General Garza stood reading the display on the data terminal that was against the wall behind her desk, hands on her hips and her back to the room as Solasta and Aric arrived. Approaching the doorway to the office, unspoken, both soldiers hesitated a half-step before crossing the threshold and walking towards Garza for their debriefing. Stepping to her desk, they stiffened with their hands at their sides. "Havoc Squad reporting as ordered, ma'am!" said Solasta, and both presenting a crisp salute to Garza when she turned to face them.
"Ah. Lieutenant Dinn. " said Garza as she paused a moment to study the two soldiers standing prostrated before her. "We will be working closely together for the foreseeable future so dispense with the formalities when it is only us meeting, and certainly if you believe it atones for disobeying my orders. It does not." When Solasta and Aric to relaxed their stances, she continued. "Now, I trust no more needs to be said about your work against the Migrant Merchants' Guild and we can move onto your next target; the Black Suns. They are a powerful organization composed of Coruscant's most violent criminals and have a wide network of sources providing them with the deadliest weaponry available, including a powerful nerve agent that they're planning to sell Tavus."
"A nerve agent?" Solasta canted her head curiously to the right, "Do we know what this stuff capable of or what Tavus has planned for it, ma'am?"
"No Lieutenant, we don't know what Tavus has planned but it certainly won't be good for the people of the Republic. I don't have exact specifications for the nerve agent on hand, but it's among the most deadly in existence. You'll need to be cautious, Lieutenant, we can't risk any of this nerve gas falling into Tavus's hands."
"Understood, ma'am. Where do we start?"
"A SpecForces sergent, Jaxo, has carried out some advance reconnaissance of the Black Sun's headquarters. You will be sent coordinates to rendezvous with her tomorrow at oh-six-hundred for a detailed plan of attack. Until then, you and Sergeant Jorgan should get yourselves fed and rested for tomorrow's mission. Dismissed."
Solasta and Aric began to stiffen their backs to salute but gave up when Garza turned her back to them, fixing her attention back on the scrolling data stream on her display.
Outside the Senate Tower, night had fully taken hold and Solasta was struck by how peaceful the evening was. Although nearly all businesses on Coruscant remained open day and night, the senate kept to standard business hours and the terrace was now empty, the shops and restaurants closed, and the warm yellow light of the lamp posts illuminated the spaces where crowds of tourist, officials, and news teams from hundreds of different planets had all congregated hours before.
"There's a cantina close to the base that's popular with off-duty soldiers where we can grab something to eat," said Aric, motioning towards the taxi hub in the distance.
The taxi ride from the Government Sector to the Republic Base where they were stationed took longer than their showers and a change into their base dress uniforms, and true to Aric's word, the cantina was a short walk outside the walls of the base. Stepping inside the door, Aric held up two fingers to signal the old, dented, and dull silver military droid that was reprogrammed as a Maitre D' with how many was in their party and said, "You're going to love this place, El-Tee." Followng the droid to their booth, Solasta scanned the room and noticed the majority of patrons wore the same army tan's they were, or the Republic Navy dark blue uniforms, and only a handful of people in civilian dress could be seen. As they slid into their seats a female's voice, agitated and unintelligible, could be heard over the droning burble of conversations and fast tempo music being piped through the speakers overhead, and Solasta ignored the outburst.
"You think Havoc will begin shaping into an actual squad soon?" asked Aric as both their heads turned to watch the large bouncer droid pass by on a direct course to the source of the commotion. The task of rebuilding Havoc fell squarely on Solasta's shoulders and she hadn't had time to give this any thought. "I'll recruit more more soldiers as soon as we find some Havoc worthy-candidates," she said, hoping he wouldn't recognize the lack of substance in her answer.
"Makes sense," said Aric nodding his agreement, "once this unit starts growing, people's expectations of this unit - of you, are only going to increase and that Cee-Oh post could get real heavy, real quick. Commanding a squad is no cakewalk, Lieutenant. Nothing worse than having to choose between the success of the mission and the lives of your people, and a leader's got to be ready to make those kinds of life-or-death decisions. There's no room for doubt."
Looking directly into Aric's eyes and fortifying the confidence in her voice, "I'll take on that burden. Someone needs to run Havoc Squad."
Aric smiled a broad toothy grin to to let her know she had his support. "I'm sure you'll do fine, El-Tee. You've gotten us- "
Another loud outburst from the same female and the sound of dishes hitting the ground interrupted not only him, but all the conversations in the cantina came to an abrupt end. Only the sound of the music could be heard as everyone craned their necks to see what was going on. Solasta looked across the dimly lit room, past the large bar that was central to the cantina, and could clearly see a dirty-blonde haired human holding both hands over his nose while blood squeezed between his fingers, and her cathar eyes detected the faint beginnings of skin discoloration beneath each eye - a telltale sign that the male's nose was broken. The bouncer droid that passed them earlier stood between him and a petite female with jet-black hair, striking silver eyes, and an expression that was deeply conflicted between anger and numbed intoxication. It was more than clear who the thrower, and the receiver, of a solid punch was.
Raising an eyebrow to Aric, she asked, "Couldn't you have found us a less rowdy place to eat?"
"It's usually not that bad in here. Looks like one of the locals has drank too much."
Glancing back across the bar and back at Aric, she said shrugged slightly and said, "Yeah. Maybe. Anyway, how are you doing with all the change, Jorgan?"
"Still pissed-off but a spot in Havoc was the least Command could do. Four years at the academy, seven years in the field, decorations, commendations... " This time Aric's word's trailed as something caught his attention. Solasta turned in her seat to join him with watching a Trooper in battle dress push her way through the crowd of patrons around the bar on a direct course for the two involved in the altercation. "This oughta be good. Looks like someone got pulled from duty," said Aric, amusement running thick in his voice. They watched as the Trooper pull her helmet off and a few long strands of auburn hair escaped from the clip that held the rest in a military bun. Recognizing the hair-helmet-dilemma, Solasta felt a pang of empathy for the trooper who clearly had been pulled from some deep entrenchment several hours into her shift. After the Trooper had a brief exchange with the bouncer droid and the drunken woman, she raised her hand and pointed at the bloodied male to have a turn at shouting at him.
Solasta chuffed loudly. "I'm going to get something to eat at the mess hall and go to bed," and slid out of the booth. Aric followed for a few meters but began to veer around the bar instead of continuing to the door. "I'm going to see what the issue is here and catch you in the morning, El-Tee."
"Just don't be late, Sergeant," called out Solasta without looking back.
Aric walked up the boarding ramp and into the box-shaped personnel section of the republic transport, stowed his blaster rifle next to Solasta's plasma cannon in the munitions rack, and headed forward to the jump seats. Solasta's ears twitched, tracking the faint sounds of footfall from the moment he reached the transport until he sat down across from her, and without taking her eyes from the datapad she held in one hand, she used her free hand to offer him one of the ration bars that she grabbed from the mess hall.
"I'll pass," grunted Aric, unable to hide the disgust in his voice.
"You're loss," and pressing the controls on her armrest she signaled the pilot they were ready to depart. "So Sergeant, did you make it back to the barracks last night?"
Aric chuckled and broke into a wide grin. "I wasn't far behind you, El-Tee. I smoothed things over at the cantina, helped that Trooper get her little sister home safely, and came right back to the base with nothing more than the Troopers holo frequency for my troubles."
Solasta peered over the top of her datapad, gave Aric a stern look, and said, "Don't get off mission, Sergeant."
The transport was much faster than the public taxis they had traveled in up to that point and had priority flight clearance for the restricted flight lanes, making the trip to the Black Suns Sector a short-lived event spent in amiable silence. Once the transport landed, it only stuck around long enough for them to disembark before taking off again and they were left standing alone together on a broad deserted shipping platform with their weapons slung over their shoulders. Scanning their surroundings, Solasta realized their platform was just one of dozens that were connected by a lattice-work of suspended walkways and ramps, and where she would have welcomed the early morning sky overhead there was only the durasteel ceiling hundreds of levels above. They, and the Black Suns base, were inside the planet. The air around her was heavy, smelled of grease, and she knew there wouldn't be the faintest of breeze on her fur if she took her helmet off.
She quietly chuffed her displeasure to herself and her dour thoughts were interrupted a few seconds later by the familiar click and the sound of Aric's voice in her helmet. "Come on, El-Tee. Our contact isn't too far," and she started for his position by the large open blast door that would lead them deeper inside Coruscant.
Two levels down and a short walk led them past small groups of haggard and dirty looking residents who were loitering in small groups. Those they passed had clearly lived hard lives, or worse, were living on the streets to have been out that early with no place to go, and only a few people quietly asked, Spare some credits? without making eye contact as they passed. This is far from the shiny topside, but I suppose living inside the planet gives them controlled enviro's at least - not like the refugees on Ord Mantel who had to find shelter from elements, thought Solasta as they made their way to their objective; an unimpressive looking storefront with a flashing neon sign over the door suggesting it was droid repair shop.
"Well, we definitely are expected," grunted Aric into his relay, watching the door slide open before he could press the call button on control panel.
Cautiously they walked through the shop, passing racks filled with various parts and electronic components on the shelves, different types of droids in various states of disrepair, and a noticeably thick blanket of dust covered everything in sight. At the very back of the room they found an advanced security data console in pristine condition standing in the corner, looking comically out of place. Behind the monitors and control panels stood a human female dressed in rumpled casual civilian clothing, as though she might have actually slept in them, that could have passed for one of the locals. Approaching her, Solasta examined the female's tawny-beige skin and shoulder length brown hair, her long bangs partially obscuring her almond-shaped brown eyes, wondering if this was really who General Garza sent them to meet.
"Hey there, you must be the new Havoc Cee-Oh. I'm Sergeant Ava Jaxo, it's good to meet you Lieutenant Dinn," said Jaxo, delivering a half-hearted salute.
Stunned, Solasta said nothing and returned the salute with her regular level of enthusiasm, eliciting a smile from Jaxo.
Watching as both soldiers pulled off their helmets, Jaxo examined them to try and gauge the sort of people they really were versus some brief notes Garza had sent her. They had the typical felid characteristics of a cathar; pointed triangular ears and straight flat nose bridges with brown leathery tips, though Sergeant Jorgan's nose was flatter, broader, and more masculine compared to Lieutenant Dinn's thin delicate nose. Jorgan's broad chiseled jaw only magnified the confidence his intense expression conveyed and his large luminescent blue eyes were breathtaking against the golden-tan coloured fur that covered his entire head; unlike Lieutenant Dinn, he had not grown out his hair, and it completed his look perfectly.
Pupils dilating, Jaxo could feel her heart begin to race and become acutely aware of how warm the room suddenly felt.
Lieutenant Dinn's brown hair, nearly the same shade as her own, was cut exactly to service length and smartly pinned back. Her short velvety grey and russet coloured fur had symmetrical chocolate-brown striped markings that patterned her cheeks and forehead, and in the dim light of the store her yellow cat-eyes glowed softly.
Solasta's senses were assaulted by an overwhelming barrage of pheromones that only angered and hardened her resolve, and she could almost hear the broad shit-eating grin grow across Aric's face. "No offense, Sergeant Jaxo, but you don't look much like a SpecForce soldier," said Solasta, dryly.
Glancing briefly at Aric, then back to Solasta, Jaxo found her voice, "That's good to hear. I do deep cover work and looking rank-and-file isn't wise. Now then, lets get to your mission. Sure hope you're ready ready for some fun- "
"You think this is going to be some kind of fun-time-outing, Jaxo?" chided Aric.
Jaxo smiled at him and said, "Well no, it's just an expression... Anyhow, you've certainly got your work cut out for you. You're highly unenviable task is to destroy a cache of nerve gas canisters that the Black Suns' are planning to sell to Tavus. The gas is called Trivoris and is scary stuff. One canister can cover a square kilometer with one-hundred-percent fatality inside of ten minutes."
Nodding slowly, making an effort to be patient and attentive instead of rushing the briefing, Solasta asked, "Do we have any way to deal with this safely?"
Jaxo activated the holo on her console and the ghostly blue image of a standard gas canister appeared. "Lucky for us, it's pretty easy to neutralize while it's still in the canisters. The compound in those bottles," and she pointed at four cylindrical bottles on a table next to them, "will render Trivoris inert when mixed together." Keying at her console, she manipulated the image to expand their view on the valve port and continued, "Just connect this to the canisters inside the Black Suns base and the whole batch is history. Once it's neutralized, it's useless, so Garza said to just leave it behind."
"Consider it done," Solasta responded firmly.
"One more thing, the Black Suns have signal jammers throughout their base so there's no way to send help if you get in over your head. Once you've taken care of the Trivoris, be sure to meet me back here to confirm the mission results," and shooting a glance to Aric, "Good luck and make sure you come back safe."
The bottles of neutralizing agents safely stowed in the small pack on Aric's back, they slipped their helmets back over their heads and stepped outside, into the street. Heading off in the direction their head's-up display mapped out to the Black Suns base they only made it a few meters before, click, and Aric spoke. "So, that meeting was- "
"Don't even start, Sergeant. And don't get off mission." growled Solasta.
Continuing on foot to their destination, neither of them spoke again, and it gave Solasta time to puzzle out a strategy for what they would do when they arrived. If we go in heavy, the Black Suns are sure to know we have trashed their product and could just replace it with a good batch, but if we trash it and they don't know... maybe Tavus gets mad thinking he was double-crossed and we can squeeze out one of his death dealers, she thought. After nearly a half hour of various turns down alleys, hallways, and trips down ramps to lower levels, the mini-map projected inside their helmets began to display a yellow line. Every step they took brought them closer to it, closer to the edge of the jammers' range, and closer to the heart of the Black Suns territory.
Stopping meters short of the threshold, they stood and waited outside an invisible barrier. Activating her relay, Solasta said, "I've been thinking, Sergeant. This mission just might be fun after all."
"What do you mean, El-Tee?"
"Let's find a place to hide our boots and I'll explain."
Aric took a step and turned so that they were looking directly at each other, visor to visor, and said, "What?"