Never say 'Never' (Ask)

[Triune]

*Republic Naval Yards: Coruscant. After the attack on the Supreme Chancellor security all over the planet tightened. Patrols were doubled, in some places tripled, the Naval yards was one such place. Security was tight, war-effort tight. Just to get into the yards sec-cards had to be verified by a hot check with the central mainframe making hacked codes less likely to stand up. It made for delays but the adage 'better safe then sorry' was often used to mollify the busy individuals who were upset by the wait. It didn't help. Such security would indeed catch or deter many would be insurgents, many but not all. As with all things when the environment grows harsher the lifeforms must adjust or parish. Put simply the better the mousetrap the more cunning the rat.*

~Eight hours of waiting. That's what it took to defeat the outermost security of the yard. Hitching a ride in a maintenance droid got her this far, the transit facility. To get where she wanted to go would require more than just a tight squeeze in a droid chassis. Safe in the shadows of the small maintenance area just outside the door she watched the comings and goings of the officers and crew waiting for someone in particular. Hacking the Central Mainframe might be nigh impossible now but she had other ways to get the information she needed, now that information was about to pay off. Eight hours later the pay off came in the form of Captain Regella Nardo. A smile crossed our interloper's lips as she watched the woman and her clip, swift stride.~

"Time to reel in the lure." She whispered to no one. Her gaze narrowed, her breathing slowed as she focused on the Captain. "Come to me" She whispered sibilantly. The Captain slowed, stopped for a moment, glancing around she turned and walked towards the maintains room as if remembering something she needed there. She reached the door pausing, she blinked as if coming out of a daydream.

"What am I do-" That was all she got out when the interloper's hand clasped tightly against the back of the woman's neck, the captain froze like a statue. Without word she pushed the unresisting captain into the maintains room, closing and locking the door behind them.

Brief passage of time

~Captain Nardo stepped out of the maintains room, glancing at her Chronometer she smiled, smoothing down her normally flawless auburn tresses back into proper perfection. The smile vanished as with her common clip stride she walked out, moving along the grand entry towards the embarkation area. She did have a ship to captain after all. The Sec-Station brought her to a pause, she pulled out her clearance card and handed it to the officer. Her expression was mixed, slight annoyance at being held up but begrudging understanding of the situation. The officer looked at the Captain but didn't get to ask for her code. The Captain, obviously long used to such things offered it.~

"Captain Regella Nardo, Security Code A-seven,seven,H-one, one, eight, seven, nine"

~There was a pause as the system did its job, this was when all hell could tumble down around her but outwardly she was as calm and as slightly impatient as the authentic Captain would be. After what felt like an eternity the unit beeped and flashed green.~

"Everything checks out Captain, you may proceed." He handed back her card.

"Thank you Lieutenant." She put the card back into her pocket and headed on. Safe out of his sight and where no camera would see she flashed a knowing smirk...

'The more cunning the Rat'

[Triune]

~Captain Nardo, after passing two more security stations, walked out into the bays. Republic vessels were lifting off adding a roar to the already noisy hangar. Following the designated lines she reached the far side and climbed the steep metal stairs entering the Launch command. A fourth (over all) security check gave her access. She approached the deck officer who immediately snapped to attention.~

"I've received orders to launch in the first immediate window, here are your authorization." The pad was, like all the rest in this facility a hot connect pad. The officer looked it over and nodded.

"Next launch window is in ten minutes, Captain. I'll have your ship ready. Do you need escort to your vessel?"

"That won't be necessary, carry on." She turned and left the office, again the smirk rose on her lips in those all-too-brief instances of privacy.

The More Cunning the Rat

[Lady Zahra/Jules]

City patrols were coming in for the shift change as others were prepared to leave as soon as the previous shift had set down. One ship came in hot and smoking. As the ship entered the hangar, it immediately was filled with smoke. Fire supressing equipment came out as the systems aboard the ship had seemed to malfunction. Red flashing lights went off in the hangar as for safety precaution all non-emergency personnel were forced to evacuate. The hot ship had blocked the exit of the ship the Captain was about to use. Clean up crews and medics ran towards the ship once it had been extinguished to find out what was going wrong.

[Triune]

~A glance at her Chronometer told her that time while not running out was not her ally. It would take some while for the Teoprene Acid to consume the body of the former Captain and the longer she lingered here the more likely it became someone would find the slowly disappearing corpse. Outwardly she was calm and collected. She arrived at her ship, a Majestic Class Light Cruiser outfitted for an outer rim patrol. The crew, (60 members) were already aboard and preparing for lift off as she mounted the ramp. Crewmembers saluted their captain noticing nothing out of place, she returned the salutes readily as she made her way to the bridge. She paused only long enough to drop her dufflebag off in her quarters. The interloper long memorized the lay out of this particular ship and was as familiar as the Captain herself. She reached the bridge in short order.~

[Lady Zahra/Jules]

The answer was soon given over all Republic military frequencies.

"Attention all officers. All take-offs have been terminated until further notice. Squadrons Alpha and Bravo, report to your ships. We repeat all take-offs have been terminated until further notice."

It was strange. Something had to be going on above the skies of Coruscant for fighters to be brought in like that. Instead of sending in the big ships, only the small ones were being sent in. Obviously the other cruisers were being held for safety reasons....not their own but whatever had caused the disturbance.

[Triune]

"Acknowledge the order, Ensign." She says to the young communications officer as she took the command chair. Another glance at her Chronometer told her the window of being caught was shrinking but also increasing, the odor of a body being eaten by acid would overpower the seal on the door, that was a given but would it happen soon enough for them to have any cells left to identify the body, that was the question. She toggled the yard channel and contacted Launch Command.

"This is the Swift Justice Does this emergency secession of launch supercede our own orders for immediate launch?" It was a fair question afterall, the auth codes she had attached were high but were they high enough?

[Lady Zahra/Jules]

The voice came across the comlink in reply. It wasn't the young voice she had heard earlier, but that of an older gentleman.

"This is Captain Quisb. Captain, we're sorry for your delay. Airspace is currently being cleared around the base as we deal with a 10-59. I assure you we are working as fast as we can."

The comm goes silent as they are to sit and wait. Outside the ship there are a group of technicians who are laughing about some incident. It might be related to this whole situation.

[Triune]

"Acknowledged Captain, Swift Justice Out." She looks at her command crew "Give orders to be prepared for take off as soon as launch control gives us the green light. I'll be in my quarters until then, Exo, you have the bridge." She departs the bridge and walks to 'her' quarters. Once inside she drops into one of the chairs with a sigh. Glancing at her Chronometer once more she keeps from uttering a curse. She opened the dufflebag removing the belongings the true captain had within to pull out what she put in there. An inocuous flask and a datapad. It held a copy of the novel the captain had been reading. The actual pad was dropped down a waste chute and replaced with this one. She activated the hidden files within and logged into the ships system. She checked again to make sure nothing had changed since her last scan, satisfied she hid the files again and took time to examine herself in the mirror, making sure she looked proper. All she had to do was wait and hope the seals were strong enough...

[Lady Zahra/Jules]

Minutes had passed and nerves began to be shot. Airspace had finally been cleared and the suicidal man in his ship brought down safely in another quadrant. As the Republic began to take him into custody for his attempt to drive his plane into the Senate building, clearings were passed and orders were handed out for takeoff numbers. The squadrons screamed back into the hangar and quickly were moved out of the line of path as the communication lines were opened again toSwift Justice.

"All clear for takeoff, Swift Justice."

The man wearing the orange jumpsuit stepped forward with his direction sticks and began to wave the ship forward to get it in take off position.

Further back in another section, an ensign was ordered to clean up the mess of one of the officers. As he made his way to the utility closet grumbling about how he was sent to do a droid's job, he caught the wiff of something potent. Moving towards the door, he swiped his card and it beeped before sliding open. There on the floor was a mess that sent his stomach reeling. He covered his mouth as he had to turn away and try not to vomit. The body had been found. The ensign ran down the hallway to try to get some fresh air and send a transmission to the security forces.

[Triune]

~Captain Nardo arrived on the bridge in a moment after hearing the go for launch. She took her seat and looked at the helmsman, nodding to him to proceed. The communications officer acknowledged the go for launch as the cruiser slowly lifted off following the guide to take off position. Within her calm exterior the interloper was a bundle of frustrated nerves, too much time had passed, she was sure the body had been found. It would take a full forensics lab hours if not days to find a viable cell for typing at this stage and that wouldn't be in time. IF the ship could take off now she would be safe.... IF. such a small word to be so crucial.~

[Lady Zahra/Jules]

The immediate area began to be sealed off first as the remains could definately be considered human. Some organs of the body don't digest as quickly as the others because of tissue types and depth within the body. Slowly, the whole base began to be shut down. Last to receive the emergency message was the hangar. Besides, there were no strange ships requesting launching codes save that of the cruiser containing the Captain.

"Should we belay the launch, Captain?"

He looked at the sargeant and shook his head no. "I know that captain well. If Captain Nardo doesn't proceed with her mission, heads will roll. Let her proceed." He crossed his arms behind his back as orders were given to shut down the hangar until the base could be cleared and all secure only after Swift Justice had taken off.

[Triune]

~Time crept by or so it seemed but eventually the Cruiser was out and away from the yards. Slowly moving up into the atmosphere and leaving the world-city of Coruscant behind. Inwardly the false Nardo breathed a sigh of relief. It had worked. By the time they could identify the body, The Swift Justice, her captain and crew would vanish. All was proceeding just as she desired. Looking to the helmsman she transferred the course to his console. Without even a raised eyebrow he put it into the Nav com and waited for the computations. She settled back into the command chair, the smirk gracing her face if only for an instant.~

...The More cunning the Rat...

[Triune]

~Reaching the coordinates provided by the Captain wasn't that difficult and the order to make no communications until contacted on a specific frequency seemed to fit the clandestine nature of the mission she laid out to the crew. It wasn't as if they had reason to distrust their captain, she hadn't lead them wrong before. After leaving the bridge supposedly to go to her quarters Captain Nardo made an unexpected trip in Engineering, wanting the power output reports for the last quarter. An unusual request but nothing she wasn't entitled to. However while the chief engineer was collecting that data he had no idea the Captain was doing a bit of engineering of her own. She attached the flask to the life support system and activated the internal timer in the flask. The Chief had no clue it happened as the Captain took the reports and returned to her quarters. Looking at her Chronometer once more she smiled and put on the gas mask. Right on time the flask injected its contents into the ventilation system, the gas odorless and colorless filtered through the ship dropping the crew like flies. Genetically altered retro-virii were known to do that. Waiting the prescribed twenty minutes the Captain removed her mask, knowing the short term airgen had run its course. She keyed the personal comm link she carried.~

"Come a-runnin'..." was all she said. Walking back to the airlock she waited and soon cycled open the hatch. A crew of grubby, haphazardly dressed pirates pushed into the ship. The leader of them, a fat (He would say burly) Besalisk walked up to the Captain. His chuckle shook his 'burly' bulk.

"Don't know how you do it boss but you always come through. Here." He handed her another dufflebag "Everything you wanted."

"Good, get the republic crew over to the transport. Strip 'em and chain 'em up. Tula the Hutt will pay us pretty for the lot of 'em. I'll go get ready and make the transmission, you get busy tearing out the transceivers. I don't want the Republic bounding on our trail." The Besalisk nodded and started delivering orders while she returned to her purloined quarters to get ready.

~Some time later a hooded woman left the Captain's quarters walking for the bridge. Taking a languid pose in the command chair she activated the bridge camera and set it to record her statement.~

"Members of the esteemed Republic. Once again I must remind you that nothing is safe from me. Not your Capital, not your senators, not your Chancellor and not even your ships. As you see I sit on the bridge of one of your newest cruisers, taken right from under the noses of your 'stalwart defenders' the Republic Navy. Along with the Jedi, they are flaccid, ineffectual fools. Everything you have is mine for the taking. The Dark Jedi own you as surely as if you wore a collar proclaiming the fact. Nothing can stop us... Nothing." Her laughter echoes as she fades the camera to black.

~She rose from the chair and set about transmitting the message through the Perlimaine Hyperspace relays knowing it would take hours to reach Coruscant. After that the pirate crew began to fire up the cruiser. The Besalisk walked into the bridge.~

"Everything's ready to go boss, you send the message already?" She nodded.

"Take us home Reg, We have to get this cruiser repainted quick-like. I'm gonna be in my quarters, I need to rest. It's been a long two weeks." She walked off the bridge heading for her room and her bed. She needed some sleep. Even a Durasteel Rat needed to sleep now and then...