more time. That gives us just the edge we need, because we already know that the buyer's couriers are not the kind of high-level cipher agents who know how to deal with Jedi.

The young Chiss girl practically RAN from her ship's ramp to the customs counter at the edge of the docking bay, her personal assistant droid struggling to keep up with her AND drag a cargo lifter behind him that was piled high with luggage--WAY too much for one person.

"Hi! I'm Victoria." she said enthusiastically, while placing her hand on the bio-sensor to check in.

"Welcome to Nar Shaddaa." the customs droid responded. "Is this your first time visiting us?"

"Oh no, I've been here twice before, and I LOVED IT."

"Are you here on business or pleasure?"

"As much pleasure as I can chase down! It's my birthday! Daddy said I can stay the whole week so long as I stay out of trouble . . . so I guess I won't be here very long." she said with a wink, then leaned over and whispered, "He's a Darth, you know. Oi! Sorry, I'm not supposed to tell anybody that. Please don't tell anyone I said that."

"Well, Miss Victoria Dulfy, that answers my next question on length of stay, and it appears that your visa checks out. I should also add that here on Nar Shaddaa, we pride ourselves on the discretion we extend to our valued visitors such as yourself. So that just leaves the scanning and clearing of your cargo and other belongings...."

"OH . . . hold on." she said, while rummaging through her handbag. "I have this thing to show you. Hold on." After another minute, she finally produced a black identicard . . . and promptly dropped it on the floor. "Sorry."

She picked it up and put her thumb against the integrated reader, causing the edges to glow with a light green color, signifying that she was indeed the proper owner of the card.

As the customs droid took the card to examine it, she added, "My luggage was pre-cleared at Kaas Spaceport by some government guy. I'm supposed to be able to just bring it with me."

"Ah, I see you have Diplomatic clearance, so yes, your luggage is pre-cleared and you may proceed."

"AWESOME! Look out casinos, here I come!"

Nar Shaddaa is technically open equally to both the Republic and the Empire, but that doesn't mean that certain areas aren't decidedly safer for one and more dangerous for the other. It was in one of those areas that tilted in favor of the Empire where where a business executive by the name of "Arun Pytrah" and his younger--and to the outside observer, possibly professional--female companion "Annie" were lurking.

Across the street from the bank where the Gree computer was being stored was a corporate office that was mostly legitimate (at least by Nar Shaddaa standards). Like most such buildings, it had a street-level lunch cafe inside by the front lobby that was only accessible to people with access to the building . . . or in this case someone with forged building passes that were good enough to fool the security guards at the entrance.

"Arun" and "Annie" spent the late afternoon there waiting for the Imperial couriers to arrive at the bank, making small talk and enjoying a few snacks and drinks while posing as a executive who, from all appearances, left work early to surreptitiously meet up with a much-younger lady friend before going home. His smart business suit made him look every bit like he belonged there, and the implants in his eyes projected a fake set of pupils on the outside that looked natural enough that you wouldn't notice them as fake unless you really looked directly at them.

On the other hand, Dianiss was dressed mostly the same way she usually did, complete with lightsaber on her belt.

"So, Annie, . . . how long have you been a dancer?" Kinnan asked.

"Mr. Pytrah, I'm an actress." Dianiss looked down, breaking eye contact. "Though it's true that I have also done some other work at the clubs in between auditions. A girl has to have a little spending-money, after all." She looked back up at him. "But I especially enjoy these little outings with handsome gentlemen like yourself."

He could feel himself reacting involuntarily to her flirting, and decided to just go with it. It would help sell their cover to anyone who might be watching. "So what sort of acting work would I know you from?"

"Well, I'm still trying to find that big break. I don't suppose you know any producers here on Nar Shaddaa, do you? I'd be very grateful for an introduction. VERY. Grateful."

Kinnan was actually starting to admire how much Dianiss threw herself into playing this role. Indeed, she WAS quite an actress.

"I guess I'm a little confused. Why are you carrying THAT thing?" He didn't point, but his eyes indicated that he was talking about her lightsaber.

"Oh, Mr. Pytrah, the light-sword is just a prop for an act I do at the club, and since I'm working tonight, I thought I'd bring it along . . . that is, unless you're covering my time for the whole evening."

"Hmmm . . . maybe I will. I will say . . . I'm definitely interested." That last part was not a lie. "But first, I think maybe we should order some dessert."

The mention of 'ordering dessert' was the code phrase to indicate that he'd spotted the Imperials going into the bank. The counter-phrase to was refuse it, thereby acknowledging that it was 'go' time.

"Well, if you really ARE interested in spending the evening together, then I think maybe we should save 'dessert' for later . . . back at your place."

Okay, that wasn't how they'd rehearsed it, but it was definitely in-character.

--

Agent Saffire was perched up on the roof of the building across the street from the bank, neatly tucked in next to an air-conditioning and smog-filtering unit so that it would be very difficult to spot her from any direction. She had already assembled a specialized anti-Jedi sniper rifle that used an electromagnetic accelerator rather than conventional ordnance. Jedi could usually deflect fire from conventional weapons, but this one would propel its ammunition at over ten times the normal velocity, exceeding the enhanced reflexes of all but the very best masters.

She watched with practiced patience as a car pulled into a parking area next door to the bank, which she recognized as the one being driven by one of Prowler's team. When another man emerged from the bank carrying a nondescript briefcase, she widened her view to take in the entire front of the bank and parking area to watch for anything unusual.

She immediately noticed the two people in the parking area over by an ugly piece of outdoor 'artistic' sculpture, where a businessman was apparently taking pictures of a young girl standing in front of it . . . in fact, trying to climb up on top of it.

Something about them was setting off warnings in her head, but she continued to watch and wait for signs of actual Jedi involvement as the driver got out and started walking to meet the man who came from the bank.

--

"Yoohoo! Boys!" Dianiss called out to the two men who were indirectly approaching. "I'm sure you have some place you need to be, but surely you can spare a moment to help a damsel in distress."

As she said the words, she used the Force to give them additional weight and persuasiveness--while being careful NOT to suggest anything that they'd be inclined to disagree with strongly. The ruse worked. She got their attention and they both diverted their respective paths toward her instead of each other.

As the courier with the briefcase got closer, she gently put her hand on his chest to help strengthen her ability to influence him. "Thank you so much. Could you two big strong men help give me a boost up on top of this sculpture? I just can't seem to climb up there on my own."

Again, something reasonable, believable, and innocuous.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Dianiss smiled when she heard that his initial reaction was not a flat-out refusal.

"My dear friend here is taking holo-pictures of me for my modeling portfolio, and I just HAVE to have this shot. It's PERFECT."

This was the first of three crucial moments, and to be extra sure, she surreptitiously used the classic hand gesture of the Jedi Mind-trick--disguising it as pointing at the top of the sculpture.

"It'll only take a moment. Pleeeeeeeeease?" she said.

The courier paused a moment before responding. "Okay, but then I have to go." he agreed.

"Yay!" she exclaimed, while giving him a hug and gently touching her hand to the back of his head, to strengthen her hold on his mind. "Thank you!" she said, and hugged the driver the same way.

As she kicked off her shoes, she indicated for the two men to stand on either side of her. "Now just hold one hand like this to hold my foot, and then put the other one right here to steady me." She was pointing at the back of her thigh and could feel them both reacting positively to the notion of touching her there. "And no peeking while you're lifting me up." she added, with a generous helping of irony in her voice.

That's when the second crucial moment arrived: she had indirectly suggested that the courier put down the briefcase, something he certainly wouldn't ordinarily want to do. "Don't worry." she said. "You can trust my friend Arun here, he'll keep an eye on your case for you." And again, she covertly used the hand gesture as a part of a single hand motion that ended in pointing toward Kinnan. By this time, with all of the physical contact she'd made with him, she was confident that he'd agree.

As he quietly set the briefcase down at his own feet, Dianiss got an unexpected shiver that something was starting to go wrong.

--

Agent Saffire watched the incident play out in amazement. Prowler hadn't lost the package yet, but he sure looked like he was about to. She kept the businessman carefully within view as she continued to monitor them all. Clearly, the girl was a distraction and HE was the one to watch.

--

As the men lifted her up, Dianiss wobbled a little bit on purpose, like she was losing her balance. "Hey, pay attention to what you're doing. I can't afford to be out of work because of a broken leg!" The distraction worked, she got them both to look up at her and away from the briefcase.

The men quickly lifted her up enough that she could easily pull herself the rest of the way up on top of the sculpture. She immediately went into a series of poses--some that were classic 'modeling' poses, some that were intended to be more sexy. 'Arun' responded by quickly moving his camera around to capture the scene from different angles, including moving up close for a forced perspective that made her look like she was up higher in the air than she actually was.

Both men watched for a couple of moments, but soon turned to recover the briefcase and leave.

"Hey, now! You're not just going to LEAVE ME up here are you?" she yelled down. "A gentleman like you would help me down." Like before, she was careful to verbalize suggestions and inferences, rather than direct commands.

That regained their attention. "Okay, you'd better catch me!" she said. She climbed down part way, then dropped down toward the courier, using the Force very gently to make herself feel lighter than she actually was--and thus make her rescuer feel stronger than HE actually was.

He actually did quite a nice job of catching her in his arms, and was actually pretty strong. Before he set her down, she gave him a hug and a quick kiss on the lips.

Now came the third and most crucial moment of all. She bent down and picked up Kinnan's briefcase--now right next to them because of the way he'd moved in close for that last shot--and held it up for the courier in one hand while using her other hand to gently caress his arm.

"Here's your case. You don't want to leave without THIS." she said. As she did, she not only used the Force to give her words extra persuasive power, but called on the dark presence within her to strengthen her power by an order of magnitude. This was the '+/-1T' card in her Side Deck that even Kinnan didn't know about. Amplifying her power this way could even overpower those particular species with innate resistance to it, along with those who are otherwise trained to resist it.

"Thank you." he said, taking the wrong case.

"Thank YOU." she responded. "You boys come by the Star Cluster some night. I'll take VERY good care of you." she added as they both made their way to the car. But despite the fact that they had just pulled off the switch perfectly, she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

--

Saffire saw the whole thing. "Idiots!" she whispered to herself, and took careful aim at the unknown man who picked up the briefcase from the bank.

--

Kinnan and Dianiss were almost home free. But the nagging feeling she was having was only getting stronger as they started walking toward the alley between the bank and the parking area to get out of sight.

Then, all in a flash, she finally figured out why when she heard a dart strike Kinnan and felt his consciousness slip away, followed by the sensation of a short blade hitting her in the back and delivering a debilitating electrical charge.

She quickly, almost instinctively, used the Force to regain control of herself, but that was undone again in a flash--literally--as one of the two operatives, no longer hiding under the cover of their stealth field generators, detonated a flash-bang that overwhelmed her senses and caused her sense of balance to spin uncontrollably. Knowing that capture had been a possibility from the start, she followed protocol and gave in to it, allowing herself to fall into unconsciousness. A better time to reveal themselves as Jedi would surely come later, when they are both alert and ready to escape.

--

Saffire gently relaxed her trigger finger, relieved that Prowler had dealt with the situation without any need for her to intervene. The flash-bang was probably overkill, but considering that the team probably thought they were dealing with a Jedi, she could understand the rookie mistake. It did attract some initial attention, but on Nar Shaddaa this sort of thing was oddly commonplace, so in the end nobody tried to get involved.

She continued to watch carefully as they collected the pair--along with both briefcases--and put them into the car. "All right, we've got the package back. We're taking these two back to the spaceport." she heard Prowler say in her earpiece.

Continue to Chapter 4 . . . .