Dancing in The ISB: First Contact

[Tonktastic]

An empty sector devoid of life and traffic on the edge of wildspace, near the Southern rim of the galaxy, due South of Ryloth.

This region, left empty and desolate, had seen little or no interference going back as far as anyone could remember, remaining largely unmapped and ventured into only by the bravest or most desperate. Yet, the first recent visitors proved to be neither:

ZAP ZAP




Echoed through the void as two small vessels returned to realspace in formation, their red striped and grey camouflaged hulls reflecting light from several local stars and a distant nebula that filled the sector with an eerie green mist. The debtors hook they called it. A getaway for lowlives and brigands prowling across the stars seeking escape from the law. It also happened to resemble a pronged claw from a distance.

But the two vessels were neither criminals, nor were they hiding, the dishes above their superstructures pinging across the void as they rotated in place, trying to pick up a signal.

The K-13 and K-14 moved rapidly, searching for any signs of activity, doing their part to ensure Kopperian space wouldn't be infringed without retaliation. After the destruction of the KIF mochalivi, the ISB began conducting wide sweeping patrols across more and more sectors. Their K-Class patrol craft on the lookout for the very individuals who often used this very sector as a getaway.

On the bridge of the K-13 stood Inspector Natasha Kirillova Alexandrova of the ISB, dutifully watching over the shoulder of the Worker Drone operating the vessel's scanner.

"Anything?" She asked for the fifteenth time in the past half an hour.

The Sergeant wanted to roll his eyes, but instead turned away, pretending like he was hearing something on the monitor before shaking his head. "Nothing, Your Excellency." He replied.

Natasha sighed before turning away and clapping her hands behind her back. "Very well. Inform me when we find something." The Sergeant nodded as Natasha walked over to her chair before pulling out a mug and marched over to the oil dispenser, her tail subtly wagging from side to side as she filled the cup. Once full, the Inspector returned to her chair, placed it in the cup holder before jumping into the plush leather seat. Her tail lazily draped over the side as she sipped her drink, sighing in relief. The heat from her anticipation gently cooling thanks to the thick black crude. "Why did this have to be so boring? At least the training period had more for me to do then this." She lamented with a sigh, unaware of just what she had asked for.

 

[James 'Slinger' Antilles]

Slinger was hiding out. It wasn’t particularly important of the why. Look it wasn’t his fault! Some pirates hired him to smuggle medical supplies past warzone boundaries. Made sense there were plenty of places in the galaxy, plenty of planets, moons, stations which needed supplies. It seemed like a quick, easy and righteous job.

How was he supposed to know the pirates had gotten it by hitting a medical frigate?

Next thing you know the tracking device the authorities had put on the crates had meant he was being swooped on by an entire corvette worth of patrol craft. It was the pirates fault not his.

Stupid pirates not checking the crates for tracking devices.

The fact that Slinger should have done so himself was a scathing self reply.

Well they shouldn’t be hitting medical frigates anyway!

Oh now you mention your concern for the noble citizens of the republic.

It was a typical sarcastic self reply that did nothing to improve Slinger’s mood.

Slinger had barely escaped the patrol craft. Then feeling guilty about the medicine he had tried to return it. The ungrateful republic had still tried to seize his ship! So Slinger had ‘given’ the medicine back by dumping it out the airlock while he made his escape.

The pirates naturally hadn’t been happy about that.

Now he was on the hot list for both republic and pirate. Slinger knew he’d just have to bide his time with both. The pirates would soon have other enemies to deal with as for the republic. Give it enough time and they’d offer him a life risking job to make up for the snafu.

So here James was hiding out, waiting for things to cool down. Or more accurately searching for a place to wait it out. This was just a temporary spot. What James really needed was another job to keep him on the move. Constantly going from one system to another was the best way to stay ahead of anyone after you.

Stay in one place for too long and sooner or later someone would track you down. Whether it be a bounty hunter or a sith inquisitor or republic intelligence.

Right at this moment Slinger was lounging about listening to Corellian Country music. He got an alert that woke him up.

“Patrol craft poodoo” James cursed. He didn't recognise what kind.

He had his stealth mode such as it was on, which basically meant turning off everything but the air. He waited to see if they would sense him.

 

[Natasha Alexandrova]

Natasha slowly savored her cup as she remained seated, the Sergeant sighing as he observed the monitor while piloting the K-13 forward while K-14 slowly split off to perform their search.

Yet, as they maneuvered around a giant rock of a moon, a small dot appeared on the radar. A dot he knew wasn't there before. He knew this because he knew what was there, and what wasn't from memory. So it must have been a new contact despite its tiny signature. "Inspector, we have a new contact." He said, loud enough for her to hear before closing his eyes in preparation for:

"NEW CONTACT!" Natasha exclaimed, excitedly leaping out of her seat... "OW!" And stinging herself in the hand as her tail shot up and poked right through, burning a hole as she howled in pain and pulled the head out. Exhaling rapidly, she stuck the hand in her mouth, removing the pain almost instantly before sighing in relief and using her other hand to firmly tuck the tail behind her back. After regaining her composure, she walked toward the console as though nothing happened. The hand regenerating as she did. "So. We have a new contact?"

The Sergeant nodded. "Yes, here." He said, pointing at the dot.

Natasha put her hand to her chin. "Can you lock onto it?" She inquired to which he nodded. "Very well. Then lock it and open the comm channel. Let's see if we can't do this diplomatically." She stated before clearing her throat:

"Это инспектор Наташа Кириллова Александрова из Имперской службы безопасности, обращаюсь к неопознанному судну. Представьтесь и изложите свои намерения."
(This is Inspector Natasha Kirillova Aleksandrova of the Imperial Security Service, addressing the unidentified vessel. Please identify yourself and state your intentions.)