ooc: this is a fairly simple reconnaisance of ships stationed over Garqi and Muunillust. A little background information.
Trans-Empire Shipping
6 years old
Front company for Perregrine's Nest.
Owner:Traal Zibass
Empire having reason to believe they are disloyal to them:no
Number of people who know of operations by them involving Peregrine's Nest:10
Are they completely loyal:yes
Do they talk out loud so they can be bugged etc. or can transmissions be found and read or decoded: no to all
There are 2 encryption levels on sensor data. One cheap commercial encryption and one heavy duty military encryption. The military copy doesn't show up at all except with the proper password from Traal.

ic: The Freighter known as Night Ice reverted in the Garqi system. It followed standard operating procedure for all and any freighters that appeared regullarily in the Garqi system.

"Garqi control this is the freighter Night Ice of Trans-Empire Shipping. We are bound for orbital dock Z-19 to pick up a load of Caf Beans for transportation to Muunillust. Are Origin Point is Bastion." said Captain Varl Nevil into the comm.

This mission was just like any other mission or flight his ship did. They would act like any other freighter going to a orbital dock or a ground-baased installation. They would record their Sensor Data all the way in and all the way out. Then when they returned to Bastion their sensor data would be uploaded to the Directers Computer. This was standard operating procedure for all ships in the Trans-Empire fleet but they only used the data from the Night Ice.

"Night Ice this is Garqi Control. Your controler will be regional station 6. The Comm frequency is 00633." came the voice of the unnamed controler in the Garqi control space station.

"I copy Control. Switching to channel 00633." said Nevil.

On his comm board he punched in the numbers 00633. Immeaditly he got the voice of a new controler.

"Night Ice. Proceed to Vector 220/21 at 10 MGL.T I will update your course in 2 minutes." said the new controller

"I copy. 220/21 at 10 MGLT." said Nevil to the controller. Then to his pilot he said. "Go to course 220/21 at 10 MGLT. Standard procedure."

"I copy" said the pilot.

Nevil leaned back in his seat sighing contentedly. So far so good.

ooc:I'm going to need your fleet manifest over garqi because I plan on actually getting some information out of this. If you want I can get it in a password forum where the whole galaxy can't read it.

The recording played again.

"Garqi control, this is the freighter <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Night Ice<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> of Trans-Empire Shipping. We are bound for orbital dock Z-19 to pick up a load of Caf Beans for transportation to Muunillust. Our Origin Point is Bastion."

Captain Farok tapped the code cylinder against his lips, his brow furrowed as he listened to the standard transmission that had been rerouted to him just moments ago. He gestured for the recording to be played yet again, and the juvenile voice of the freighters captain rung in his ears once more.

Farok sat up straighter when the recording concluded for the third time, looking to the Lieutenant at his side.

“Well, clearly they either know something I don’t, or they are incredibly ill-informed,” the Captain suggested, scratching at his chin as he contemplated the possibilities.

The Lieutenant had pulled up a bit of information on a datapad for Farok to re-familiarize himself with.


<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color=yellow>Excerpt from letter to Office of the Regent

Paragraph 48, subsection B:

CODENAME: BASTION

Imperial Capital Planet original name to be erased and all coordinate/navigational information never to be recorded on military craft.

The 5 year project to make the Imperial Capital self sustaining has begun to pay off. Naturally, this does not meet all required needs, therefore special dispensation is extended to transport carriers under complete control of Imperial Intelligence. Such carriers will originate at only one authorized port of call (classified).

No cyphers, data transfers or communications (encrypted or otherwise) is to be channelled through Imperial Intelligence relay (location classified).

Non-Imperial units and commercial interests are to remain within authorized (for them) ports of call. Any deviation will result in immediate destruction.</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->


“Perhaps the freighter <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> wants<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> to be destroyed,” suggested Lieutenant Grigmon-Rautha with a smirk.

Captain Farok ignored the sarcasm, clearly not wanting to be interrupted while in thought.

“What is this 'Trans-Empire Shipping'?” the Captain questioned.

“I… don’t know, sir,” the Lieutenant admitted. “That would be something for Intelligence to look into,” he suggested.

“Yes… Yes, have them do that. Since the scans showed nothing harmful aboard… we’ll let them continue without interference. But have station D-16 continue to track the vessel. Alert Devil squadrons C-14 through 18 to concentrate their patrol on sector 1132 D in case the need for emergency action arises. We’ll wait and see if anything comes of this.”

“Very good, sir.”



The freighter continued along its designated path in low orbit of Garqi.



OOC:

For future reference: Bastion is a hidden planet. Saying you are arriving from or heading to Bastion is an immediate tip off to Imperial forces that you are full of crap. :b

Since you claim this to be a recon/information gathering RP only, I will not interfere to the degree that it would muck up your plans, so you are being allowed to continue without interference... unless you provoke it. Hehe.


<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Garqi Planetary Defenses<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

- Gencore MK I Planetary Shield
- Planetary ION Cannon
- KDY Standard Turbolaser

- 50,000 Planetary Defense Mines

(1) Attack Class Carrier Sphere (with full TIE Devil compliments)
(2) Carrack Class Cruisers
(3) Interdiction Pickets
(3) Abolisher Cruisers

ooc:sorry didn't know about the Bastion thing.

ic:
"Sir we have 4 Tie Devil squadrons inbound." came the voice of the sensor operater.

Nevil forwned. This wasn't regular behaviour. He'd been to Garqi tons of times before and this had never happened before. Oh well he shrugged as he scanned his sensor screen. They don't have any reason to not believe us. And anyways if they did destroy him then some people on both Muunilust and Garqi would be very pissed off. He frowned concentrating on the screen. These numbers were much lower than he'd expected. Something wasn't right here the Empire has a lot more ships than this. Oh well might as well just continue going. Suddenly the voice of the controller broke his train of thought.

"Night Ice slow up to one half of your present speed and turn to course 300/25. At the end of your course you will dock with the orbital dock. I am know transferring control of your ship over to the controller there. His channel is 600235." said the controller

"I copy on all of that control," said Nevil. "Changing course and channel know."

"Turn us to 300/25 at 5MGLT." Nevil yelled at his pilot.

"I copy 300/25 at 5MGLT." said the pilot

Nevil then changed his comm channel over to channel 600235. As he had expected all he got was a landing beacon.

"We have a landing Beacon on channel 600235." he yelled to his pilot.

"I copy 600235. Switching over know." said the pilot

Slowly the Night Ice approcahed the huge open maw that was the docking bay. He felt a rumble in his seat as the landing gear was loaded. Suddenly he heard the whine of repulsers that signified that his ship had entered the atmosphere containment field. Un-buckeling himself he stood up and began to walk towards the ramp. When the ship setteled to the ground he hit the ramp activating switch. It lowered with a whine. Standing there was a docking bay official and a representative of the caf bean growing company that would sell them their beans. Nevil began to walk down the ramp looking around at the other ships in the hangar.

As Nevil reached the people standing at the bottom of the ramp he shook the hand of the representative of the caf bean producing company. Then he turned and began to speak to the docking bay official.

"We require to stay here for 1 hour. We also need to fuel our ship. How much will it cost." asked Nevil

"500 credits." said the official

"Ok" Nevil nodded.

Digging into his money pouch he took out the money. Then he turned and looked at the representative. He was ordering men to prepare to load the 10 crates of beans into the ship. Seeing that all was going well Nevil excused himself to send a short comm message. The Comm message was directed at their headquarters in Muunillust.

"We have landed safely and have commenced loading. We expect to be on time." Nevil said into his communicater.

Without waiting for a confirmation he shut it off and walked back over to his ship. Once inside he walked up to his bridge going the opposite way from the noise in the cargo bay. Sitting down he sighed.

"Valig!" he yelled at his pilot. "File our flightplan with Garqi control."

"Yes sir." the pilot responded


Nevil leaned back and sighed. Soon his ship would be out of here and on it's way to Muunillust.

The Night Ice was finally clear of it's docking Bay. The flight plan was filled. If the Imps were going to stop him it would be know. Suddenly the stars in Nevill's viewport elognated into hyperspace. They were safe. The Night Ice supposedly only had a x1 hyperdrive bu actually it was x.75. Using this extra speed they were able to drop out of hyperspace in a uninhabited area of space. Send a message to Peregrine and be gone on their way to Muunillust. It all went by without a hitch and once again the Night Ice was in hyperspace on it's way to Muunillust.

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Arliss Towers, Muunilist<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->



"Too what do I owe this unexpected pleasure, Mr. Conrad?" Ms. Arliss preempted, starting to stand, aware that her impeccable business attire in no way would distract her father's hawkeyed, pointy nosed Chief Financial Officer.

If anything, Mr. Conrad seemed rather impatient with the usual politics of formal business meetings.

"Nevermind!" he snapped, his eyes taking in everything that her office was decorated with, as if counting the material cost of her decorative tastes.

"I need to see last year's fiscal numbers for Muunilist's Five Year Projection."

"What Five Year Projection?" she countered.

"The kind that don't concern you," he answered quickly, pointing to a Gungan Ceremonial Bowl. "It's fake."


"It's an original."


"It's crap. Where's your lover?" he suddenly asked, making himself entirely at home in Ms. Aliss' office.

"He's busy."

"So, I saw. The shipyards are locked tighter than a loan officer's lending on an unsecured amount."


"Sentinel Division is in repairs at this moment. Currently, half the fleet is in drydock."

"That woud be Divison II wouldn't it? The man Kaine's division?"

"General Kaine," Ms. Arliss quietly corrected, smiling slightly. "I am surprised you saw the yards at all. Imperial Procedure keeps the docks and yards out and away from civilian traffic."


"Yes, civilian and business traffic are routed through the Office of Interplanetary Affairs. However, your father has been of service to them on various occasions and they feel... indebted to Arliss Industries."

"You didn't come for financials, Mr. Conrad. What do you want?"


At her directness, Seamus Arliss' CFO smiled. It was a disturbing sight. "Such a sharp mind, Ms. Arliss. It is a shame you waste it with that...that.."

"Don't say it." the rather icy blonde woman warned. Her deep blue eyes pierced the failing politeness of the financial wizard of her father.

The facade fell.

"Very well. The Empire's growth is dependent on several things. Our growth has been joined to the Empire ever since the agreement with your lover and the blundering Admiral Hyfe."

"Grand Admiral Hyfe." Ms. Arliss corrected. "You may not like it Mr. Conrad. My father may not like it, but it's the Empire's soldiers that make us strong."

"Explain that to me in your haughty voice when their power coils run down. When their supply shipments run short. When their great weapons of war break down and these great leaders must come crawlng to US. To US, Ms. Arliss, to make their world better!"

His eyes became sharp.

"So spare me the indignation of the pious. It unbecomes you and is utterly ridiculous."

"What do you want, Mr. Conrad?"


The Chief Financial Officer of Arliss Industries suddenly held a conspiratorial look.

He leaned forward a bit...


..and told her.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The Night Ice reverted into realspace perfectly on schedule as planned once again the scanners began scanning all the ships in space and in dry dock. It smoothly merged into the incoming traffic lane.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Munnillust shield control this is the freighter Night Ice. We request that the nshield be dropped and the minefield be deactivated to permit passage. Over" said Nevil.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The scanners picked up about several thousand vessels but nothing specific as traffic was moving at a steady pace.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


"Night Ice, this is Shield Control. Your vessel will undergo extensive scanning before shield penetration. We will be issuing you a flght plan upon entering planetary civilian lanes. Remain within your flight plan and the mines will be safe.

Please proceed to the designated customs clearance where your craft will be boarded. Be prepared to show identification and registration upon reaching customs point to an authorized official.

Thank you for your cooperation, and welcome to Moneyland."

"Yes Sir" said Nevil

"Coman!" He yelled at his Sensor Officer. "Has the Garqi Data been deleted?"

"Yes Sir as well as the military copies that the Empire thinks we don't know about. The military Copies have been replaced with a more suitable copy that looks exactly as it should. Just Freighter Traffic"


"Good Activate the hidden redundant Sensor system that is sensor shielded" said Nevil

"Yes Sir" said the Sensor Officer

At his words a shielded sensor system was activated. The shielding was designed to give the reading that it was a part of the 'fresher system and it actually was. All the previous data was dumped into the system also. The Night Ice was know a totally clean ship.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The Night Ice was know free of the docking bay on the customs space station. The planetary shield had been lowered and the planetary minefield had been deactivated. Slowly the Night Ice settled down on the exclusive Trans-Empire shipping landing pad. Through his viewport Nevil could seea group of droids clustered together. They were undoubtedly there to unload the cargo. Slipping from his seat Nevil made his way back to the Sensor Operaters station with only the soft click of his boots to prowide any noise. He arived at the Sensor Operaters Station and waited as he was obviously concentrating very hard on his readout. As Nevil approached he could see that it was a view of the Muunnillust and the Garqi data.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"What is it?" he asked

"It's this information sir. There's something missing. There should be more ships at these planets." he said

"Meaning what?" Nevil asked

"Meaning that they must have a hidden planet somewhere that is extremely heavily defended. Probably their Capital World." said the Sensor Operater

"You mean Bastion." said Nevil

"Yes Bastion. It's obvious that neither Garqi, Muunillust or any other planet controlled by TNO that we know about is it so it must be some other planet." said the sensor operater

"I know that. But we have a huge amount of space to cover. Just the area around what used to be the Imperial Remmant is 8 sectors. Plus all the new sectors that they've pushed into. That's over a thousand planets. Even though only 10 or so as we know it are under there control." said Nevil

"I know but there has to be a solution somewhere." said the sensor operater

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Just then Nevil got a idea.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"Take the sensor data from Garqi and Muunillust. Backtrack the courses of the ships. It will give us a pretty good starting point on finding Bastion." said Nevil

"Yes Sir." said the Sensor Operater.