Congress of Rogues

[Eron Nightwind]

Eron felt his meeting had gone well. Everyone at things like this, seldom as they were, were very guarded. Entourages and security did not help matters, bringing their own brand of distrust and skeptism to the mix. Vocari seemed different, but once again, looks could be deceiving.

He led Tara away and back to their table where he met with Jonah and Evo Shen.

"So far so good." Eron said. "How did you make out?"

Jonah looked around the gathered crowd. "It's a mixed bag. I wasn't able to get a handle on which way it might turn out. Too many people trying to make sure they have a seat at the head table. If this is going to work, its going to have to be all in. Those who aren't in led me to believe they would look to put the squeeze on the holdings of those who are joining. Try to get a bigger slice of the overall galaxy. Sad."

"Alright, things are getting ready to break for dinner. Sweep our room and comm me when its ready. We have much to discuss."

Nodding, Jonah went out of the main hall. Eron stood and made his way around the room. Getting one last feel through the Force of the gathered rouges.

"This gathering might do a lot of good in the future. But I fear for the harm it may do in the present."

[Vocari Alexander]

Vocari turned into the atrium of Seaward Quadrant and entered the hallway for Sector Two. He sipped at the drink in his hand, a Denon’s Best cocktail, as he ambled down the corridor, searching for suite 77. He heard snatches of conversation in many different tongues as he passed closed doors. The hosts had kindly opted to post a public list of the delegations and the rooms they occupied, understanding that assassinations really only weeded out the weak and that most groups would acquire the information one way or another if it were private.

It was after dinner. All the beings aboard had scattered across the station, drinking, lounging, and in most cases, securing their positions through machinations. As Vocari was doing now. During the meal, and for a couple hours after its conclusion, the Chancery delegation had mingled, talking, having a good time, and always listening. Vocari had taken it upon himself to meet with those considerably higher in piratical esteem. Apart from Archimond, and maybe Daedalus, whose reputations transcended the Chancery battalion by a long shot, those who Vocari was soliciting would probably take a meeting with anybody lower than him as an insult. Archimond was making similar rounds to Vocari, and Daedalus was mingling with the network of soldier acquaintances he kept throughout the smuggling world. Vocari himself was making his fourth visit of the night. He was exhausted, but remained upbeat. Many of the beings he’d sounded tonight seemed inclined to fight the Vong, or at least seemed receptive to what he had to say. He’d recorded the meetings through a tiny microphone inside one of the buttons on his vest, and later on, he and the rest of his team would examine the records more closely and begin piecing together a possible alliance.

Maybe tomorrow. It’s getting kind of late, he thought to himself. He arrived at Suite 77, and knocked on the door. A speaker next to the door crackled, and a voice came out. “Name, affiliation, and reason for visiting.”

“Vocari Alexander, commander of the Chancery Battalion, requesting to meet with Captain Ixtren Wallonis,” said Vocari in his best official voice. Smiling slightly in anticipation, he rocked back slightly on the balls of his feet and waited for an answer.

[Ixtren Wallonis]

Creptin turned away from the door com and looked over at Ixtren. "There's a Vocari Alexander here to meet with you."

Ixtren was reclining in a chair with his boots off, his admiral's uniform unbuttoned, and Max sitting in his lap purring contentedly. "Vocari...I know him, let him in." Ixtren urged Max off his lap and went about buttoning his uniform back up.

It had been a long time, but Ixtren and Vocari had both fought at Kashyyyk it what had turned into a hectic, brutal battle. And after that, they had both ended up at the Battle of Kuat. Thus Ixtren knew a little about the man's fighting capabilities and the ships and crew under his command. From what he'd seen, Vocari seemed like a good commander with capable ships and crews.

And from what he heard Vocari speak at the meeting, he also knew they were on the same side.

Creptin opened the door and allowed Vocari and his entourage in. The two Ganks were standing quietly in the corner flanking the door, blaster rifles in hand, but Creptin assumed a more relaxed posture and sat in a chair next to Ixtren.

"Have a seat Vocari." He waved at an open chair and couch.

[Vocari Alexander]

Vocari walked into Ixtren’s suite, casting a friendly smile at the two Ganks in the corner. He took the seat that had been offered to him and fidgeted around for a second trying to get comfortable. When he was ready, he glanced up, and met Ixtren’s patient smile with his own.

“What brings you here?” asked Ixtren.

Vocari drew in a breath, “Well, I think it’s apparent to both of us after today that this meeting isn’t going to go anywhere conclusive. Yes, some of the indeterminates might get swayed to one side or another, but the people who have been fighting will continue to fight, and the ones who’ve been collaborating, or trying to continue their usual lives will keep on that path.” He paused. “I’m one of the people who wants to fight. Probably one of the more prominent ones. My team and I kept track of people’s relative allegiances at the meeting today, and we’re going around trying to create something out of all this. Make this whole Congress a little bit fruitful, at least. If nothing else, we got a sense of the general mood of the underworld population. Which is pretty interesting, in my opinion.” He smiled. “Where exactly do you come down on all of this? Obviously, you’re an advocate for action, but how do you feel about participating in a more…cohesive effort?”

Vocari sat back and waited for Ixtren’s reply, marshalling the counterarguments he’d used on a few people before. In this man’s case, however, he wasn’t sure he’d need them.

[Ixtren Wallonis]

Ixtren smiled. "I'm all for cohesive action, and I agree with your observations. This Congress thing certainly is going to end in a mixed bag. The most we can hope for is a few allies we can work with." He took a moment to consider Vocari. "So I guess the real question is whether we can ally together? Your force and mine?"

Of course that raised an even more important question: command and control.

"I'll be honest. I'd like to join forces. Ever since Kuat I've been gathering every friend I've got in order to make some kind of force that can stand toe to toe with a Vong task force. And if we were to join forces, we'd have a nasty little fleet to work with. But there's that tricky question of how we handle whose in charge?"

He let that question hang in the air to see how Vocari would respond.

[Eron Nightwind]

Back at the room,Eron, Jonah and the Shen's sat quietly as they thought. The way this meeting was shaking out could be very bad for anyone involved. Try and do the right thing, and end up being attacked on multiple fronts, each more dangerous than the last. Since Eron felt it best to take the fight to the Vong, The Cooperative would need to take the proper steps to ensure its safety.

"So," Eron began, breaking the silence of the room, even though they all knew what was coming. "We need to thin the herd a bit, trim some of the groups that are just here to see what territories they will make a grab for once the shooting starts. Jonah, let's see the list."

The Shen twins sat back, seemingly content that the words had finally been spoken. As assassins, the choices they made were simple. If the job was to kill, you killed. No morality issues, no second thoughts, just a job and a payment. Truth be told, if given the information that had been aquired at the meeting, if Eron didn't give the order, they would have been forced to find alternate employment, and have made it their mission to eliminate the weak leader. These times called for bold decisions.

Jonah brought out a datapad and read off a list of names. He was very thorough, each name had the number of associates that had arrived with them. This allowed them to prioritize who they would kill first. Easier targets were marked, and passed to Evo and Tara for evaluation. The twins paired off and began to come up with the least detectable ways to remove some of the groups from the meeting.

"Are you sure about this sir? You realize if we're found out, we could be the new target." Jonah sat back and checked the secuirty feed they had hacked into.

"Even if we fail, we will succeed. All we need to do is kill one group. If we're discovered, we will make our escape, or face justice. Either way, it could rally the stragglers, bringing everyone together to route out the traitors. After that, getting them to sign up to fight the Vong will be an afterthought. If they will work together to find who is killing off the groups, they will be more likely to work together to save themselves from the Vong threat."

"We're taking a big risk, for a small reward." Jonah responded.

"What's the alternative? Getting a few of the smugglers to join up only to get creamed by the Vong? One death is just as good as another. It is really no risk at all. Still," Eron said, glancing to the twins. "we'd like to not get caught, so if you two can do it right, that won't be an option."

The twins looked up and smiled. Eron always tried to use humor to ease the tension, something that was ususally lacking in organized crime.

"We have a few ideas. All of which are mechanical failures, should be a cake walk."

"Shiny." Eron replied. "Get to it. Good luck and be safe."

[Ixtren Wallonis]

Ixtren and Vocari continued to talk, their alliance all but sealed, when Creptin put a hand to his ear as if he was listening to something.

A startled expressed filled his face.

"Sir, it sounds like chaos is breaking out."

To emphasize the point, the sound of distant blaster fire could be heard.

Ixtren looked over to his chief security officer. "What's going on?"

Creptin was still listening in to his ear comlink. "No one knows how it started yet, but various pirate groups are fighting with each other. Some of them claiming the others are 'lowlife assassins.'" Creptin looked toward his commander. "Sir, it sounds like someone may have been carrying out some dirty work, and now things have gotten out of hand, or they've achieved their means."

Ixtren glanced back at Vocari. "We can work out the details later, Vocari. You've got my com number, and I've got yours. We can keep in touch. For now, we need to get you back to your people safely, and then all of us can get out of here with our hides intact."

He nodded to Creptin and his two Noghri mercs. Ixtren walked into the back rooms and woke up the others.

It was time to leave.

Outside in the hall, things had turned into a panic. No one knew what was going on, but people were shooting at their perceived adversaries...or at least people they didn't like. Blaster fire exchanges were taking place room-to-room. Pirate ducking out of doorways and lobbing bolts off and smugglers doing the same. Some rooms had smoke pouring out of them, no doubt caused by some heavier ordinance.

"Creptin, you still..." Ixtren trailed off as he saw for himself.

The Dashade Shadowkiller had his mini rocket launcher at the ready.