Over the next several weeks Vestara stayed close to Tallisibeth to ensure her 'condition' did not flare-up again. To this end she made a routine of helping around the house with whatever needed to be done, Tallisibeth knew he did this to watch over her and her well being, although Vestara herself never admitted it, and allowed it. During the day the two would talk on various subjects, each time Vestara believed Tallisibeth was leaving her with some cryptic or hidden meaning to her words, but she did not mind if she was less than straight forward as Vestara had long forsaken the idea of simply being offered answers. Whenever there wasn't something to be done around the house Vestara would see to it that Tallisibeth was involved in something non-strenuous or simply resting. Be it for altruism or her equating her host's well being with her own, Vestara tried to make sure nothing else happened to Tallisibeth so that all parties were satisfied.
The few times she did leave Tallisibeth to her own devices were when Veran, Ordov, or Cadera came asking for her to accompany them somewhere. The problem of being short handed had not yet fixed itself, and as they pointed out before Vestara wasn't someone people were likely to come looking for, and even if they did as far as Mandalore was concerned she didn't exist. And so when there was work to be done Vestara remained a convenient extra set of hands. Vestara however had yet to receive any word on whether or not they were actually finding any of the data-fragments from these various infiltration's no matter how hard she pressed. Whomever she spoke to always found some way of avoiding the subject entirely, or stating something along the lines of they would talk later.
But later never seemed to come.
While in the case of Tallisibeth she did not mind the way she could be indirect in telling someone something, everyone else seemed intent on reserving pertinent and time again she would leave to somehow intrude upon some military structure, only to be denied the specifics of their 'success', if there was any. Personal secrets were one thing, but keeping hidden any information on how close they were to their objective annoyed her. Tallisibeth, whom she had otten into the habit of calling 'Scout', simply told her to be patient, but patience was by far not Vestara's strong suit.
Things finally took a turn one day when all three came to the manor seeking Vestara's assistance. Vestara herself, not being otherwise preoccupied, sat in her room meditating when a gentle rapping came at her door, Vestara did not immediately respond until it grew noticeably louder. Opening her eye in frustration, she noted she had not sensed anyone's approach and suspected it to be Tallisibeth, she noted the elderly Jedi's habit of masking her presence. Vestara rose from where she sat as the knocking grew louder, lightly stomping in frustration.
"Yes, yes Scout, what is-" Vestara found herself cut off mid-sentence when she finally opened the door to find not Tallisibeth, but her son Veran. "Oh,it's you."
"Scout? I can't remember the last time anyone has called her that."
"It's easier than Tallisibeth."
"Okay that's fair, mother does have a rather long name."
"So I assume if your here than you need me to go somewhere? Again."
"That is the primary purpose of my visit, yes."
"And the Secondary?"
"I need to check on my mother, I realize she is a grown adult, but I am concerned for her health."
Vestara immediately thought back to Tallisibeth's collapse, and her imploring Vestara not to speak of her health. "Why? You know something I don't?" She wasn't certain if she could feign ignorance with Veran but tried nonetheless.
"No, it's just the past few years have been stressful on her, usually more of the family is around but, with all that's happened everyone is preoccupied with something. That and I doubt she would be honest with anyone, even you, about her health."
"He's not wrong, she didn't actually tell me anything, I had to find out."
"So where is she now?"
"Oh, um..I think she's asleep."
"Alright, then I'll keep my time brief, just poke my head in and make sure she's still breathing." Veran let out a soft laugh to compliment his sarcasm, while Vestara gave a very uncomfortable smile and chuckled nervously.
"Hope you don't eat your words." Whilst Veran left to do as he said Vestara headed out to the manor's main hall to see if he was alone or not, only to find both Velku and Merys waiting near the front door. "Doesn't anybody else ever come visit?"
Both let out a small chuckle. "From what Veran tells us, not really."
In response to his remark Vestara chose to address Velku. "So, in what attire should I dress?"
"Straight to it, very well. Armor."
"And where are we going this time?"
"Sundari, one of the domed cities, so there are several areas where one might be stopped for inspection. And quite frankly an armored figure doesn't stand out that much."
"Fair enough."
Vestara returned to her room to adorn herself in her armor, finishing in time to see Veran walking down the hall seemingly pleased, suggesting that for the moment Tallisibeth's health was still preferable, though her mind still hung on the thought of the inevitable discovery.
Having retrieved Vestara the Mando promptly left the manor where Vestara found they arrived in the same model, if not the very same, shuttle the arrived in the night Vestara first met Merys and Velku, likewise she found it again crowded with multiple Mando. She again found herself a seat and remained silent throughout the flight seeking to keep out of any business that did not involve her.
Veran sat across from her and himself remained silent for the majority of their flight until Vestara spotted through a window them entering the city.
"So...what 'role' are we playing today?"
"Sundari is one of Mandalores two capital cities. While not as old it is more industrious than Keldabe, during the Clone Wars it served as the primary capital, so there will be a government facility with an extensive archive, that's where we will be going. It's mid-day so much of the morning shift personnel will be switching out with the day shift. Members of the buildings security have granted us their clearance."
"So we can just walk through the front door, with no one being the wiser?"
"Correct."
"And what happens when we leave and the staff suddenly discovers there is noticeably less security in the building?"
"Simple, we sneak out the back, while the actual security sneaks in. If all goes well, no one will know we were there, and no one will have reason to suspect anything."
"IF all goes well."
"You remain pessimistic."
"I remain realistic, life has taught me you can't account for everything." Veran merely gave an affirming grunt before falling silent again. Vestara always had her doubts about these sort of infiltration's, broad daylight and trying to pass for others with almost negligible knowledge of whom they were supposed to be, or the goings on at each location they visited. But time wasn't a luxury, and so they worked with what they had. Vestara continued to gaze out the window for the remainder of their flight, she had come to take an interest in new locations, how in many ways they seemed similar yet always diverse. She imagined she seemed like a child gawking at everything, but then again she imagined this was how all people seemed in this day and age, traveling to new worlds after only knowing one their whole life.
Vestara found the silence broken by Merys calling back fro the pilot's seat. "We may have an issue."
Everyone looked out the windows nearest to them to catch sight of a large congregation of people, all shouting, stretching out in the streets congesting nearby walkways.
Veran gazed around the deafening crowd below noticing they obstructed the walkways to several buildings, one of which was their destination. "How close can you get?"
"Not very, we'll have to land much farther away than we planned."
Vestara noticed several figures in armor, likely law enforcement, gathering around the crowd. "It seems to be some sort of protest, but what for?"
Veran shook his head. "Honestly with how much these cities have suffered since the population drop what aren't they complaining about?"
"Does this complicate things for us?"
"...It shouldn't."
"That wasn't a yes."
"If you want a definitive answer I have none to give you."
Merys and Velku set the shuttle down several blocks away from their destination, and while not terribly far away from where they were headed, it was further than they planned and was thus less than ideal for a quick getaway. Vestara and the Mando were forced to make their way to the government complex through back alley's in order to avoid running afoul of the large crowd to the front of the building. The large group of the entering through the back would certainly seem curious, but hopefully the protest gripped the attention of any who would be watching.
Vestara and the Mando she accompanied were welcomed into the building by a tall Mando in full armor, though they seemed more than a little apprehensive.
"Given everything that's going on, it might be unwise for you lot to be here right now."
Veran cocked his head to the side curiously. "What exactly started this, how did thing become so tumultuous?"
"That we don't know, the crowd just showed up a little over an hour ago, everyone shouting about something that's been going wrong since that damned virus hit. So far there hasn't been any violence, but no one here is counting on it to stay that way."
Veran contemplated on this for a moment. "What you say may be true, meaning it might be best for us to leave right now. But at the same time, we may not get another chance anytime soon if this area breaks out into a full blown riot."
"It's your choice, I'm only telling you the situation as it is."
"I thank you, but we will be moving forward as planned."
With little else to say Veran and everyone else was led inside the building to a security office on the first floor, there they were directed to a terminal where each signed in using the various credentials they had been provided. As soon as they did so an intercom attached to the terminal flashed on followed by a panicked voice shouting hastily in Mando'ade. Vestara still not speaking enough of the language to interoperate looked to Veran for an explanation.
"They are afraid things are going to begin escalating outside."
"What does this mean for us?"
"In case of emergency they are requesting security to the front of the building. As so, for the sake of appearances some of us will have to go." Veran then began pointing into the crowd of various Mando accompanying them. "All of you head to the front, I'll meet you there." He then turned towards a confused Vestara and handed her a data-pad as well as what appeared to be a small computer storage drive. Displayed on the data-pad's screen appeared to be a map of the building they were in, with a path drawn to a specific room. "Go to this room, if what I'm told is true there should be a terminal inside,when the opportunity presents itself insert this drive into the terminal and it will copy ALL of the data stored, everyone else shall follow suit at their own destinations."
"Just plug it in and it will copy everything for us to sort through later?" Vern gave a quick nod. "What's the catch?"
"If we were to sift through each and every file and only take what we needed it wouldn't catch anyone's attention. But downloading EVERYTHING, will be noticed. Someone will see, wee can on;y hope the commotion outside distracts them long enough to not notice until we leave. Technically copying all of those files is illegal, regardless of the situation."
"So in other words things might get worse when I use this?"
"Much. Which is why we must be quick."
"If this is such a dangerous option may I know why you even have it in the first place."
"Hope for the best prepare for the worst."
"Fair enough, obvious question now, do I need to do anything to start the transfer?"
"No, its programmed to start by itself, simply attach and wait."
Wasting no more time Vestara and the remaining few Mando headed to their designated locations, security roaming the halls was not unusual at the moment given the tense atmosphere, whenever she passed someone in the hall Vestra could tell her presence was considered odd or abnormal. When she reached the office she was told there was a single occupant. A Mandalorian man in a business suit tending to some matter on the computer at his desk, upon noticing the armored figure enter his office he attempted to rise from his chair and say something, but Vestara simply waved her hand and compelled him to leave, which thankfully he did.
Vestara closed the door and sat down at the terminal, taking a small moment to ensure no one was watching or might come in, once she as sure she had total privacy she inserted the drive. A small light came on the drive itself while various files began rapidly opening and closing on the computers screen. "Now I wait." she thought to herself.
Only a couple of minutes passed with her silently sitting watching for the door before the room suddenly shook, a loud rumble could be heard in the distance and the lights flickered and the screen on the computer only momentarily turned dark before lighting back up and continuing the data transfer. Over her comm she heard one of the other Mando's voices begin shouting. "Hello, anyone, what was that?!"
Immediately after the familiar voice of Marys responded. "Things have gotten bad out here, the crowd escalated into violence completely at random! As far as we can tell nothing happened that would set anyone off!"
Vestara thought for a second before answering. "How bad is 'escalated'?"
"WE HAVE A FULL BLOWN RIOT OUT HERE! EVERYONE FINISH WHAT YOUR DOING AND GET OUT IMMEDIATELY!" In the distance Vestara could clearly hear a torrent of shouting, and an assortment of crashing, as well as what seemed to be blaster fire. Soon an alarm began blaring throughout the halls. The sound of panicked voices clamoring through, trying to flee could be heard through the door.
"Upside, privacy shouldn't be an issue." Vestara stared at the computer, watching files flicker across the screen, with her hand held firmly on the blaster she had brought with her. Her eyes darted back and forth between the computers screen and the door, growing more and more apprehensive. Her worry that something might go wrong at any given moment grew incrementally until finally the light from the drive turned off, and she saw the screen going blank, no more files flickering across the screen.
Taking this as a sign her part here was done she removed the drive and proceeded to take her leave. Vestara found the halls completely vacant, which came as a relief, had there been anyone they might have tried to send anyone they saw in armor, bearing weapons, to the front to deal with whatever mess was taking place outside. Using the map Veran had previously given her she quickly back tracked through the building, several times the silence of the halls was interrupted by and large rumble and the lights flickering, whatever was going on the people were causing damage to the building itself. What troubled her however was that she saw none of the Mando she arrived with, and couldn't get anyone to answer her over the comms, her every attempt simply resulting in her being answered with the sound of tempestuous shouting. Seeing no other option she decided to make her way to their shuttle with the data she'd gathered and hope someone met her there.
When she finally reached the back entrance they came from she found that she wasn't the only one trying to leave, several of the buildings staff were trying to vacate the premises through this particular passage. The hall in front of the rear exit was heavily congested, recognizing she had little recourse Vestara began pushing her way through the rabble. Several people recognized that she was wearing Mando gear and began shouting, apparently they didn't like than someone who could apparently defend themselves was trying to leave first, but Vestara couldn't be bothered to care. onward and onward she pushed through the frightened crowd until she finally extricated herself. The back end of the building, as well as the paths and alleyways leading to it were also congested, but this time is was more due to rioters, and less a frightened mob trying to flee. No matter which way she tried to leave she found herself staring down a large congregation of people shouting, pelting random objects in any direction, and even firing with their blasters at people. She did not know what caused this uproar but it truly had escalated into a full blown riot.
Vestara pondered how she might safely get back to the shuttle, she found herself in a situation where to avoid resulting to violence to get through the crowds seemed quite difficult. Before she could come to an acceptable conclusion she was cut of but blaster fire headed her way as she realized on part of the crowd was heading towards the area she stood. Seeing little recourse she found herself running along the side of the building out into the open streets where the main crowd lay, had she the time she could have tried to return inside the complex and wait out the riot, but honestly she didn't know how long that would take, and reentering could very well leave her trapped.
Running out into the open streets she found the rioters firing upon law enforcement, as well as the security personnel attending the building, and while far more hectic in this particular area, the chaos was directed, pointed at security and police alike. Pushing and shoving her way through the packed crowd she encountered violent resistance with each step she took, eventually finding herself literally punching and kicking to make room for her to move. She thought of releasing a volley of lightning into the crowd, incapacitate everyone at once, she thought, but ultimately pushed that thought back, she knew if she drew attention from the entire crowd to herself, it would only end with more and more violence. And so more and more she pushed through the crowd, pushing, shoving, punching, kicking, and even whipping people with the back end of her blaster, each step became more and more violent.
For a moment, thought she loathed to admit it, she was actually glad she was wearing a helmet, lest someone try to pull her hair.
Nonetheless she eventually broke through the crowd, and reached open space to freely run from the chaos. And run she did, she was sore from her entanglement with the crowd and no longer had the strength to fight with anyone. As she ran from the crowd she heard more and more blaster fire, it wasn't until a bolt of plasma brushed along her shoulder that she realized some of the nearby citizens had turned their attention onto her. Several other shots grazed her armor, luckily from a distance Mirta's armor could withstand a good deal of gunfire, She thought she might need to thank Fett for this as she imagined he was the one to make sure his granddaughter owned a quality suit of armor.
But Vestara knew she wasn't invincible and that she couldn't take consistent gunfire, what shots she had endured were leaving her more and more in pain. Grabbing her own blaster she began firing up into the air above the crowd, enough to make them realize the fire was heading in their direction, but high enough that it wouldn't actually hit anyone.
And for a moment this seemed to work, the gunfire subsided, only momentarily however. Soon it started up again, and much more violently. Vestara found herself ducking behind anything she could be it some sort of decorative pillar (of which the city had quite a few.) or a nearby parked speeder. She knew if she got further away no one could reasonably hit her and persisted in her retreat. Before she reached this distance however one stray shot struck her back, though it was from far enough away that it lost some momentum and wasn't as lethal as it could have been, the force of the shot still hurt and made Vestara tumble forward. Needing a moment to regain her posture she ducked behind the nearest speeder she came upon. Breathing heavily she took a moment to once again try her comm, and to her joy she got an answer from Veran.
"Sevara, where are you?"
She took a brief moment to glance around and see if there was anything she could recognize to determine her location. "Roughly halfway to the shuttle, I couldn't go the way we came and am heading down the main road. Problem is people keep shooting at me. Where is everyone else?"
"Everyone who was in the building made it out before you did I wager, they were able to reach the back alleys before they overflew with rioter's. So they are already at the shuttle and waiting, I'll have some come to you."
"I'm not entirely sure that's-" She found herself cut off by a small metallic rattling just next to her, anxiously she turned towards the source of the sound and found a thermal detonator laying less than a foot away. All cogent thought left her as she scrambled to her feet running more than a little awkwardly away and using the force to try and push the detonator to the other side of the speeder she was hiding behind.
Her efforts however were merely a fraction of a second to late, while still under the speeder the detonator exploded, and while she wasn't directly in front of it, the explosion was still powerful enough to knock her off her feet.
Landing less than gracefully on her back, Vestara immediately tried to get back up, but found her limbs would not respond. She soon realized she was going numb with pain, searing pain, as she glance down at herself and found blood emerging from multiple holes in her armor, before her eyes rolled back and all consciousness left her.
A/N Due to technical difficulties I had to rush this one, so narration isn't the best, but I do hope everyone can still grasp what's going on.